Google is planning to introduce a Zoom-like gallery view to its Meet video conferencing service and also allow users to take calls right from Gmail.
Google’s GM and VP of G Suite Javier Soltero made this known during an interview with Reuters. The new features are coming in the wake of the growth of the Meet platform as families, students, and workers use the service while at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The coming gallery view will allow users to display about 16 meeting participants in one frame. Soltero revealed that this functionality is coming later this month. Zoom’s gallery view, by contrast, lets you see the thumbnails of up to 49 people in one screen if you have a powerful enough CPU to display them all.
Meet’s new incorporation with Gmail looks as if it will let Meet users start or answer a call right from their Gmail window, similar to how you can start or answer calls using Hangouts, Google’s consumer-focused chat, and videoconferencing app, in Gmail.
According to Google, the feature will begin rolling out for G Suite customers today on the web and to mobile at a later date.
Google in a statement said, “With more and more people working and learning from home, we want to make it easier for you to connect and keep things moving forward.
“With Meet in Gmail, you can easily start or join a meeting in seconds. Our goal is to help you follow the flow of the day, seamlessly switching between email and video meetings, whichever form of communication you need.”
As part of the updates, Google is allowing its users on Meet to improve video quality when they have dim lighting conditions and to filter out background noise while they are on a call. Reuters reports that those features will also be added later this month.
