Google is hoping to kill Facetime with their new video calling app ‘Duo’

Although quite late but better late than never, Google has released Duo, a Facetime killer one-to-one video calling application, across iOS and Android using your mobile number.

Google had unveiled the said application during its I/O conference back in May and just recently announced the launch of Google Duo. Google Duo is a free mobile-only and cross-platform video calling application which is, as Google claims, ‘fast‘ and ‘reliable‘.

Aiming at taking ‘complexity‘ out of video calling, the application will not require any of your accounts. The application will not even use one’s Google account but, instead, will only be using the user’s phone number to make video calls. The application claims to be fast and reliable.

Google has introduced a new catchy feature that will let the user see the caller even before he picks up the phone. The new feature has been called as “Knock Knock”. Google claims that the feature has been added to make calls more of an ‘invitation‘ rather than ‘interruption‘.

The application is pretty basic and, perhaps, that is what makes the application fast and reliable. The application will auto-switch between WiFi and Cellular data to ensure optimum calling experience. Designed to adapt to variable connectivity speeds, the application will change the resolution of the video to ensure seamless video calling.

Unlike Google Hangouts, Google Duo will be using the Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) and will be sending datagrams over UDP instead of TCP. The QUIC protocol will allow faster and reliable transfer of data. The calls will also be encrypted from one end to the other to ensure privacy.

The application has been made available to Android as well as the iOS, but as of now, the download hasn’t been made available in Pakistan. The users, however, can register and Google will intimate you as soon as the application is made available in Pakistan.

Register for Google Duo on Android | iOS.