Chat or Instant Messaging (IM) hasn't been Google's forte till
Google Talk came along six months back. With giants like AOL,
Yahoo! & Microsoft walking tall in the IM arena, each enjoying
tens of millions of users, it's no wonder Google realized that
IM is a vital piece of missing link in its armor for dominating
search industry. So when Google Talk came into being, there was
palpable excitement in air.
Six months later, the buzz around Google Talk has been steadily
on decline. Though full of sophisticated features like voice
calls, messaging and automatic Gmail check-in, there was
something amiss. Given my penchant for all things Google, I for
one didn't find Google Talk a necessary requirement for my life
on net.
In comes Gmail Chat. And what a wonder! Taking over from where
Google Talk left, Gmail Chat is a perfect example of engineering
skill harmonizing with ease of use. The two complement each
other in perfect unison.
So what is it Gmail Chat offers that is unique? Well, to put it
in short, Gmail Chat merges the functionalities of messaging and
emailing under one single umbrella. Look at this pictorial
presentation here. In essence, one never needs to leave Gmail
to do either messaging (IM) or emailing, or both. Want chatting
only? Just pop up a new window and forget you've ever been in
Gmail.
What's more, your chatting history is automatically stored in
Gmail account, available any time to forward as well as search
for any keyword. That's done by Google Talk in background while
you're still in Gmail, but are you bothered? Not really. It
shouldn't concern you a tiny bit so long you get the unified
service at one place.
Trust Google to spring marvels now and then. I've learnt not to
doubt Google's ability to work wonders. On the way, if Google
rules the search industry as uncrowned king, so be it.
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