Google has rolled out a new version of Hangouts for Android that includes listening, so if someone asks you ‘where are you?’ it will offer to help.  It will create a location pointer that can be sent with one click:

Bradley Horowitz, Google+ head of products, announced the new feature at LeWeb last Friday, saying it was an extension of the technology behind Google Now.

This might seem like a small capability, but consider how helpful it would be in general. Imagine a chat bot that would bring documents into context when their contents are being discussed, or allows for the creation of an event on your calendar with the person you are chatting with invited because you have just set up a lunch meeting.

Of course, there is something a bit creepy about the app reading what we are writing, so I’d want to be able to opt out, too. But I guess if it was making smart suggestions — like offering up flight information when I mentioned travel plans — I’d opt to keep it on.

Other features include stickers, video filters (sepia, black and white, and others), and ‘last seen’ timestamps for your contacts.

The new Hangouts should be available for iOS in the near future.