Google on Wednesday announced a major redesign for its Google+ social networking site that will introduce a more functional and flexible user experience. The new interface focuses on customization, Google’s Hangout video chatting service and features that will make it easier to discover new conversations and profile pages. One of the first improvements users will notice is a revamped navigation bar located on the left-hand side of the screen. The “ribbon of applications” can be dragged, dro...

Video calling has been extremely slow to catch on, but adoption is finally set to explode according to a recent forecast from NPD Group-owned market research firm In-Stat. According to the firm’s figures, 63 million people could be counted as active video calling users in 2010. In 2015, that number is expected to balloon to 380 million. “While the mobile arena is relatively nascent, it has fueled much of the growth in usage over the course of 2011,” In-Stat analyst Amy Cravens said in a statement. P...

Skype on Thursday announced that its Mac OS X and Windows beta clients now support video calls to Facebook users. Skype introduced a Facebook-to-Facebook video client for the social network in July, but now users on both platforms can video chat with one another. Users who choose to download Skype 5.7 Beta on Windows or Skype 5.4 Beta on Mac will be prompted to enter in their Facebook credentials. Once logged in, Facebook friends will be presented on the Skype buddy list and a video chats can easily be initia...

Tango, the popular cross-platform video calling application for PC, Android and iPhone, launched on Wednesday as the first video-chat application for Windows Phone 7.5 devices. You will need a front-facing camera to take advantage of the face-to-face chat feature, which means you’ll also need to own one of the newer Windows Phone 7.5 devices such as the Samsung Focus S, Samsung Focus Flash or HTC Titan. We installed the application this morning and gave it a quick test over a 3G network. The video quali...

Fresh on the heels of launching a client for the iPad, Skype released Skype version 5.3 for Mac on Monday. The update adds support for Apple’s latest OS X Lion operating system as well as HD video chat. Users will now be able to send and receive HD-quality video using their built-in Mac webcams or other HD-capable cameras. Skype says that the feature will work best for those with internet connections that can maintain at least 1.5Mbps upload/download throughput. The software is compatible with with OS X...

Facebook on Wednesday took the wraps off of the latest major addition to the world’s most popular social network: video chat. Through a partnership with Skype, Facebook video users will now be able to video chat with each other through the company’s new service… for free. The service works just like Skype’s standard video calling service, but video calls can be initiated right from within the Facebook website with a simple click. “A few months ago, we started working with Skype to b...

Skype announced on Wednesday that its Android application now supports video calling on select devices. The application is particularly attractive because it allows mobile users to connect with other users on Mac, Windows, TV, iOS, or other Android devices. Skype says the app was built with a complete new redesign, too, which includes a new main menu, easier contact navigation, quick access to your profile, and more. There’s even a new “mood” message box that allows you to show what you̵...

Google has started to build its open-source WebRTC software into its Chrome web browser, according to CNET. WebRTC was introduced in May as a new open tech that allows developers to create quick HTML and Javascript APIs for building voice and video chat applications on the web. With WebRTC built into Chrome, users would presumably be able to initiate video chats over Gmail’s Google Talk chat application without the need for installing Google’s plug-in first. “Our goal is to enable Chrome wit...

Sprint announced on Tuesday that it will offer the Wi-Fi version of Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet for $499 beginning June 24th. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 runs Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) and sports a 10.1-inch display, a 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 3-megapixel camera, and a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video chats. We recently reviewed the Galaxy Tab 10.1 developer edition, loaded with Android 3.0, and while it had some faults we still noted that it’...

HP’s webOS is already tightly integrated with a number of services but now it appears that the OS will soon offer Skype integration, too. According to leaked screenshots, users will soon be able to choose to route their calls directly through Skype from the phonebook application, an option that will no doubt save international callers a big chunk of change. Similarly, users may also be able to place Skype video calls, allowing them to use the front-facing camera on the Pre 3 for video chats. It’s ...

HP has posted a new video for its highly anticipated TouchPad tablet on YouTube, and it highlights several of the tablet’s distinguishing features. In the three minute clip, HP demos the ability to manage tasks simultaneously, the speed of the dual-core Qualcomm processor, HP Synergy, light gaming, HTML5 and Adobe Flash support, Citrix Receiver, video calling, and HP’s Touch To Share technology for keeping your webOS phone and tablet in sync. The TouchPad is set to debut on July 1st for $499.99. H...

We’ve seen plenty of leaked shots of the DROID 3 (also known as the Milestone 3 in Europe), but now you can get a glimpse of the clearest one yet. The phone first surfaced in March, again in April, and then the specs were leaked in May. The bad news is that it’s becoming more and more clear that the phone will be nearly identical in looks to the DROID 2. The good news is there’s decent spec boost. The DROID 3 should sport a 4-inch display with 960 x 540 qHD resolution, a dual-core processor,...

We had heard early rumors, but now it’s official — the 16GB Wi-Fi edition of RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook is now available from Sprint for $499.99. If you’re unfamiliar with the specs, here’s a quick rundown of what the tablet has to offer: the PlayBook sports a 7-inch 1024 x 600 WSVGA display, a 1GHz dual-core processor, support for 1080p HDMI-out, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat, 1GB of RAM, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR s...

Motorola took the wraps off of the DROID BIONIC back during CES 2011, shortly thereafter announced that it had delayed the device until summer. Now, the first shots of the newly redesigned DROID BIONIC are beginning to surface. The images show the device has — what appears to be — a new version of Motorola’s MOTOBLUR user interface. We assume most of the other specs remain the same: the phone clearly shows an 8-megapixel camera capable of recording 1080p video, it has a 4.3-inch qHD display, and sup...