Google Talk Unleashed on the Masses!
Google Talk, Google’s new free instant message system, was officially unveiled today as a beta release. According to google, it’s not only an IM client, but also allows you to speak with your contacts though their service.
The service is running the Jabber protocol, which means you aren’t limited to the Windows client Google has released and can opt for other IM clients such as Gaim, iChat, or Trillian. This is definitely going to help widen Google Talk’s user base, since users will be able to keep their existing 3rd party IM applications, but still make use of Google Talk’s services. The only problem, as the service is so new, no other client has the ability to place a “voice call” other than Google IM.
Google Talk really reminds me of old-school MSN Instant Messenger from a couple of years ago, before it was completely ruined it with useless features and flashy options and advertisements. All the basic options are there, and the client isn’t filled with crap that I would never use. Who the hell checks the stock market from an Instant Messenger client anyway?
After fiddling around with the Google client, the interface seems intuitive. I’m a big fan of how the conversations work: as you talk, if you type more than one line, it’s indented just under the last line you said. See the example to the left. Pretty keen!
I haven’t given the voice chat option a try as of yet, but if Google developed it, I’m sure it’s done the right way, and I’m sure it’s a much better alternative to voice chatting over the internet over the spy-ware-laden applications available today.
Another thing that’s interesting is the fact that since Jabber is an open-source protocol, developers will be more likely to create applications which will do much more than just allowing you to chat back and forth. For Instance, Hunt the Wumpus, a hide-and-seek style game created back in the early days of computers, has been ported over to Google Talk. To participate, simple add wumpus.game@gmail.com to your Google Talk buddy list, and send it a text message. Once it receives the message, the game will instruct you with what to do next, simply typing “y” when it asks.
This is just one basic example. I can see this idea taking off and more sophisticated applications being developed, like online-conference services, or even file transfer bots (which currently exist for other popular IM clients).
Overall, I’m impressed with Google Talk’s beta release, and I’m a big fan of their choice to use the open-source Jabber protocol so you aren’t limited to using their client if you don’t want to. There seem to be a few bugs here and there, but they will definitely be worked out in the future. I suggest giving Google Talk a try!
Just another phase in the Google World Take Over. It’ll happen.
Yeaaaa, gonna try it out, I hear good things. MSN recently released a verion of msn with voice clip now, see some serious competition? :p
Gonna try it out now…
see ya mike