In somewhat unsurprising news, Google has announced Android support for video chat and voice chat using Google Talk. This is something that iPhone users have had for a little while in FaceTime, however unlike FaceTime, the new voice and video chat features in Google Talk won’t be limited to WiFi connections.
No, this new capability means Android phone users can voice or video chat with other Android phone users, or with people using Google Talk on their PCs. Most importantly – chats are supported over 3G and 4G networks as well as WiFi. This means that those of you with generous data inclusions (which are becoming more common now in Australia) will be able to enjoy video chats without needing to be tethered to a WiFi hotspot.
Google says the features will be rolled out to Nexus S devices in updates coming over the next few weeks as part of Android 2.3.4. Other Android devices will receive the feature in the future, but the rollout schedule hasn’t yet been detailed.
The native Android chat app can also maintain a chat even if the video is interrupted. For example, if someone follows a link during a chat, audio will continue while video is interrupted.
Something very cool (and perhaps a little overdue) for Android 🙂
