Comment by h00k | Hacker News Reader

Comment by h00k | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

D'aw, it's cute that Facebook is playing catch-up.

You can't share other information while you're chatting (watch a YouTube video together), it doesn't integrate with Skype contacts even though it uses Skype's services (read: network), and it's 1-to-1 calling (unlike Google+ Hangout), you can't turn off video and leave it only voice-only calling, you can't be selectively offline to people (you have to un-friend them).

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2011-07-06...

If you need me, I'll be using Google+ Hangouts instead.

EDIT: We're sorry. Video calling isn't available on this browser. Please try again with a different browser.

Their nifty 'use these browsers' post include my browser (Chrome[ium]). Well done!

EDIT 2: Note that video calling for Linux is not currently supported. You will need to use one of these browsers in a Mac or Windows operating system. If you’re having trouble with video calling, try upgrading or switching your browser using the links above.

Wow complain much? The thing just launched a couple hours ago. I think it just makes sense to integrate video calling with facebook--because today facebook is most people's worldwide, online contact book so to speak.

The idea is similar to the way google added voice calling to gchat.

While I'm not saying it's a bad idea to have voice and video, something makes me think implementation and release was hurried after Google+ release (EDIT: I'm sure they've been planning for a while, but I think Google+ prompted Facebook to push this out the door. I am, however, only speculating.), and that there are things that should be taken care of.

> The idea is similar to the way google added voice calling to gchat.

Voice-and-video chatting for Google Talk (which came out in 2008, remember when I said catch-up?) and was similar in that you could contact your google-talk friends with voice and video, sure, which is what they're enabling users to do today (2011).

While their page (http://www.facebook.com/videocalling) has an image Facebook + Skype, I would assume I could use it to connect with my Skype people as well, but that isn't the case.

Expansion to potentially add this in the future would be a good marketing ploy, however.

I'm one of those people who didn't get a Google Plus invite, so maybe I'm a bit bitter.

But no one else I know did either.

If facebook can replicate Plus's killer features, even approximately, before it gets put on open beta, it will lose it's ability to win users. Why would you want to maintain 2 social networking profiles when both networks do approximately the same thing?

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2717503 Add yourself, its being ran through. Throw your gmail in your profile, or here when complaining about an invite :)

But you have to hand it to Facebook for hearing about Google+ Hangouts on Monday and implementing video chat on Wednesday.

you can't be selectively offline to people (you have to un-friend them)

It looks like you can, the same way you can be offline in regular FB chat: by choosing a Friend List that contains the friend, and making yourself offline to that list. I'm currently offline to everyone on chat, except immediate family, and my closest friends.

>it doesn't integrate with Skype contacts even though it uses Skype's services (read: network)

I think that's a good thing for Facebook?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com