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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Google Enters IM Market with Google Talk

Me, in WinInfo:

Internet search giant Google—which is quickly becoming a leading online media company—today launched Google Talk, an instant messaging (IM) solution. Based on the Jabber IM standard, Google Talk can communicate with users of Jabber, iChat, and Trillian, and Google says it will soon open up the tool to users of MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).

Google Talk is open to the public and is free, without ads, and requires a Gmail user account. Users without a Gmail account will receive one when they sign up for Google Talk, the company says, assuming they don't mind providing Google with their cellphone number in order to prevent people from squatting on valuable email addresses.

Compared to other IM solutions, Google Talk is lean both graphically and feature-wise. While the system offers text and voice chatting and clean, uncluttered interface, it does not offer any video features and can't be used as a telephony solution. However, Google's products are perpetually in beta and are often upgraded quickly. The company says that its rapid-fire update policy and adherence to Internet standards will set Google Talk apart from the competition.

So this looks pretty good. I have, however, had some serious issues getting it to work with iChat AV. If I understand this correctly, you can't actually chat with iChat AV users from Google Talk using the iChat network. Instead, the iChat user has to have configured a Jabber account. That's too bad, but hopefully will be fixed.

Also, there are serious problems configuring iChat to use your Google Gmail/Talk account via its support for Jabber. This site has instructions for making it work, but I haven't tried it yet.

If you want to test Google Talk, drop me a note and I'll send you a Gmail invite. I have 49 (of 50, heh) left. I don't check Gmail as often as my main account, so it might take a few hours.

Finally: Where is the Google Talk panel for Google's Sidebar?

Related: Google Talk (Windows only)

[ Posted at 12:04 PM | Permalink ]