Google's new, unified Hangouts platform focuses heavily on its mobile apps, which give Android and iOS users a common platform for text and video chats. In theory, they're the cure for the consistency problems Google's messaging systems have faced for years. But are they the fixes we've all been waiting for, the all-encompassing solutions that have us dropping the likes of Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp? We gave Hangouts a test on both Android and iOS to find out -- check our impressions after the break.

Gallery: Google+ Hangouts app hands-on

Filed under: Internet, Mobile, Google

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The rumors were apparently true: Google's unified chat platform (widely nicknamed Babel) is launching as the new Hangouts, with new mobile apps to match. The messaging service puts Android, Chrome, Gmail and iOS all on the same page for the first time, focusing the interface on conversations that carry over from device to device. Across the board, you'll find consistent notifications, as well as emoji and shared photo pools that weren't in Google Talk. Contacts are still there, but they're pushed to the side in the mobile view. Live group video is new, too, while text chats have watermarks to clarify who's reading and typing. Everyone gets access to the updated Hangouts today. The Android and iOS apps are available as we write this; Gmail users can hit a "try it now" button, while Chrome users can install an extension. One word of warning: the Android app currently won't run on some tablets, including the Nexus 7.

Gallery: Google I/O 2013: Hangouts

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google

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Via: Official Gmail Blog, Google+ Project

Source: Chrome Web Store, App Store, Google Play

If you're still wielding a basic feature phone, you may be familiar with Google SMS Search: it's a handy tool that lets you text a search query and get a quick result. Or rather, it was a handy tool. Google now confirms that it quietly dropped the service within the past few days, delivering an automated shutdown warning to anyone messaging the short code. A Google employee explains the closure as a simple "streamlining" effort, although we've reached out for greater detail. It makes sense that Google would drop SMS Search when basic phones are quickly becoming the minority in a world full of web-friendly smartphones. However, the lack of advance notice could have some in that group upgrading their devices sooner than expected -- if that's even an option in the first place.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Google Product Forums

Google hasn't even officially launched Babel, but word on the street has it that the aforesaid term was being used internally to reference a new, unified chat platform. Now, TechRadar is reporting that Babel will simply become a part of Google Hangouts -- almost certainly as a means to continue the art of subtly shoving Google+ onto every user it can. Moreover, the newly expanded Hangouts could launch as early as next week during Google I/O, and we'll be there to bring you the goods if indeed it does.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Via: SlashGear

Source: TechRadar

It's not all WhatsApp and LINE. If you're in Korea, then your messaging app of choice is most likely to be Kakao Talk, and Evernote hopes that allying with the app will expand its remit and boost its presence in Asia. The team-up looks set to bring Evernote's services within the chat window of your Kakao Talk conversations, allowing users to share images, links and entire messages to their private note locker.

According to Evernote CEO Phil Libin, the company's products have typically been "quite introverted; keeping your own memories and information for your own use." He added that Evernote is always looking for ways to improve sharing and collaboration with the app: "There is a lot we can learn about sharing and communication by working with Kakao." The messaging app's CEO Lee Sir-goo added that the partnership would "elevate the status of Kakao Talk as a global mobile platform," with the Evernote-optimized iteration arriving in the next two to three months. Now, to figure out exactly how many messaging apps is too many messaging apps.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile

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Source: TNW, Korea Herald

Software developers looking to kickstart (or simply brag about) their security have a common trick up their sleeve: give away prizes to successful crackers. Redact is trying just such a strategy with its Secure Messenger app for iOS. It's offering £10,000 ($15,482) to anyone who can visit London and successfully intercept an encrypted message delivered through the company's peer-based, PIN-to-PIN communication system. Entrants have until June 1st to prove that they're worthy of making an attempt. Redact has more reason to hope we lose beyond its pride and a big fat check, however -- it wants approval for handling the UK government's secure data, and it wouldn't hurt to have proof that the app design is airtight. If you're convinced that it's all just bluster, you can challenge the company yourself at the source link.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet

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Via: The Guardian

Source: Redact

If you're an Android user who prefers Viber for VoIP and messaging, you may not want to leave your phone unattended in the near future. Bkav Internet Security has discovered an exploit that will bypass the lock screen on Android phones new and old (including the Nexus 4) as long as pop-up notifications are active. While the exact actions vary from phone to phone, all that's really needed is an incoming message or two, a handful of taps and the back button to reach the home screen. App users can disable the pop-ups as a short-term workaround, although they thankfully won't have to do that for long when Viber promises that a patch is on the way. There's only a small chance that a malicious attacker will both get their mitts on your phone and know that you've got Viber installed, but we'd advise against using statistical probability as a security measure.

Update: Sure enough, Viber has fixed the exploit in the days since we first posted the story. Chat away!

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: Bkav

When you're sharing a file in Google Drive, your time should be spent collaborating, not arranging conversations. Right? Google agrees strongly enough to have just finished tweaking Drive's web interface for better teamwork. Users actively working on the project now show as mouse-over icons, with their Google+ relationship front and center -- if they're not friends and you want them to be, you can change that almost immediately. It's even faster to start group chats, as a new dedicated button will launch a chatroom for everyone who's currently looking at the project. Google expects the speedier Drive socialization to reach us within a day or two, and it's planning to bolster the update with wider file support sometime in the near future.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: Google Drive Blog

For all the hullabaloo about Skype coming to BlackBerry 10, there wasn't much to show at the Z10's launch beyond a logo. We've got more to work with today -- sort of. A preview version of Skype has indeed popped up in BlackBerry World with voice, video and instant messaging like we've seen on other platforms. However, no one in the general public can actually use it yet: the app requires BlackBerry 10.1, which won't reach the market until the Q10 ships to Brits and Canucks. That leaves Americans and Z10 owners in the lurch for a few weeks, although they can at least see the light at the end of the VoIP tunnel.

Update: We've added the official press release after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Blackberry

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Via: MobileSyrup

Source: BlackBerry World