Google’s unified chat system confirmed for I/O; to confusingly launch as Hangouts
Didn't we already have something called Google Hangouts? Talk about confusing people.
It seems Google has pretty much doubled down on a name for its much rumored unified instant messaging system. And the name is Google Hangout. Confused? We don’t blame you, considering Google already has a Hangouts feature as a part of its video chat service. The respected folks over at TechRadar have access to some screenshots of the service that confirms the name.
The leaked screenshots of the service don’t reveal much in terms of what is new and what is different, but do reveal the “sign out of Hangouts” and “Revert to old Chat” options, suggesting the system is in place for a launch at Google I/O. The second option of reverting to the old Chat is pretty much in line with how Google always introduces its new features – by allowing users to keep using the old one till it is completely phased out.
It seems that Google is bringing all the services – Google Talk / GChat and even features of Google under the Hangouts branding. TechRadar says, “We were also told that Googlers received an email yesterday about Google I/O which thanked staff for their work on some of the products they’ve been testing, which our source says indicates that Google Hangouts will be unveiled for real at the show next week.”
Source: TechRadar