Google voice and video v1.0.13

Today, we released the 1.0.13 update for the Google voice and video chat software. All current installations will begin an automatic update within the next few days. If you do not want to wait, you can visit http://www.google.com/chat/video 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 1.0.13:

• Improved startup time for both voice and video calls.
• Detection and recovery for some situations that would cause the plugin to hang indefinitely, which could lead to messaging like "Detecting devices" in the settings page or "Add voice/video chat" in the roster or chat menu.
• Fixed connectivity problems caused by VMWare virtual network adapters.

If you're on 1.0.13 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.

Google video chat tips, installment #1

From the Google Talk Blog: tips on using Google video chat, from one of the engineers on our team.

Did you know you could use the "pop-out" arrow on the top of a chat window to make a video chat bigger? This will separate the video chat into its own window that you can resize and move around as you like.

If you want to make the video chat as large as possible and block everything else out, simply use the Full Screen button in the top left corner of the video area. This will fill up your screen and make your conversation much more immersive. Based on the feedback you've given us, we have added the ability to mute your microphone while in full screen mode. To do this, simply hit the space bar!

Pidgin Adds Support for Google Voice and Video Chat

Slashdot | Pidgin Adds Google Talk Voice and Video Support

Just read that Pidgin 2.6.1 (on Linux) supports interoperability with Google video chat. Haven't had a chance to try it myself yet, but we'll be checking it out this week. Nice job Pidgin team!

Temporary solution for Gmail voice and video chat on Linux

If you're dying to try out Gmail voice and video chat on Linux right now, here's a temporary solution that may work for you while we finish the official Linux version. This clever hack allows the voice functionality of the Google Talk Plugin to work on Linux via the Wine shim layer.

Also, responding to some of the comments on the 1.0.10 post:

• We expect to support ALSA and PulseAudio.
• The packetization to be used for H.264/SVC will be that specified in http://www.ietf.org/id/draft-ietf-avt-rtp-svc-18.txt, which is currently on its way to becoming a RFC.

Cool testimonial for Gmail video chat

Saw this on YouTube today. It's great to see people having fun with our product.

Tweet your Gmail video chat experiences!

Searching Twitter for "Gmail video chat" or "Google video chat" has been a great way for us to see how people are using the service. Some great recent tweets:

"set up gmail video chat for my parents for while i'm away. they're so impressed that i can click a series of buttons and magically appear." (link)

"Google video chat is pretty awesome in terms of a free service. I am left wondering why Google is not promoting it more aggressively." (link)

"Just discovered Gmail's "Archive" feature, along with a whole slew of things I didn't know existed. Best video chat ever." (link)

Our team keeps an eye on these feeds, so if you include "Gmail video chat", "Google video chat", or #googlevideochat in your tweet, you can be sure we'll see it!

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/juberti

Gmail video chat on a plane!

Video Chatting at 35,000 Feet Works Pretty Darn Well - The Steve Rubel Lifestream

As an experiment I tried having a real-time video chat with my dad using Gmail and it worked relatively well. Video/sound cut in and out. Still, it was all quite manageable as you can see from the screen capture...

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.

Gmail voice and video v1.0.8

Today, we released the 1.0.8 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 1.0.8:

• Added support for the H.264/AVC video codec, in addition to the H.264/SVC codec that we typically use. This allows us to be compatible with video software that does not yet support SVC. When using H.264/AVC, Gmail video chat will send and expect in-band parameter sets, and send using a single-NAL RTP packetization.
• Made several improvements to voice quality, including additional tuning of our echo cancellation and automatic gain control algorithms.
• Fixed a problem where device settings would not be saved in some cases if no webcam was present.
• Fixed a problem where the browser plugin would sometimes not be detected by Gmail, even though it was installed.
• Fixed various crashes in the browser plugin.
• On Windows, fixed a problem where video chat would never work in certain network conditions. This was most often seen when using wireless broadband or other types of PPPoE connections.
• On Windows, fixed a problem where certain Sony Vaio cameras could cause the browser to crash when starting a video chat.
• On Windows, fixed a problem where certain Creative cameras could cause Chrome to display a "sad plugin" when starting a video chat.
• On Mac, fixed a problem where users of PostgreSQL (or any other app that uses a lot of shared memory) would see a "black box" instead of video.

If you're on 1.0.8 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.

Watch YouTube videos right inside Gmail chat

Last week we launched another new feature we've been working on, media previews in Gmail chat. It's pretty cool. Frequently my friends will set YouTube links as their status messages, but from just a bare link, it's hard to tell whether or not the video is worth watching. However, with Gmail media previews, I can mouseover their name in my contact list to see the video title, and with a single click, I can play it right within Gmail.

