Google has launched and killed so many communications services and apps that it’s not even funny to joke about it. Every time a new one comes along, we inevitably wonder how long before the company will bury its features in something else that it has, or just completely kill it – only to then launch something similar a few months or years later.
Now, the time has come for Google Duo to get the bile. At least that’s what sources say 9to5Google. Duo was launched many years ago alongside Allo, which was the text chat company for Duo’s video chat functionality.
It was always surprising how Google missed that people might want to use one app for both text and video chat, but anyway, long story short – Allo had a very quick death while Duo has lived so far, even supporting added for group video calls (regardless of how that conflicts with the app’s short name).
And yet – Javier Soltero, Google’s G Suite boss, was put in charge of its consumer services in May. And it seems he does not think Duo and Meet should exist together. Thus, Meet will be the only and only video calling service from Google, for both consumers and businesses.
This is said to be internally described as a merger of the two services, named Duet (because Duo + Meet = Duet). This development is shocking when a surprise came for the Duo team.
It’s unclear exactly when Duo will come under sun, apparently it could take up to two years for us to be there. However, before that happens, some of its features will be brought to Meet. Things like end-to-end encryption, 3D effects, and being able to contact users via phone number will all make the cut.
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