Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Gmail voice and video v1.0.10

Today, we released the 1.0.10 update for the Gmail voice and video chat software. All current installations will begin an automatic update within the next 24 hours. If you do not want to wait, you can visit http://mail.google.com/videochat and re-run the installer.

You can use your Gmail account to find out what version is currently installed. Simply go to the Gmail Settings page and look under the "Chat" tab. You will see the plugin version under the "Learn more" link, in small type.

Here's what's new in version 1.0.10:

General fixes:
  • When uploading a log file to Google, we now display an incident ID that you can use when reporting an issue.
  • Improved software auto-updates to now complete successfully even if Gmail is open, so upgrading to the latest version now happens more quickly. (We are still working on improving this on Windows Vista.)
  • Improved call setup time when behind firewalls that only allow outgoing HTTP/HTTPS.
  • Fixed issue where a device access dialog box would sometimes appear when starting a call.
  • Fixed crash when using a software firewall that caused UDP socket creation to fail.
  • Fixed crash that could occur in rare cases when a timing function returned the same value twice in a row.
Windows-specific fixes:
  • Fixed an issue on Vista where software auto-updates could cause the browser to suddenly restart.
  • Fixed an issue where having the 'Sony BlueTooth Video' camera device would cause the browser to crash.
  • Fixed various issues with code signing.
Mac-specific fixes:
  • Fixed an issue on 10.5.7 where the microphone would only work for the first call.
  • Fixed several issues with the installer that could cause preflight_script errors or other problems.
  • Fixed an issue where the built-in iSight camera could fail to be detected.
  • Fixed an issue where audio and video would suddently freeze about 2 minutes into the call.
  • Fixed an issue where the plugin could get into a loop and consume 100% CPU.
If you're on 1.0.10 and still having a problem, please report it on the Gmail voice and video chat forums. As always, feel free to email me directly as well.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who has written in asking about support for Linux. We've had to rewrite a key piece of technology, so this has taken some time. However, the results will be worth the wait.