Meta’s announced some new updates for audio and video calling via Messenger and Facebook, just in time for your holiday catch-ups.

First off, Meta’s rolling out HD video calls, which will now be enabled by default for video calls made on WiFi. 
 you’ll also have the option to switch on HD video calls using mobile data as well, providing improved video calling within its apps.

The crispness of HD will really make your video calls so much clearer, and your connections while you're video chatting will be stronger.

And that's not all: Background noise suppression and voice isolation will roll out from Meta to help you make clearer, higher-quality calls.

Meta's also giving you audio or video voice messages when people don't answer your call. While iOS users can also ask Siri to help them with sending the text message.

According to Meta:

"When your hands are full or your phone is out of reach, you can now ask Siri to help you make your calls and messages wherever you are. Try something like: "Hey Siri, send a message to Cassandra on Messenger" and then dictate what that message will be."

And Meta being Meta, it also isn't allowed not to include any generative AI feature in the update.

"In September, we announced new ways to personalize Messenger chat themes with unique, AI-generated images from Meta AI. Soon, you'll be able to use AI backgrounds in Messenger video calls to reflect how you're feeling or just add a little excitement to your call."
Yeah, not a huge fan of these AI-generated images, and Meta's insistence on getting people to generate them in-stream. But this could be a fun, customized option for your video calls, with generated images to go along with your video chats.

And many are using Meta's video calling options to stay in touch. Meta says that its users spend more than 7 billion cumulative minutes on calls across Facebook and Messenger every day.

Which sounds like a lot, but granted the ease of connectivity, and the reach of Meta's apps, it is understandable that people are making use of those options.

These new updates could be extremely valuable in helping to enhance connection over the holiday period.