Google creates Duo to regain market share

GOOGLE nailed e-mail with the 2004 introduction of Gmail. Now it is the leading form of electronic correspondence in the US.

But as traditional e-mail falls out of favour, Google has struggled to make its tools relevant or introduce new ones that resonate with younger users.

However, Google is trying again with a new video chat application called Duo. The app works with mobile devices running Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iOS. It runs on wi-fi and cellular networks, automatically switching between different types and speeds of connection and adjusting video quality.

Duo also uses phone numbers, rather than a Google account or Gmail address.

A confusing array of communication options has held Google back. It has two e-mail services, Gmail and Inbox;three text offerings, Hangouts, Messenger and the upcoming Allo; and now two video chat services, Duo and Hangouts.

This scattershot approach, and Google’s late start, is becoming costly. “Google missed it because… you needed a Google ID to communicate,” said Ankit Jain, a former Googler and executive at SimilarWeb.

Nick Fox, Google veteran, was tasked by Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, with fixing the sprawl. His team formulated a strategy and started building Duo and Allo.

Fox said Duo was a mobile app that allowed one-to-one video calling. Allo was a messaging service that would also target consumers.

Duo constantly performs “bandwidth estimation” to understand how much video can be delivered. If wi-fi weakens, it switches to a phone’s cellular network. If the signal drops as low as 2G, Duo will cut video and maintain audio.

Allo will use Google’s expertise in artificial intelligence to automatically understand texts and provide useful suggestions. Google will also let third-party developers create chatbots that will interact with Allo users through messages. – Bloomberg