Chrome users running the Canary or Dev channel versions of the browser don’t need a plug-in installed for video calls in Hangouts. The previously announced change of ridding Chrome’s plug-ins is live for those channels with both the Beta and Stable channels likely to follow soon. Google’s Chrome Stable version typically gets updated on a six-weeks cycle so it shouldn’t be long before all Chrome and Chrome OS users are rid of the old, downloadable plug-in needed for Hangouts.
The new Hangouts works with “WebRTC and some NaCl technologies”, noted Google’s Victoria Kurst in a Google+ post announcing the change. WebRTC stands for Web Real-Time Communications while NaCl means Native Client, a way for complied applications to run within a browser. We discussed this development, as well as other topics such as using a Raspberry Pi as a Google Cloud Print Server, on this week’s Chrome Show podcast. Tune in below or download the show here.
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