Apple laptop video google hangouts full#

There, you select the help icon in the upper right corner, and if you indicate you are interested in buying a device, you are given the option of making a video call to ask more questions. The feature for now is only live between 6am and 6pm Pacific time, and to get to it, you navigate through the online Google Play Store to the Devices category. Unlike Mayday, Google’s video helper currently does not cover straight tech support. It also bears a resemblance to Amazon’s Mayday service, the company’s tech support system introduced in 2013 that currently works only on Kindle Fire HDX, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9″, Fire HDX 8.9, and Fire Phone devices and in a limited number of countries. It’s not clear yet how far along Google is in implementing this concept of a virtual help desk in retail locations. “They are also planning to go into retail stores with a virtual help desk to enhance the shopping experience,” a source tells us, who described the bigger project as “Google’s virtual Genius Bar,” referring to the Apple Retail in-store operation where Apple employees, lined up behind a bar, offer in-person technical support on Apple devices. The service, which went live quietly in November, is initially being run as a test through the Devices channel of Google Play, but Google wants to extend the idea to more places, both virtual and physical.

Our sources provide some more information.

Apple laptop video google hangouts full#

“We’re in a limited trial of an experimental support feature and gathering feedback, so we aren’t ready to share full plans yet.” “We’re always improving features to help our users,” said a spokesperson.

We were tipped off to the service by some of the people working on the project, and Google has confirmed some of the details. (And unlike Helpouts, this service is free.) Now Google has developed another new service based on its Hangouts infrastructure. It is running a live video chat service for would-be buyers of Google smartphones, tablets and Chromebooks (but not Nest products) to ask Google Device Experts questions and chat about the products before sealing the deal. In 2013, Google expanded its Hangouts video conferencing service into a commerce platform called Helpouts, where people buy and sell services like cooking or technical advice via live video.