It's also great for when friends send you a video link in chat. We parse the link and insert a thumbnail with the video title so you know exactly what your friend is trying to share with you (a rickroll, maybe?) Just click on the thumbnail and you can then watch the video right inside Gmail, without opening a new browser window or tab.

It's a fun feature, and makes sharing videos much more interesting. Check it out!

Gmail voice and video v1.0.5

Today we released the 1.0.5 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 1.0.5:

• On Windows, enabled sending and receiving video for CPUs without the SSE2 extensions (such as Athlon XP and Pentium III). Due to the lower processing power of these CPUs, the resolution of the sent video will be reduced. 
• On Mac, added support for the macam USB camera driver library, enabling hundreds of branded and generic webcams for mac users.  Some work better than others; depending on the camera, you may experience low performance or errors when using macam. For best results, we recommend having only a single macam device attached, and closing Gmail before plugging or unplugging macam devices.
• On Mac, changed automatic updates to no longer prompt the user to shut down the browser.
  
• Fixed several issues on both platforms where the plugin could crash during or while ending a call.
• Fixed an issue on certain Sony Vaio notebooks where the web browser would crash during call setup.
  
• Fixed an issue on Mac where the plugin would crash during call setup if the installed version of QuickTime was very old.
• Fixed an issue on Mac where old instances of the plugin would still appear in the Activity Monitor.

The fixes in this version should resolve the vast majority of the "my webcam doesn't work with Gmail voice and video" issues. If you're on 1.0.5 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.

Snow in Seattle, 2008

Winter's officially here in Seattle. After schools were closed on Wednesday on the possibility of snow, we got a few inches on Thursday, which promptly made driving an interesting physics experiment. Today, it was 13 degrees outside when I woke up, and the forecast calls for 4-8 more inches of snow and winds up to 50 MPH. Brrr....

Google Seattle Holiday Party 2008

Photo credit: Steve Lacey

There weren't any casino tables this year, but the classic video games were back in force. Playing Tempest or the original Star Wars while dance music is pulsing is a wild ride...

Google Android robot, full size

Just got back from a visit to the Mountain View campus.
Our green mascot keeps watch over one of the Charleston Rd buildings.

Tuesday Mailbag

Thanks to everyone who wrote in. Some of the top questions about Gmail voice and video chat from the past few weeks:

Q: I can't hear the other person, but they can hear me. How do I fix this?

A: Your sound output device may be muted. On Windows, go to Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices, and click the "Advanced..." button. Make sure the mute checkboxes for both "Master Volume" and "Wave" are not checked.

Q: When I go to Gmail Settings -> Chat, I just see a "Detecting devices" message. How do I fix this?

A: This issue should be fixed in the recently released 1.0.3 version.

Q: On my Mac, I don't see my video or my friend's video. How do I fix this?

A: Some Mac incompatibilities were fixed in version 1.0.3. One issue remains where PostgreSQL, if installed, can use up all the system's shared memory. You can workaround for now by stopping PostgreSQL or changing its shared memory usage. We expect to have a fix for this in an upcoming release.

Q: Do you support the macam camera driver?

A: macam is not supported in version 1.0.3. However, we expect to release a fix for this shortly.

Q: Is a Linux version available?

A: Gmail voice and video chat is not currently available for Linux. If you would be interested in testing a Linux version, you can sign up at https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pYZOS6WEwfd2dhlZI2m_bRQ.

If you have a question that's not answered here, please check the Gmail voice and video chat FAQ, and if that doesn't answer your question, feel free to email me directly.

Gmail voice and video v1.0.3

On Thursday, we released a 1.0.3 update to the Gmail voice and video chat software to version 1.0.3. If you go to Gmail settings, and select the "Chat" tab, you should see the text "Google Talk plugin v1.0.3.0" indicating that your software has been updated. If, for some reason, you see a previous version (or the dreaded "Detecting devices") text, you can run the updater manually by downloading from http://mail.google.com/videochat.

Here's what's new in version 1.0.3:

Windows related fixes

• Fixed issue where the browser would be unable to communicate with the plugin, resulting in "Detecting devices..." forever.
• Resolved incompatibility with Creative camera drivers and software that could result in browser crashes.
• Implemented first fix for issue where users saw green bars and plugin crashes on machines without support for SSE2, such as Athlon XP, Pentium III, and previous. For these machines, only avatar images will be displayed during a video call, as if no camera is present. We are continuing to work on this issue.
• Fixed issue where users could select the known incompatible "Asus virtual Camera" driver.

Mac related fixes

• Fixed issue where the "Default device" option may not actually select the default microphone.
  
• Fixed issue where installer could incorrectly report a successful install when it actually failed.
  
