Google Plus Hangout - Nephew Max

Here is a fun picture of my nephew Max from a Google Hangout Video Chat last evening. Arrrrrr...this homemade baby food is terrrrrific!

He is just too cute and if you haven't ever tried the Google Hangout feature of Google Plus, you really need to!  It is so convenient and easy for group chats.

As a family, we have used it for multiple special occasions.  My sister Jen utilized it for her baby gender reveal party as shown below.

Me on the big screen on Google Hangout

We had 7 people/locations in total

To start your own hangout with friends or family, just follow the few easy steps here http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1215275

It's super easy and everyone can hear and see everyone else in real time and you can click an individual person to have them be in the main window or you can let the software do it for you based on who is talking.  I like to manually pick the focus window, I find that having it change based on who is talking gets a bit hectic. 

The pirate hat and mustache on Max are part of the Google Effects tab you'll see along the top of the screen, it's pretty fun and there are lots of accessories and options to choose from. The software recognizes where your face is and the items remain on your face/head as you move around the screen.

You can also share your screen or certain application windows with others as well. 

I don't currently utilize Google + for the Facebook like features, but we definitely enjoy utilizing Google Hangout and I wanted to let you know about that in case you weren't aware!  The only current limitation is a max of 10 people at a time. 

They appear to be adding new features and functionality to it all the time and I just noticed that you can even broadcast and record your Google Hangout sessions with a feature called On-Air.  Pretty cool! 

Check out the video below to see highlights of a recorded Google Plus Hangout session with Conan O'Brien. 

Posted in: google hangout on-air , google plus hangout