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A comment on Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app. Parent comment

Re:Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app by CoryG89 on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @10:43AM (#12548577)
Maybe it's just me, but I kind of find this a bit creepy. It seems to me that it would be similar if the phone companies allowed you to listen to someone calling you while it was still ringing for them.

Maybe it's not quite what I am thinking though. I can't tell if the video preview is live or if it's something recorded before the call is made.

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Re:Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app by zeveb on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @12:14PM (#12549538)
> Maybe it's just me, but I kind of find this a bit creepy.

As long as the person on the other end knows that he's on-camera, I think it's NBD. The trick is ensuring that eh really does know that, and isn't picking his teeth, washing his hands &c.

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Re:Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app by what_ever on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @12:43PM (#12549876)
Actually the person calling is on camera and the person on the receiving end sees the preview. Person on the receiving end is not on the camera until they accept the call.
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Re:Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app by zeveb on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @01:54PM (#12550575)
That's what I meant — the caller is on-camera, the callee is not, the caller knows he's on-camera, all is well with the world.
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Re:Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app by thebaer on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @11:02AM (#12548766)
It's live, and it says at the top: "the camera is on" basically. It's like the call already started as far as the caller is concerned -- no ringing necessary.
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Re:Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app by robotresearcher on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @03:25PM (#12551395)
I screen lots of calls via the ansaphone on my landline. It's a feature I would miss if I went mobile-phone-only.

I like the idea for video calls too.

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Re:Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app by tw04 on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @01:22PM (#12550262)
The person calling is the one who is being previewed. As the caller you can disable it if you don't like the feature.
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