Last week at the Google I/O developer conference, Google announced a revamped Google+ featuring a brand new Hangouts app which now becomes a full-featured messaging service, integrating the current Google Talk app with support for emoji, video calls and group chats.
And, in true Google style, the developers have added six Easter Eggs that can be used in any Hangout chat. With the Easter Eggs, users can trigger a shy dinosaur to hide behind a house, an angry mob or even a pony to run across the chat box. Also, users can use the Easter Egg commands to change the background colour of the text box.
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On the other hand, what Google gives it also takes in equal measure. It appears that those who have upgraded to the new Hangouts app have lost the ability to make or receive Google Voice calls within the desktop Gmail client. Gmail users in the US have been particularly hit hard by the omission, as Google Voice also supported free calls within the US. One workaround for this would be the option to revert to the old Google Talk service, which should buy the company some time as it goes ahead with its promise of adding support for new features to the Hangouts app.
