Google, the eponymous Internet search engine which could one day take over both GM and Ford Motor Company (just kidding), is getting chatty. I mean, Google will soon be launching chat features, called Google Talk. You can chat on Google if you have a Gmail ID, the by-invitation-only (so far). According to Google, Gmail account holders need to download the chat client, which takes about three minutes if you have broadband.
What does Talk have that other service providers don’t? To use a favorite term of the suits in the IT trade, the "differentiator" is that you get to decide how you want to get with your friends who are online."Email and instant messaging don’t have to be so different. And why should you always have to remember whether something important was said over email or IM?" says Google’s sales spiel. Indeed. Google Talk allows users to, get this, save chats, so you can search for them, print them, even reply to one over email.
The Talk client allows you to make free voice calls through your computer. "And there’s the Google Talk network. That’s the millions of people who use the Google Talk IM service, or a service that supports open server-to-server federation to chat with each other instantly. Gmail’s now on this network, which means that there are lots more people you can chat with from your Gmail account," it says.
What made Google attach chat to Gmail? The primary reason, it says, is to remove frustration from communications. You exchange a bunch of emails with someone when really, you’d rather just get an answer instantly. You use one program for your email, and another one for IM. You can’t remember who said what to you where. And sometimes you can’t even remember who wallaby385 in your buddy list is," the company says.Google claims that Gmail’s chat features address a lot of these problems.
"You don’t have to use another program or switch between email and IM—it’s all on the same interface. The friends you’re already emailing the most show up in your Quick Contacts as themselves, not the cryptic IM names they chose six years ago. And you can save your chats so you never have to lose something important just because someone told it to you over IM," it says.
Once you access your Gmail account, a window opens on your screen, displaying your Quick Contacts list. "Clicking on a name in Quick Contacts will start a chat session or an email," it says. Google Talk currently works on Windows IE 6.0+ and Firefox 1.0+. Happy chatting.