Tech Brief: Google's Hangouts Meet Is Now Google Meet

Google appears to be sunsetting the Hangouts brand. At least that's the latest indication, for the search giant has rebadged its Hangouts Meet video conferencing tool to Google Meet. The move comes three years after the company splintered Hangouts into two — Chat and Meet — as part of its transition to G Suite. In the interim, Google's consumer facing chat alternative Allo shut down (Duo is doing very well, thank you) and Google Messages Android app gained rich messaging capabilities like file transfer, group chats, and typing indicators. While the rebrand appears to be still a work in progress (the Android and iOS apps still retain the old name), it remains to be seen if Hangouts Chat will receive the treatment and renamed as Google Chat... err Google Talk.

Update: Google has followed up Hangout Meet's rebrand with a similar name change for its Slack competitor Hangouts Chat. The workplace messaging app has been rechristened Google Chat, with the consumer version of Hangouts set to operate in the same vein for the foreseeable future. That leaves Google with Duo for video chats, RCS-based Android Messages and Hangouts for regular messaging, Google Chat and Meet for enterprise messaging and video conferencing, and Google Fi and Voice for telephony and call forwarding services. Needless to say, Google's approach to messaging remains one of the most confusing and frustrating moments in software history, not to mention a squandered opportunity. Here's a breakdown of Google's major messaging offerings over the years -

• Messaging services: Google Chat, Google Duo, Google Meet (previously discontinued - Orkut, Google Talk, Google Buzz, Google Plus Huddle, Google Plus Hangouts, Hangouts, Google Allo, YouTube private messaging)
• SMS/RCS and telephony services: Google Voice, Android Messages app with RCS chat integration
• Workplace collaboration: Google Currents, Google Docs editor chat (previously discontinued - Google Wave)
• Others: Google Search and Maps chat with businesses