Software
You can now make community calls from a smart monitor in Google Meet or the Duo
Google is expanding the forms in which you can make video calls on Google Assistant enabled smart displays with new features for the community calling in Google Meet and Duo.
The updated video community calling features will be available with cameras beginning today on the Nest Platform Max and other smart Assistant displays.
Just as you can do with one-on-one calls, you can either start a group call with your voice from a smart display, or by tapping the screen. Groups created in the Duo mobile app are available on the smart display and can support up to 32 persons at a time.
The smart panel will at one time show up to eight people, including yourself. If you are using the Nest Hub Max, the auto-framing features will still work, allowing you to move around freely and still be in-camera centered to other callers.
The Google Meet calling support group is more geared towards working meetings and other large groups. It supports up to 100 callers, and you can join meetings either by typing in the meeting code (after saying "Hey Google, join a meeting") or by entering a calendar synced with the smart display.
If you launch a new meeting from the smart board, you will receive a push notification to your phone that you can use to share the invitation with others
Google says the Meet interface does not yet support the Nest Hub Max's auto-framing functionality, and will not be available at launch on other smart displays of the Assistant.
Google provides an opportunity for administrators to provide trial access to the Assistant on those accounts for those who use G Suite accounts who have Meet Meetings on those calendars.
The G Suite account would have to be the main account on the computer to call up calendar entries. Google tells me it is working on ways in the future to make switching more seamless between a G Suite account and a personal account on a smart display.
Eventually, a new "speed dial" feature called household contacts is now available to assistant smart displays and speakers that allows you to pin favorite contacts for faster access. Once set up, it will allow such contacts to be called by someone with access to the smart display by voice or by tapping their name on the display screen.
It's clear that Google has prioritized rolling out these features based on how much video calling is being used during the COVID-19 pandemic and its related social distance lockdowns, and if you have a smart display in your home, they should make it easier to use Google's video calling services.
Yet much as Facebook's Portal and Amazon's Echo Show, they 're restricted to Google's apps so whether you're using Zoom or any of the the other video chatting solutions right today, they 're not going to make any use of you, smart monitor or not. Google will hopefully find a way to make other services available in the future on smart displays, but I'm not holding my breath in.
