As the first rumors started talking about Google’s Home Hub, people were shocked to find out about the possibility of the device not coming with a front camera for Duo calls.
The official announcement
We found out later, from an official announcement made by Google, that the rumors were right, and the company continued to explain why it chose to go about this way. Some say that the choice is an obvious way of sticking to a competitive price. The official reason was to keep your privacy intact.
Duo Audio Calls
At the time we still didn’t know if Home Hub would be genuinely able of supporting Duo calls, even if it didn’t have a camera. In a tweet released a few weeks ago, Google confirmed that they would be available. However, they had to issue a support page so that people will find out how to set this feature up and how to use it.
Uncertainty
Frankly, the page isn’t that clear. It looks like they copied the Smart Display support documents and they only performed minor adjustments. At the top of the page, there’s a note saying that “The device being used to contact your Google Home Hub must have a camera in order for the video calling feature to work.”
The bottom line
The note seems to say that the other person would have to have a camera. However, Google reached out to people to let them know that Home Hub fully supports Duo audio calls without the need of any one of the two persons to have a camera on either end.
You can video call your Home Hub from your phone and whoever answers it will be able to see you, while you will just hear them and see their photo.
Juana loves to cover the tech and gaming industry, she always stays on the first row of CES conference and reports live from there.
