Google Talk Is Live!
Ladies and gentlemen, check out Google Talk, instant messaging done by Google, and done right with an open protocol. Sign in with your Gmail account.
Installing…
Thanks to Matt Walters for making sure I knew.
Lots of good stuff here. The memory footprint is very small (7-10 megabytes in my usage). I was running Photoshop, Windows Media Center (Mets killed tonight), Bit Torrent, AOL Explorer, Outlook and both AIM and Gtalk, and my system is doing fine. Additionally, my router and firewall didn’t need any configuration. It just works.
You can automatically add and invite Gmail contacts. You can rename contacts to reflect their real names (a great feature in AIM Triton, which I use) and the names are reflected in the IM window (which Triton does not do). You can list your IM status as basically anything, and I’m already seeing people using it to send funny messages.
Google Talk can remove the need for your Gmail notifier, since it does that and lets you click through to check new emails. It saves your chat history. It plays sounds when you are in a different window, and has a notification box for when somebody IMs you while you’re doing something else.
Now, the cool stuff:
Go right ahead and plug in your microphone, because Google Talk lets you talk, and really, really well.
Making a call in Google Talk is as simple as clicking the “Call” button. Click, and you’re doing voice chat. Amazingly, its bandwidth light. Matt told me (and he told me, not typed to me) that he wasn’t seeing his usage top 10k, and Google Talk wasn’t even the only web program he was using. I had an open Bit Torrent client uploading 70% of my bandwidth, and I saw no hiccups.
Voice quality is excellent. No problems. Lag is almost nonexistent (less than half a second). You can have up to four active phone conversations, but can only talk to one person at a time. Everyone else is on hold.
A quick aside: When you are on hold, the program does nothing to address that fact. Now, besides that Google needs to add a notification, why not a cool feature: On Hold Music. Wouldn’t it be great if we could configure our Google Talk with hold music, a very small MIDI file that plays in a loop when on hold? That would be superb.
Make sure to get yourself a microphone (and it doesn’t have to be decent, mine isn’t), because everyone will want to try out this feature.
Next up: Compatibility. Google Talk uses the Jabber/XMPP protocol, and that means you can contact people on any client that supports the service (Trillian users have to buy the pro version). Google has put together a useful chart:
| Client | Windows | OSX | Linux | IM other Google Talk users |
Voice calls to other Talk users |
Cost |
| Google Talk |  |
 |
|
|
|
Free |
| Adium | |
|
|
|
|
Free |
| GAIM | |
|
|
|
|
Free |
| iChat | |
|
|
|
|
Included with OSX |
| Psi | |
|
|
|
|
Free |
| Trillian Pro | |
|
|
|
|
$25* |
What does this mean? It means that I will actually be using Google Talk. See, I was uneasy about adding another IM client, but since GTalk has a built in base of people I can chat with, plus easy voice chat, I’m in, at least for the short haul. I’m thinking Google hopes their move will force AIM, MSN Messenger and Y!M to support the open standard, which would have the dreadfull (!) effect of making life easier.
If you’d like my IM name, just say so in the comments and leave yours in the “Email” field of the form.
Some interesting stuff from the FAQ:
You can invite an unlimited number of Gmail users to download Google Talk and get added to your Friends list. If you invite someone who doesn’t already have Gmail, we’ll include an invitation to that as well, since they’ll need a Gmail username and password to use Google Talk. The number of non-Gmail users you can invite at any one time is determined by the number of Gmail invitations you have left in your account, which you can see on the invite screen. We try to make sure users have lots of Gmail invitations to give out, but if you run out, please be patient. Normally, users get more Gmail invitations within a day or two.
Google Talk currently does not encrypt chats or calls. But we are working hard to make many improvements to Google Talk while it is in beta, and we plan to fully support encryption of chats and calls before our official release.
Google Talk supports XMPP with the beta release. We plan to support SIP in a future release. Additionally, we will evaluate other protocols as appropriate, to continue to deliver on our commitment to open communications.
Today, Google Talk supports the following standard voice codecs: PCMA, PCMU, G.723, iLBC. We are also evaluating the Speex codec. We also support codecs from Global IP Sound: ISAC, IPCMWB, EG711U, EG711A
As a first step towards fulfilling our commitment to federation, we will federate with EarthLink and Sipphone, service providers who share our belief in enabling user choice and open communications.
We do not have details at this time on when federation will be enabled. But we are working closely with Earthlink and Sipphone to federate EarthLink’s Vling service and Sipphone’s Gizmo Project with the Google Talk service as quickly as possible, while offering the best possible user experience.
We look forward to the Google Talk client supporting Linux and Mac OSX in the future.
UPDATE: Adam reports on how to embed Google Talk in your Desktop Sidebar:
You can run an ‘embedded’ form of GTalk within the Google Desktop sidebar. Exit GD, wait a few moments, then restart it. Click the little down-arrow at the top right, select ADD/REMOVE PANELS, and check off Google Talk.
Congrats, Nathan! The first blog I found with the final story.
Comment by Joel | August 24, 2005
I’m kinda bummed. Given how awesome google maps and desktop were I was expecting more. The voice part sounds good, but it’s otherwise pretty much featureless and the fact that I can add clients of other services like AIM and Yahoo (ala trillian and qnext) is a signifigant bummer.
Comment by kyle | August 24, 2005
Awesome.. Installed it.. but no one’s online..
Comment by rex | August 24, 2005
You know, Nathan, I have to respectfully differ with you a bit. I was rather disappointed with GTalk. Granted, it’s just v1 of a public beta, so I shouldn’t be so greedy, but… unlike with Gmail, I didn’t see anything that made me go WOW!
Great voice quality? Sure, but Skype’s already got that (and also already has a humungous userbase).