• Fixed issue where users with high UID values could only see black video (AKA the "black box" issue).
• Fixed issue where the installer misidentified some Intel machines as PPC.
• Made made several internal improvements to the installer.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in or posted to the Gmail chat forum. Your feedback is extremely helpful in allowing us to identify and diagnose these issues. I'll do a new mailbag with some of the other reports and suggestions later this week.

Day 2 Mailbag

Wow! Thanks to everyone who has tried out Gmail voice and video chat in the first 24 hours. Wanted to answer some questions I've received:

Q: Will you release an open source version of the plugin?
A: Our plugin is built on the libjingle open-source library. At a minimum, we plan to release an updated version of libjingle.

Q: What video codecs do you support?
A: Today we support H.264/SVC, an extension of H.264/AVC that excels in realtime scenarios. As SVC is a superset, the Gmail client can currently decode an AVC bitstream, and clients receiving a SVC bitstream can do some minimal NAL sorting to decode just the AVC component of the bitstream. We plan to add support for sending an AVC bitstream if the remote client requests it. In the future we may also support H.263.

Q: Is there a RFC for H.264/SVC packetization?
A: The packetization has not yet advanced to RFC status. We are currently using one of the more recent drafts (need to check on exactly which one). We plan to move to the final version when it is available.

Q: How can a 3rd-party client interop with Gmail voice and video chat?
A: Right now, any client that supports the Google Talk "session" extension to XMPP and a compatible set of codecs can participate in calls with Gmail voice and video chat. Now that the official Jingle specifications are becoming final, we plan to move to using XEP-0166, XEP-0167, and XEP-0180.

Q: Will a desktop version be available?
A: Please see this post on the Google Talk Blog.

Say hello to Gmail voice and video chat

It's here!  Today we're launching voice and video chat, right inside Gmail. We've tried to make this an easy-to-use, seamless experience, with high-quality audio and video. And we've built this product using Internet standards, such as XMPP, RTP, and the newly-standardized H.264/SVC video codec.

This product was a lot of fun to create, and it's just as much fun to use. Check it out in the product video below, and then head on over to http://mail.google.com/videochat to try it for yourself.

This is just our first version, and we have a lot more planned. We're always glad to hear feedback from users - tell us what you think by leaving a comment on this blog or sending me an email (juberti). If you really like it, feel free to say so over a video chat!

Using Google Talk chatback from Blogger

If you're interested in allowing readers of your Blogger blog to chat with you, it's pretty easy to do so with Google Talk chatback.

To add chatback to your blog, first go and create a chatback badge at http://www.google.com/talk/service/badge/New. Configure it to your liking with the "Edit" link, and the copy the HTML from the box at the bottom to your clipboard (Ctrl+C, or Apple+C)

Then, log in to Blogger and choose the "Layout" tab for your blog. Decide where you'd like the chatback widget to go, and choose the appropriate "Add a Page Element" link.

When presented with the list of possible elements, choose "HTML/Javascript". A window with a "Title" and a "Content" box will pop up. In the "Title" area, you can type whatever you want for a heading, such as "Contact Me". In the "Content" area, paste the HTML you copied before (Ctrl+V, or Apple+V). Click "Save" and the window will close.

You'll then see the new page element show up on your blog layout. Choose "Save" again on that page, and you should get a message indicating that "Your changes have been saved". Your chatback badge will then be live, and will show up the next time you view your blog.

Tip: You can customize your chatback badge to match the look of your blog by specifying the font and color used in the badge. Learn how to do so in this post on the Google Talk blog.

Google Talk goes Green

From our Official Google Talk Blog:

Here at Google, we're committed to helping build a clean energy future and reducing our carbon footprint. And now Google Talk is part of the solution. We don't know about you, but we were surprised to learn the inconvenient truth that every character (byte) we send in a message results in about 0.0000000000000000034 metric tons* of CO2 being released into the atmosphere! So if we can reduce the number of characters we send when we chat with all our friends, we can help the environment at the same time.

Teenagers (and some adults) must be aware of this, because they already reduce their character usage by abbreviating words and dropping vowels when they send IM and SMS (text) messages. We think this is a great idea. If all our millions of users started using IM-speak, we'd save hundreds of millions of wasted (and environmentally damaging!) characters.

For example, if we want to say:
As far as I'm concerned, you can give me the twenty dollars you owe me when I see you later.

You could save more than 50% in wasted characters by saying:
AFAIC, U can gve me the 20 $$ YOM whn I CUL8R.

In honor of Earth Day (3 weeks from today: April 22, 2008), on that day our Google Talk servers will start automatically sending your conversations using IM-speak instead of normal words. But you can help save some computing power (and more wasted energy!) by shortening your conversations yourself.

Of course, if you want to make an even bigger difference, you may want to look into becoming a Virgle Pioneer.