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|caption = Google Talk Beta
|caption = Google Talk Beta
|developer = [[Google]]
|developer = [[Google]]
|latest_release_version = 1.0.0.84 <!-- If you update this, don't forget to update [[Comparison of instant messengers]]-->
|latest_release_version = 1.0.0.86 <!-- If you update this, don't forget to update [[Comparison of instant messengers]]-->
|latest_release_date = [[January 26]], [[2006]]
|latest_release_date = [[February 7]], [[2006]]
|operating_system = [[Windows 2000]], [[Windows XP]], [[Windows Server 2003]]
|operating_system = [[Windows 2000]], [[Windows XP]], [[Windows Server 2003]]
|genre = [[VoIP]]/[[Instant messenger]]
|genre = [[VoIP]]/[[Instant messenger]]

Revision as of 08:23, 7 February 2006

For the word game, see Google Talk (game)
Google Talk
Developer(s)Google
Stable release
1.0.0.86 / February 7, 2006
Preview releaseGoogle Talk Labs Edition [±]
Operating systemWindows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003
TypeVoIP/Instant messenger
LicenseProprietary freeware
Websitetalk.google.com

Google Talk is a service offered by Google for Voice over IP and instant messaging. Google Talk beta was released on August 24, 2005 and consists of both a service and a client used to connect to the service. Unlike some other instant messaging services, Google Talk uses an open protocol, XMPP, for the IM part, and it encourages the use of clients other than their own in connecting to the Google Talk service.

As of the launch date, the Google Talk client is available only for Windows (2000, XP, Server 2003); users of other operating systems are provided with instructions for various popular Jabber clients, such as Psi or Miranda IM for older versions of Microsoft Windows, iChat or Adium for Mac OS X and Gaim for Linux. However, any program capable of using the Jabber protocol is sufficient, although the voice over IP service only works with the Google client. Google has released the VOIP portions as Jingle.

History

The idea of a Jabber-based Google IM service was by Apple-X on August 23, 2004.[1] Exactly one year later, after the rumor of a Google-branded "communications tool" service had been reported by the New York Times[2] and detailed by the Los Angeles Times on August 22 2005, the subdomain talk.google.com was found to have an active Jabber server.[3] Two methods of logging into the server were discovered soon after and the ensuing response by eager bloggers revealed to numerous others how to login before the official release by Google. On the evening of August 23, many logged-in users using port 5222 to connect were disconnected and unable to log back in. Users using port 5223 to connect were still able to log in, and at 04:12:52 UTC those users received a broadcast instant message from gmail.com, an apparently official username used by Google to communicate with their user base, that stated "The broken link has been fixed. Thanks for being our first users!" Port 5222-connectivity was found to have been re-enabled.

Technical

Google has announced that a major goal of the Google Talk service is interoperability. Google Talk uses Jabber and XMPP to provide real-time extensible messaging and presence events, including offline messaging (only through non-Google clients like Adium). On January 17, 2006, Google enabled server-to-server communications, federating itself with any Jabber server that supports the dialback protocol. [4]

On December 15, 2005, Google released libjingle, a C++ library to implement Jingle, "a set of extensions to the IETF's Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) for use in voice over IP (VoIP), video, and other peer-to-peer multimedia sessions."[5] Libjingle is a library of the code that Google uses for peer-to-peer communication, and was made available under a BSD license.[6]

Google Talk does not encrypt the Jabber stream, instead using an undocumented nonstandard way of authenticating to the service, retrieving a token from a secure web server. Other clients than Google's own are required to secure their streams with TLS before sending the password, causing them to stay encrypted throughout the whole session. Google claims that all messages (text and voice) will be encrypted in future releases.[7]

Offline messages are not supported so far and the configuration options available are very limited.

Criticism, reviews, and bugs

Critics of the new service have pointed out that contrary to Gmail's philosophy of storing all information with over two gigabytes of storage, Google's own client will not log more than 20 lines of text chat or handle offline messages. In addition, Google Talk does not allow users to search through their past conversation; this is interesting considering that Google specializes in searching. This was one of the notable features of Gmail that made it stand out over other email services.

Search Engine Watch also has argued that the product lacks the "wow" factor associated with the unveiling of other Google products like Gmail or Google Maps.[8] In addition they cite the fact that Google Talk only allows PC to PC voice chat, not any connection to the traditional telephony network (PSTN). Several critics have begun calling the product "underwhelming," though others predict various additional (impressive) features in the future of Google Talk.

There have also been several bugs reported in the Windows client for Google Talk, including e-mail message-notification unreliability, taskbar notification problems during conversations with more than one contact, and tab-sizing problems. Also it appears that using the escape key to close chat windows does not work if the window has been open for a moderate amount of time. Similarly, the buddy list window, if left un-minimized for a length of time, automatically "maximizes" (to the same size), and has to be "restored" with Windows in order to minimize once again.

Before server-to-server communications was enabled in January 2006, many people criticized the inability of Google Talk to communicate with the larger Jabber network.

There is also no official conference or chat room feature, meaning that users can talk to only one person at a time; however, a user-created Python script enables a chat room to be hosted by users with unused accounts.[9] Users can join multi-user chats on other servers that support them (like conference.ursine.ca) using a Jabber client capable of service discovery.

Many critics, while noting its lack of features, are refreshed at the clean look as compared with other instant messengers. This clean look is consistent with many of Google's current projects, from its home page to its mapping service.

Future releases

Google reports that they are working on adding new features, and many clues found within Google Talk's Privacy Policy suggest Google Talk will support file transfers.[10] Google has a good track record of following up on user suggestions in their Gmail product. Unlike with Gmail, Google is not disclosing what features they are working on in general, although a FAQ states that they are working on adding rich text formatting features.

As part of Google's 5% acquisition of AOL on December 20, 2005 , Google Talk users will be able to communicate with AOL's market-leading AIM instant messaging service.[11] Google Talk users will not require an AIM screen name in order to communicate with AIM users.

References

  1. ^ Eoban Binder, "How Google Could De-Throne AIM, AppleXnet, 2004-08-23 (accessed 2006-01-01).
  2. ^ John Markoff, "Where Does Google Plan to Spend $4 Billion?", The New York Times, 2005-08-22 (accessed 2006-01-01).
  3. ^ admin, "Google IM on XMPP for real?", Tom Servo's Blogogogogog, 2005-08-22 (accessed 2006-01-01).
  4. ^ "Jabber Software Foundation Publishes Open VoIP and Multimedia Protocols", Jabber Software Foundation, 2005-12-15 (accessed 2006-01-01).
  5. ^ Joe Beda, "libjingle", EightyPercent.net, 2005-12-15 (accessed 2006-01-01).
  6. ^ "Google Talk Privacy, Google Talk (accessed 2006-01-01).
  7. ^ Danny Sullivan, "New Google Talk Offers Instant Messaging & Voice Chat, Search Engine Watch, 2005-08-24 (accessed 2006-01-01).
  8. ^ "Google Talk: Conference Bot (accessed 2006-01-01).
  9. ^ "Google Talk Future Features?", Lack of Spark (accessed 2006-01-01).
  10. ^ "Google Talk: Whom Are You Federating With?", Google Talk (accessed 2006-01-01).
  11. ^ "Time Warner's AOL and Google to Expand Strategic Alliance", Google Press Center (accessed 2006-01-01).

See also

External links

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