Prior to the pandemic, videoconferencing tools were rather a dull area of tech. Whereas this year due to Covid-19 they have become a crucial lifeline and many of us have adopted the habit of dealing with people over videotelephony and chat services enabled apps such as Cisco Webex, Google Meet, Zoom. 

Cisco recently introduced a bunch of new features for Webex aiming to improve work from home services. The new update includes a tool that is able to create meeting highlights on just verbal command. By use of which one can easily convert a phone call to a video call and other. 

The video telephony and chat services enabled apps are fierce than ever. Zoom leading the list with all the best yet unchallenging features. As the tough competition amongst these apps including Microsoft's Teams and Verizon's BlueJeans, Cisco felt urgency to level up its game to stay competitive. Hence added some of the best features.

Here are some of the new features Cisco introduced recently:

Noise cancellation: Webex will automatically "detect and suppress" common noises such as rustling papers and loud typing. 

Transcription: Webex will generate searchable transcripts of calls, making it easy to catch up if you've missed a meeting. It's also adding closed captioning, which will it easier for hearing impaired people participate in virtual meetings. 

In-meeting gestures: Coming next year, meeting participants will be able to make a "thumbs up" with their hand and Webex's AI will translate that motion into a thumbs up icon on the screen for everyone to see (helpful for people who have a hard time finding the buttons on the app). 

Real-time translation: Starting in February, you can listen in on a meeting where the speaker is using a different language and get a real-time transcription. Each meeting participant can choose which language they want. The feature will be available in English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Dutch and Japanese.

Meeting templates: Using the roundtable meeting template, for example, every participant will have the opportunity to speak once before anyone speaks twice. This feature is also coming soon

Source: CNN

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Apple Inc and Google said they are putting stronger privacy protections in their upcoming contact-tracing tool for Covid-19 and that an early version will launch for developers next week.

The companies said the system’s tracking keys — a string of characters linked to a user’s device — will be generated in more random ways, and that Bluetooth data will now be encrypted, making it more difficult for individuals to be identified by hackers. Apps using the tool will also now limit the recording of the time people are exposed to an infected person to a maximum of 30 minutes.

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The system unveiled two weeks ago, will add technology to the iOS and Android operating systems that alert users if they have come into contact with a person with Covid-19. The companies are now calling the technology Exposure Notification, a term they said more accurately describes the functionality.

The first phase — tools for public health apps to add contact tracing — will launch publicly in mid-May after an early beta version of the software is released to developers next week. In the coming months, the technology will be embedded more deeply into the Apple and Google operating systems to be less reliant on apps.

The companies also explained that if a person inputs that they have tested positive for Covid-19 into the system, they will be added to a positive diagnosis list so the system can notify other people they have come into contact with. They reiterated that the system doesn’t reveal a user’s identity or location to Apple or Google.

The companies are also adding new features for public health developers to build contact-tracing apps. The system will give apps data on the strength of Bluetooth signals so the distance between devices can be more accurately estimated. Developers will also be able to specify distance and time to determine what constitutes Covid-19 exposure for their apps. The tool will also determine how many days since a person has been exposed.

Apple said that the software update to enable the system will work on devices released in the last four years. Google said the tool will work with Android 6.0 or higher, which covers about 2 billion gadgets.

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Due to COVID-19, many companies had to modify to Home Offices. And continue with their regular operations but all online. Thus, encouraging the use of apps with functions of videotelephony and online chat services such as Google Meet.

Lately, more and better functions are being added to the apps with the help of collaborations that Google does with programmers who design extensions in its browser. 

So, here are a few extensions that will help you step up your productivity through a video call.

Google Meet Call Timer

This extension allows you to know the duration of your Google Meet Call. As a timer is added to your Google Meet Calls. 

Google Meet Grid View

Each participant in the meeting is given an equal size of video without keynoting a speaker in this new extension. One can enable Grid View in google meet by clicking the button in the top right bar right next to the chat and participant list.

Google Meet Push To Talk

This extension simply serves as a plugin that allows you to mute and unmute the sound by just pressing a key(space bar) rather than fumbling around the mute icon. 

Nod–Reactions for Google Meet

When running larger meetings on Google Meet, it can be difficult to evaluate feedback in real-time as you speak. Nod allows team members to send real-time reactions to presenters and speakers during meetings on Google Meet such as raising a hand, clapping.

Source: google news

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