HBO GO on Ouya

The Ouya is nearing release. Itt will have a custom menu, it’s own app store... but what can the Ouya really do? It’s rocking a Nvidia Tegra 3 processor regulated to ignore battery saving features, it’s built on a modified Android source. Just how Android is it? Does this “hackable” console deliver the open and modifiable environment we are used to on Android? Is it a viable contender against the mk802IIIS or Dell’s Project Ophelia?

Today we will take a look at HBO GO streaming on the Ouya

They have recently pushed back the release date from June 5th to June 25th. They are saying this will allow them to better provide units for the incredibly high amount of pre-orders received and to fix an issue with the O.U.Y.A. buttons sticking under the removable magnetic battery face cover.

Google Hangouts and Talk both giving you notifications?

Some people have been getting double notifications on their devices since installing Google Hangouts, it will even play the notification sound for both. Clicking on the Google Talk notification doesn't seem to do  anything, so dismissing them on older Android versions can be a pain.

If you have been getting double notifications from Google Hangouts and Google Talk since upgrading to Hangouts here is something you can try:

Uninstall updates on Google Hangouts
Open Google Talk
Sign out of Talk
Update to Google Hangouts

It seems people that were logged into Google Talk during the upgrade have a chance of permanently getting stuck logged into Talk when Google Hangouts "replaced" it on their device.

I hope it resolves it for you.

Google+ app updated to include Google Hangouts... advertisement.

I just wrote about how Google released Hangouts and didn't include integration into the Google+ Messenger portion of the Google+ app.

Well the update to the Google+ app was released today. It now includes Google Hangouts... as an advertisement. If you goto Google+ Messenger you will be greeted with a rather large portion of your screen saying "Update to Hangouts Bring conversations to life with photos, emoji, and video calls for free."

I guess this ansewers the question as to if Google+ Messanger is going to be integrated into Googe Hangouts. The answer is no, your old converations are still trapped there, they just expect you to stop using it. Sure you might have months and months of converastions among multiple people that you would love to have transfered to Google Hangouts, but it looks like that just isn't going to happen.

It's better to know then to wonder I suppose.

HBO GO not supported by Comcast on Roku

Comcast has a Xfinity app for 360, iOS and Android along with a website for on demand. Comcast also allows HBO GO activation on the website, Android and iOS.

Interestingly though the Roku has a HBO GO app that has been left out in the dust. Comcast refuses to allow it's customers to activate it. Obviously this lowers the value of Comcast's Xfinity service for it's customer base.

No resolution has been alluded to, there are complaint threads on the Ruko and Comcast forums with no official word as to why Comcast limits it's users availability to services they pay for on arbitrary platforms. Why would HBO support the platform, while Comcast locks people out of it? It's a strange over site or frustrating limitation.

Google hangouts and Google Plus Messenger remain separate despite Google's attempts to unify

At the 2013 Google I/O it was announced that a new communications solution called Google Hangouts. Coinciding with the announcement was the release of the service, it is now possible to use Google Hangouts across multiple platforms including Google+, Gmail, Chrome extension, Android and iOS. Google Hangouts replaces Google chat / Gchat / Google Talk and allows everyone to communicate together that are using Google messaging solutions.

But hold the phone... there is something missing... Google Voice for one, but this integration is more of a wishlist feature, so far what Hangouts is unifying is instant messaging type services, not SMS and other telephony.

Number two, the most strange. The Google+ messenger. The Google Plus app for Android and iOS has always included it’s own communications client. If you look into it, you will find it’s nearly identical to Google Hangouts, it’s centered around conversations instead of contacts, it includes the same cloud based group chats, notifications for who is currently in the chat, who is typing, ability to start a video chat “hangout”; features in parallel with the new Google Hangouts. There is one clear issue. Apparently Google+ Messenger is the odd man out, as of now it does not integrate into the Google Hangouts “unification” effort, in fact, it’s completely segregated.

Despite being able to start a “hangout” in Google Plus Messenger, it is not a part of Hangouts. Even though both include Google+ circles they are not interoperable. Why is Google Plus Messenger still separate from Google Hangouts? Isn’t the segregation of Google’s instant messaging solutions the entire genesis for Google Hangouts? Why leave this fragmentation? Is an update to integrate them together forthcoming? I certainly hope so.

Currently the Google Plus Messenger function can be found in the Google+ Android app and the Google+ iOS app only. There is no website integration, no desktop client and no unification into the Google Hangouts communications solution. If you start a conversation with friends and family in these apps, there is no way to continue this conversation while away from your device. It’s locked into the mobile space entirely. Making it even more limited than Google Talk ever was. At least with Google Talk you could go from mobile to web and continue your conversation, something that Hangouts has only improved. With Google+ Messenger for Android and iOS those conversations are stuck right where they started.

There has been no official word on when integration is coming, no talk as to why it wasn’t part of the original unifying effort. Until this happens Google’s communication solutions will remain fragmented and short of the Hangouts vision as it was introduced.