Google goes talking with Google Talk – New IM from Google …!

As the speculations were going for some time, and Google executives even denying it … But the search giant has now stepped into the Instant Messaging field by launching its IM service christened Google Talk .. It was released today without any fanfare … But many people had already tried connecting to their servers talk.Google.com after some details were leaked that its based on Jabber .. So .. Continuing the IM review tradition, here is my review ..
      It is indeed based on Jabber / XMPP protocol .. I downloaded the beta and installed it.. The interface is nice and uncluttered is very light on resource usage ..
Google Talk Main window

      

As soon as I run it it automatically found my gmail address and put it in the Username box .. I wonder where it found the same .. I think it checked the cookies stored on My Computer for Gmail …
      The features are still basic .. You can IM your contacts and like most competing products, Google Talk also has voice messaging features ..
Google Talk Voice facility
The incoming call alert is much like Yahoo Messenger … ( I cant help but compare those .. πŸ˜› )
Google Talk Incoming Call..
The look and feel is much like Gaim though .. See this :
Google Talk Incoming Call
.. And when you are talking to someone and another application has your focus, there is a New message notification just like RSS notification in Maxthon .. :
Google Talk New PM Notification
Thankfully it doesn’t steal the focus .. When you are talking to more than one people at once, the IM windows stick to eachother by themselves .. So there is not much clutter on your desktop ..
Google Talk two windows sticky
There is a new mail notification screen too .. This one looks nice ..
Google Talk New mail notification
.. That’s the end of features .. Yes ..!! There aren’t more features .. Thats why most of my friends didn’t liked it ..

There are no emoticons as yet .. No Conference facility too .. These two features we use a lot .. So until Google adds them to Google Talk, we are not going to use it as our default IM tool … πŸ˜› … The settings are also basic .. Most of the buttons on the Settings page doesn’t work at all .. πŸ™ .. The add contact screens aren’t also good looking .. Such bulky windows .. with large buttons .. Ewww ..
Google Talk Invite

Okay .. So Thats the end of review .. I am sure they will soon release another updated version so I didn’t much dig into it .. But here I want to talk about possibilities now .. When there were rumours that Google will soon release its Instant Messenger, Most of the people were thinking “Oh no .. Not another one …!” .. Although people like Google products because of the no nonsense packaging and content but there were apprehensions too .. Anyways .. What Google people did sensibly is that they didn’t started another chat protocol .. Infact they are offering choice for the users so that they can use this service with third party client software too … And as they are planning to support SIP soon too, I see quite of interest getting generated .. There is also some great talk on “Service Choice” and federation too …Its much like Microsoft’s Passport service where you can login to Passport supported sites with your Passport id without having to register at the site .. I just love this feature of MS and that is the sole reason I still have a hotmail address …
nbsp;     Surprisingly Search facility was missing from the IM, I feel it will be there soon .. What I am anticipating is how will AdSense be implemented in Google Talk .. If they come up with a revenue generating program with this IM, that I am sure will be a huge success .. While Yahoo’s ads in chatrooms are pain, they are irrelevant too .. Think of getting ads about Microsoft Windows when you are talking about Windows with your contact .. Now that will be something ..And if they start something where the users too can earn through IMing that will be great ..!!
nbsp;     Well well well .. I shall not jump into high clouds .. Lets see when they launch the final version .. You can download the beta version here .. You will need a Gmail address to use the service .. So if someone has recently returned from Planet Mars and is not having a Gmail address, you can request a Gmail invite here ..

12 thoughts on “Google goes talking with Google Talk – New IM from Google …!”

  1. Lol .. Actually I was writing about it already .. And they release it .. So I changed my story and made it a review .. My original article was whats written after the review .. I amended it too .. πŸ˜›

  2. bhai thanks a lot for visitng my site….
    actually my password was changed due to some technical errors…and i was not getting it…i mailed to admin many times….
    and today only i got the password….
    that too was in the spam folder :((((((((

    but now will start writing very soon…
    hav xams frm next week but still ..will try to write
    πŸ™‚

  3. Hmm… Well its Shahab Jafri πŸ˜› .. With my broken Arabi I can only say that Gmail is giving you some problems .. Well … this one seems to be a common problem .. Have you tried logging on with another id.. or at another system ..? Try checking your Proxy settings … Maybe thats where problem is .. πŸ™‚
    Good luck ..

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