Hi everybody,
Sorry about the DMV rants. They were less about tech than my frustration. So, back to business. I've started using google hangouts and talk to replace my phone calls when I have enough service. Firstly, they use data, not minutes, which makes me happy because I have unlimited data. Secondly, they generally have really nice quality, and Thirdly, they can incorporate video. Amazingly, while driving, I can videoconference. Because I'm a safe driver, I don't look at the other person much, but it's still neat that you can. Even though my service fluctuates between 3g 2 bars and full 4g LTE, I can usually make calls to other google subscribers on their smartphones or laptops with as much success as regular phone calls. They get a bit flaky if you're doing voice and video over a 2 bar 3g connection, but they still work. If I know I'm in a low service area, I'll usually choose just voice over a video teleconference.
Savings: no use of cell phone minutes, and free VIDEO. I know apple has something like this - I believe it's called facetime - but I think it only works for iphone users of the same vintage (I.E. 4s to 4s). Can anybody comment on this?
Hangouts are cool too, though I don't know as I'd try them with just a phone, especially while mobile. I would guess that you'd need a more stable, faster internet connection to sustain a video chat with more than one other person. I haven't really tested its limits though, so I'll have to save that for another post. One thing I've noticed though is that hangouts are a bit buggier/lower sound quality than the old microphone feature in google talk. I think they'll work out the kinks, but my guess is that making them work for more than one person is what's making hangouts less functional for now.
Hope you enjoyed the read, and please comment,
~Mark
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