Google has released Hangouts 2.0 for Android, adding in SMS and MMS support in addition to enabling group MMS conversations and embedding animated GIFs. Promised when the incoming update was first revealed late last month, the new app also drops alongside an update to the Android keyboard, also bringing it to version 2.0, though that change has been met with less enthusiasm from users.
Earlier this week, Google announced a Hangouts update that brings SMS functionality, which is nice but unfortunately comes with a snafu. According to Nikhyl Singhal, who took to Google+ today, there are some issues to be ironed out with Google Voice, and for the time being neither of the two aforementioned Google services will be able to exchange SMS with each other.
There's now one single location users need to work with to talk with video, text, and images in the Google Android experience. Here with Hangouts, Google has made clear that they're updating the system with three new features, the first - and most important - of these being SMS support. This means that the Hangouts app will be able to attach itself to your SMS on your smartphone.
Presently, those who aren't keen on Android's Messaging app have a variety of different options to choose from via the Play Store, some that function better than others. One of the reasons some apps have their share of issues is because of how the developers have to go about creating them -- with hidden APIs, something that will come to an end with the arrival of Android 4.4 KitKat.
It would appear that even SMS Audio has decided to lay claim to the Bluetooth speaker universe as essentially every headphone company has done over the past couple of years. This machine continues the naming conventions started with 50 Cent's entry into the earphone market with the title SYNC by 50 Wireless Speaker. This device works with Bluetooth 4.0 aptX technology and will be kicking out the tunes this week.
Google+ Hangouts got a major face-lift yesterday when Google announced that all of their chat services would be merged together into one app. Essentially, users can now message each other over various platforms, as well as video chat. Furthermore, you can send someone a message without even them being signed in, hinting to the possibility that Hangouts could be an SMS replacement.
Mobile instant messaging apps have overtaken SMS for the first time, new research suggests, marking a likely end of the text message cash-cow for operators. Nearly 19bn IM chat messages were sent every day in 2012 on average, according to research firm Informa, in comparison to 17.6bn traditional text messages, with analysts claiming some carriers are already "seeing a decline in their messaging revenues."
Google and Twilio are teaming up to bring developers cloud-powered tools that will help them integrate their apps with VoIP and messaging services. Twilio has partnered up with Google's Cloud Platform, making it the first voice and messaging API available through the Google App Engine. With its API, developers are able to easily integrate messaging and VoIP capabilities into their apps with just a few lines of code.
The coalition of groups and government agencies that brought us Wireless AMBER Alerts announced today that the program will be ending at the end of the year. AMBER Alerts, as most you already know, aim to alert the public to recent abductions in an effort to get kidnapped children home safely as quickly as possible. Never fear though, as Wireless AMBER Alerts aren't going away, they're just being rolled into a new program called Wireless Emergency Alerts, which was launched earlier this year.
Law enforcement representatives from both the state and local level have submitted a proposal to the US Congress that would require mobile carriers in the US to keep SMS logs for all users for at least two years, just in case they're eventually needed for future criminal investigations. The law enforcement reps say that the lack of a current requirement "can hinder law enforcement investigations."
If you can believe it, text messaging turned 20 years old today, and while the technology really didn't boom until just a few years ago, the service has been around since 1992. The first text message ever sent took place on December 3, 1992, and was sent by British engineer Neil Papworth. The message simply read, "Merry Christmas."
Spam is annoying, and we all do whatever we can to prevent it from getting to us, but sometimes it can still slip through the cracks, especially via SMS. UK residents Christopher Niebel and Gary McNeish have been fined £440,000 (about $700,000) by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office for sending out almost 800,000 spam text messages per day.
