GMail and Google Talk, I thee wed
As others are already reporting (and we're reporting on in the Mercury News tomorrow), Google has integrated Google Talk instant messaging into GMail (just the text messaging, not the talk part). Among other things, Google is hoping it will help drive users to Google Talk, which is trailing far behind the other. well-established IM services. It's being rolled out in stages over the next couple of week. We've yet to see it in action, but from the briefing we got today, it looks like a slick integration. Love or hate it, Google knows how to innovate. Here's a link to a screenshot:
Notice the contacts list in the left column and the chat window in lower right, which can also be popped out into a pop-up.
http://www.siliconbeat.com/cgi-bin/mt331/mt-tb.cgi/1103
Links to blogs that reference this entry:
Talkin’ bout gMail
Excerpt: There’s a whole lot of talk going on about Google tying GMail and GoogleTalk together under the Gmail.com interface. Now, I’m a great fan of GoogleTalk - it’s simple and does exactly what it should. Sure, it could do with an extra fe...
Tracked: February 7, 2006 6:38 PM
The chat history can also be stored in the Gmail account. This is the best part for me. Portable chat log!
chris on February 6, 2006 11:32 PMComment link
The chat history is a pretty cool feature.
But everything else was done in Hotmail years ago. Unified contact list, online presence indicators in the inbox & contact list, and "Instant Reply" on email messages. And the great thing is that it doesn't even require a client; it uses MSN Web Messenger if MSN Messenger isn't installed. Pretty cool.
Mike Torres on February 6, 2006 11:52 PMComment link
Merc title is misleading. Google is not first to integrate IM and email. Microsoft did that a long time ago with Hotmail.
B. Shure on February 8, 2006 7:28 AMComment link
