Rumors abound that Google plans to launch an instant messaging (chat) application, Google Talk, tommorrow.

"Continuing its rapid expansion into new product categories, the Internet search giant plans to launch an instant messaging program called Google Talk as early as Wednesday, according to people familiar with the service.

"According to a person who has seen the service, Google plans to let users chat using more than just their keyboards. Like similar programs from competitors, Google Talk also will let computer users with a headset have voice conversations with other computer users with headsets, this person said.

"One source said Google intended to release the product Wednesday. Another source did not know when Google planned to release Google Talk, but said the company had been testing the service for at least a month.

"A spokeswoman for Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said early Monday that the company planned to release a new product this week. She declined later in the day to say whether that product was Google Talk."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fi-google23aug23,0,1191504.story

I saw this coming, but I expected it to have a cool name, like "Gmail Messenger, a way to chat with your Gmail buddies". Tommorrow is the day it's likely to be launched, and I'm going to be one of the first to review it!

This is a good news but will I be able to use it? My yahoo instant messanger is not even working here because everything is configured by the company.

Or can anyone be of help?

This is definitely something worth looking into. Thanks for the "heads up!"

Well, I can't wait to try it. I'm into anything that has the brand Google (except the Picasa). A great step in the continuation of the fierce competition between Google and rival companies like Yahoo and AOL.

i'd give up yahoo and msn if its as good as thier other services

We Nigerians are quick to make judgements.

We will dump "A" and still come back to thesame "A" at a mere challenge of using the later.

GP have you tried Yahoo Web Messenger? I mean since your company blocks the normal messenger.

Google has been working on an IM client for sometime now. There people who reported seeing traces of a chat protocol in their desktop search tool.

Since their acquisition of Picasa in Jul 2004, there has been strong speculations that Google will make Hello(www.hello.com),which is a Picasa product.

I hope the product will have a good reception, but i don't see it displacing yahoo and other well established IM services.

I think they should do what they always do. Corporate solutions. The messenger can be designed to suit inter-company support and client support needs.

GP, i go where quality is. I've moved away from yahoo ever since i got a gmail account. its plainly superior

Since having a gmail account, I've rarely used it. I'm so accustomed to Yahoo, which has never done anything for me to abandon it, that I'm afraid I may do the same with the Google chat.

Like they say, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it" That's the way I feel about Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Messenger. I'll check out Google, but I'm not making any promises of a switch.

trust me gmail rocks compare to yahoo. The features says it all. Just try it for one week

kazey:

trust me gmail rocks compare to yahoo. The features says it all. Just try it for one week

Ok I will give it a trial.

I will open tomorrow.

hehe you too? nice. Google you need to pay me for marketing o..

"I'm on Google Talk right now. Google Talk = Google's new IM service that they're announcing tomorrow. All you need is a Jabber-compatible Instant Messaging client (such as Apple's iChat, or GAIM), and a GMail address."
http://www.smashsworld.com/2005/08/im-on-google-talk-right-now.php

For the impatient ones among us!

I don't mean to sound slow but what exactly is GAIM?

Google talk. I bet it'd be better than Yahoo/msn/aol.

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Today is my birthday, And, Whoever says the world doesn't evolve arround me is a liar, because today, It does. I am sixteen

I have tried Google Talk it fall short of what i expected, and others( http://news.com.com/Google+unveils+instant-messaging+entry/2100-1032_3-5842254.html?tag=nefd.top) have been complaining too.

I hope Google will work some magic soon to convince people why they will have to switch from the current IM clients they are using.

I've just downloaded gchat (google talk) and i must say i'm loving it. the voice quality is very lovely (or maybe google is just optimizing it over our network). and combined with google desktop and gmail i must say i'm feeling very excited right now. added the fact that gchat is so light compared to the rest of them. Yahoo has their work cut out for them cos i'm planning on converting everybody to the google world. and it's beta. expect great things......

Where's the link to download it?

http://talk.google.com (it's now been launched!)

Thanks for the link. I'll be among the first people to use it! Hurrah!!! Happy birthday to hot-angel and Google Talk, since you are both birthday-mates.

Google Talk

Fast download - about 3 minutes on a modem (900K)
Requires Windows XP/2000, minimum 56k (broadband recommended)
Mac and Linux users can connect to Google Talk using other IM clients

I checked it out, it's actually just based on Jabber and they put up their own server so they're using existing technology (which is open source btw people). Jeeks (a friend of mine in Sweden) and I tested it, and I don't see why I should leave Skype for Google Talk. To me it seems barebones but just usable. Don't really get why anyone will use Google Talk, it doesn't have anything that other IMs don't have.

yeah, i just started using it. irs great. i have to rea dup on all the features though

Don't really get why anyone will use Google Talk

In other words, it's not bloated! In addition to that, it's tightly integrated with GMail. THose who spend a lot of time using the Internet for critical taks tend to prefer software that's simple, fast, light, easy to use. Like Gmail and Google Talk.

Unfortunately, it's not working for me right now (

Seun:

In other words, it's not bloated! In addition to that, it's tightly integrated with GMail. THose who spend a lot of time using the Internet for critical taks tend to prefer software that's simple, fast, light, easy to use. Like Gmail and Google Talk.

I agree the first thing that made me really like gtalk was the amount of time it to to set up which was just under 5mins(downloading included) and besides all the clutter in the yahoo messenger is hardly being used anyhow. i mean in nigeria streaming music is hell, who checks out the foreign stock and other stuff like that.
Now combine gmail gtalk and google desktop( the version 2) and u have ur stock, ur rss feeds, news headlines updated frequently, integration between your gmail and outlook/thunderbird (if u use them). the only downside i can see to gtalk right now is maybe the fact that they do not have emoticons, video calling, call conferencing and a chat room for you chat lovers. since i hardly use any of the aforementioned, i don't feel the loss. Anyways it is still beta........

Did i metion the desktop browser also has a google search engine integrated.......

vexxy:

I don't mean to sound slow but what exactly is GAIM?

@ vexxy, seems nobody has answered you. Gaim is a multi-protocol messaging open source program. It works on Linux( thats what I use), and also on windows. It allows you to integrate all your IM clients in one program so you dont need to have MSN, Yahoo messenger, Aim, Jabber, Trillian etc. And it also uses the features such as emoticons of the native client. Check it out here: http://gaim.sourceforge.net/

Alas! the link did not work for me.

vexxy i feel u totally

"Since having a gmail account, I've rarely used it.  I'm so accustomed to Yahoo, which has never done anything for me to abandon it, that I'm afraid I may do the same with the Google chat.

Like they say, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it"  That's the way I feel about Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Messenger.  I'll check out Google, but I'm not making any promises of a switch."

as some nerdy guy said when reviewing google talk "WELCOME TO THe STONE AGE OF IM" . lets face it yahoo messenger runs the Nigerian market 99% and at the way things stand google talk ain't going no where. it'll likely only going to be used by peeps with their own PCs.

I've downloaded Google Talk and so far I am unimpressed. Other than not having anyone to chat with on it, it looks like any other chat only with less visible features.

this was due to the fact that GMAIL was an invite based service (at least until now). with time it will have users and chat rooms, but i don't see it's usage as big as in the magnitude of AIM and Yahoo messenger.

hey joftech



gone are the days you had to beg to get an invite
.i still prefer yahoo to gmail though. and i prefer aim to yahoo mesenger.