Google Hangout - A Better Option Than Skype

You must have used Skype to chat with your friends or family who are abroad or even used the video chat feature.

However, if you wish to chat with 3 or 4 people living at different locations around the world, then Google hangout can turn out a wonderful application for you.

Hangout is Google's chat room, where you can chat with several friends or people at a time and is a better option than Skype as it is very easy and has many benefits.

On Google hangout, you can invite up to 9 friends for video chat. If you are already using Google then using this free application is all the easier. Google users need not make a separate account for this purpose.

Whereas on Skype you can video chat with only 1 person at a time. If you need to add a third person to the video chat then you need to upgrade to Skype Premium or else remain limited to just audio chat.

Google hangout interface is much better and easier, as compared to Skype's. Fun features like the emoticons are very pleasant. Also, in the hangout, you can share your screen very easily.

You need only to click the screen share button. This will open up all the windows making it very easy for you to share. You just need to select the windows you wish to share and click on the share button

Sharing can also be done on Skype but the process is a bit more complicated.

Google hangout gives you the facility of many applications like youtube, Google docs and Slideshare.

For instance, you can share a document while at the same time draw a diagram together, using the Cacoo tool. You can also share a youtube video with friends and even though you are at different locations you can watch the video at the same time. You can also play games while chatting with friends.

Google hangout gives you all these facilities while on Skype, you can just share a single file.

This application gives you the option to broadcast your hangout live on Google plus and youtube. The hangout is automatically saved in your youtube account. The only drawback is that you cannot broadcast this hangout yourself, neither can you save this privately on youtube.

To operate hangout you just need a google plus or a Gmail account. You can then take the benefits of other Google services,

In Skype, you need to download the application separately and then make an account on Skype. Since it is a separate application you will need to update it regularly and it has no other uses.