Ad-free (at least for now)? Yes, but so is Trillian, the IM app I already use and love.
And indeed, I’m having trouble seeing how Gtalk will gain traction. AIM, Yahoo, and MSN users really have little incentive to switch, especially since GTalk doesn’t (at least yet) interoperate with the big 3. Trillian users… also, I can’t see any reason why they’d switch. Skype folks? As noted above, can’t forsee any defections.
I’m guessing (and hoping), however, that Googlers have a trick or two up their sleeve. Guess we’ll see.
Comment by Adam | August 24, 2005
Oh, and a quick addendum: I do like how GTalk can be integrated into the GD sidebar, so I don’t have to run a separate app
Comment by Adam | August 24, 2005
[…] In case you’ve been living under a rock, Google released their own IM client today. Posted: 8/24/2005 by Nathan Weinberg in: […]
Pingback by » MSN Messenger 7.5 Released InsideMicrosoft - part of the Blog News Channel | August 24, 2005
to Adam: you do run a separate app, they are just integrated togather on the same window. Memory wise, they are both churning your CPU…
Comment by koby | August 24, 2005
在线IMä¸Žæ— çº¿IM
Trackback by IKINFO | August 24, 2005
[…] Update 3: InsideGoogle has a rather good review of Talk, with screenshots and information on how to emded Talk inside the new Google Desktop 2 sidebar. […]
Pingback by Infinity Plus :: Google Talk launched :: August :: 2005 | August 24, 2005
Nice article, very complete, thanks!
Anyway, I’m testing GTalk with a buddy right now and it’s pretty nice. There aren’t many features yet, but it like I said, it looks nice and simple
My msn nick already says it all: I’m gonna say bye bye to msn messenger soon, cuz we’ve got Google Talk!
Anyway, yes, I’d love to have your IM name.
Comment by Laurent Van Winckel | August 24, 2005
I love how clean, simple, and easy to use Google Talk is. I also like the way message windows can click to the side of your friends list, and you can easily contract them so that you just see a bar with a person’s name. Also, if you have Google Talk minimized you see new messages as little notification windows. Very nice.
Now if I just knew more people using it. I invited quite a few, but I doubt if they will join.
And Adam, Trillian costs money. This is free.
Comment by Jason | August 24, 2005
I run trillian. The advantage to running the native google talk app is the voice connectivity and how it integrates with gmail.
I was actually real impressed with it. It just worked. Didn’t really have to do much to make it work, and it wasn’t trying to be all uber-spiffy like AIM and MSN chat clients do in general (original reason I went to trillian).
Not sure if I’ll use their client all the time or not, but have to admit, I really liked the call feature. It was the best implementation of it that I’ve seen so far from IM clients. And hey, it let me harass Nathan real time!
Comment by matt | August 24, 2005
can i import my chat buddies from Yahoo Messenger or not?
Comment by Anon Coward | August 24, 2005
Looks great, but I haven’t had anyone to chat with yet.
Comment by Eric J | August 24, 2005
This seems like a way to make GMail grow, to me. With the new feature reported on this site in GMail where you can send mail as another address, and the fact that you need GMail for the Talk app, they seem to want people to switch to GMail. I would be hesitant to switch to GMail if I thought I would have a new address, but in effect, with this new feature, you can keep sending mail as your old email account. Clever, clever.
Comment by Kevin | August 24, 2005
It’s not a yahoo chat client … so no.
However you could send all your yahoo buddies gmail invites and get them on it that way.
Comment by matt | August 24, 2005
[…] Google Talk is a (windows only right now) IM (Instent Messaging) and VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protoicle) client. It uses the standard Jabber / XMPP protocol for authentication, presence, and messaging, and requires a gmail account to access. However unlike some IM services which restrict access, all you need is a Jabber-compatible IM client (like iChat) and a gmail account. Here’s 2 review’s : 1 and 2. […]
Pingback by False Positives » Blog Archive » The Google Space takes shape | August 24, 2005
I wouldn’t underestimate Google here. It follows their style to a T - start simple and build from there. There are a number of great things on the docket for Gtalk. This is just a start.
Comment by Nathan Lanier | August 24, 2005
anyone else noticed how GTalk has been called plain? i like the simple approach myself. of course, an overly-bloated AIM-like client is preferable as well. or not.
i like that you can send raw HTML with GTalk, unlike AIM who can’t seem to parse the stuff.
and nathan, i definitely like to add you to my (small) list of buddies. if for no other reason than to discuss WPN stuff i have to do…
Comment by chris | August 24, 2005
I have been using it for a while, its not that bad. Its extremely simple to use, has the a simple look. Cant wait to see some more features added to it.
Comment by Kashif Khan | August 24, 2005
check http://www.customizetalk.com for more tweaks, tutorials, skins, downloads, forum, etc… oh yeah, there are currently 50 gmail invites available on the forum
Comment by Wumpus | September 2, 2005
I’d like your IM to test Google Talk (30 seconds of your time). Much appreciated.
Comment by Jonathan Miller | September 7, 2005
I use Qnext and like it very much. Its applications are multiple: Instant Messaging, Audio Chat, Video Conferencing,
Music Streaming, Photo Sharing, Online Gaming, Remote Administration, File Transfer and File Sharing, IRC and QnextMyPC.
You can go on the Qnext Web Site ( http://www.qnext.com/ ) and download for free
Qnext product.
Comment by George | September 14, 2006
[…] a Labs test of a new version of Google Talk. The first version of Google Talk was released over 2 and a half years ago, but Google has barely updated it at all in the meantime. The new version, dissapointingly, drops […]
Pingback by » News For April 9, 2008 » InsideGoogle-part of the Blog News Channel | April 9, 2008