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Google Businesses The Internet IT

Google Talk Available Early 897

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the resourceful-users dept.
smash writes "Google's new IM service is already live. All you need is a Jabber-compatible Instant Messaging client (such as Apple's iChat, or gaim), and a GMail address." This should answer, at least in part, all of the speculation that has been flying around the net over the last couple of days. Update: Many users have been eager to let us know that Google Talk in indeed live.
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Google Talk Available Early More

Google Talk Available Early

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  • Google tomorrow? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nuclear Elephant ( 700938 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:23PM (#13384425) Homepage
    Stay tuned to Google tomorrow for details.

    Er, is that one http://tomorrow.google.com/ [google.com] ?

  • Gmail (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bobsacks ( 784382 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:24PM (#13384436) Journal
    Any word on when Gmail is going to go public? Last I heard google news was waiting because of it's inability to create revenue because they were using other peoples news or some such. But the mail portion has adds and the like, so I guess it is able to make revenue.

    • Re:Gmail (Score:5, Informative)

      by Malyven ( 774978 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:30PM (#13384494) Journal
      It may not be 100% public, but as far as I can see everybody has 50 invites, and it resets everyday.

      • Re:Gmail (Score:5, Insightful)

        by THotze ( 5028 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:42PM (#13384629) Homepage
        Yes, and there's a good chance it will stay this way. Its probably the best way to make sure that spammers don't start getting gmail accounts.

        Its a method of 'verifying' users by having other users verify them (by making the service invite-only.) Its more secure than say, having to enter the text from some obscured image (which can be done en masse by paying somebody probably something small.)

        So yes, at this point, anybody who really wants a gmail account has one, but spammers have largely been shut out.

    • Re:Gmail (Score:5, Funny)

      by bahwi ( 43111 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @11:41PM (#13386611)
      Hey, shut up. It's the only exclusive club I can get into these days(and I still had to buy my invite!). Now I can laugh at all those 100meg hotmail users. Losers.

  • huh? (Score:5, Funny)

    by keyvoh ( 750388 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:25PM (#13384446)
    What is a google?

  • Now spy on your friends! (Score:5, Funny)

    by IIDX ( 873577 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:25PM (#13384447)
    Use the power of google search to find juicy tidbits in other's google talk conversations!

  • ugh, throw it on the heap... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by rlthomps-1 ( 545290 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:25PM (#13384451) Homepage
    ... with all the other IM servies I have to sign in on at once to be in contact with everyone. MSN, AIM, misc jabber servers... and on and on. I wonder what google thinks they're going to add to chat services?

    • Re:ugh, throw it on the heap... (Score:5, Funny)

      by urdine ( 775754 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:30PM (#13384501)
      Why, friendly google adwords, of course! Talking about baseball? Why not visit espn.com? Or better yet, Baseball on eBay. 1000s of Baseballs for Sale!

    • Re:ugh, throw it on the heap... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by OpenGLFan ( 56206 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:36PM (#13384565) Homepage
      Encryption? Like, good SSL-based encryption? Do you know how many people use AIM or Yahoo Messenger without encryption? Do you know how many use it with their university or coffee shop's unencrypted wireless service?

      Google, if you're listening, please please please make authentication and encryption the default with your new messaging service! Please! I'm stuck on campus all day, and I've got non-tech friends who refuse to use GAIM with GAIM-encrypt!
    • I wonder what google thinks they're going to add to chat services?

      It's a bit of a toss-up ... google maps and gmail changed the whole landscape for those services, and I wouldn't have thought there was much to add there. Google groups and froogle, on the other hand, didn't change much of anything. I'm reserving judgement, because they're smarter than me and that seems safest.

      The only thing I can think of, since it uses your gmail account as a login, is integration with your gmail address book -- but then ya

    • Re:ugh, throw it on the heap... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by batkiwi ( 137781 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @07:24PM (#13384999)
      STANDARDIZATION. They will be the FIRST IM service to use the IETF messaging and presence standard.

      Remember the days back when Prodigy users couldn't email AOL users, and you coudln't email either from a university "internet email"

      That is where we are now with IM.

      Imagine if back then someone was whacky enough to make an email client which required an account from every major provider in order to email your friends, rather than simply everyone moving to the official smtp and mime standards.

      That is where we are now with IM.

      Google having an IM service should give the critical mass necessary to jabber for other IM services to investigate, and finally use it (at least bridged).

      I yearn for the day when I have only 1 IM ID. People who like yahoo can use their client and YIM ID, people who run their own jabber server can use whatever client they want, etc. Hell, they can even run propriatary video conferencing/etc which require their own software for all I care as long as I can do simple messaging with anyone on any service.

    • Consolidation (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Baloo Ursidae ( 29355 )
      You only need one Jabber ID to talk to every internet-connected Jabber server out there. You only need to register your logins on the other IM systems and you've just obsoleted the need for Trillian, Gaim, Kopete and all the other half-assed attempts at IM unification. You're thinking this is added complexity, when it's actually complexity removed.

  • Eh (Score:5, Funny)

    by Trip Ericson ( 864747 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:33PM (#13384534) Homepage
    Google Talk is great, but what I REALLY need is 'Google ShutUp' to make the irritating people I know go away while providing them with targetted, text-based ads.

  • http://www.miranda-im.org/ (Score:3, Informative)

    by Mustang Matt ( 133426 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:34PM (#13384546)
    There's another nice jabber client for windows available here http://www.miranda-im.org/ [miranda-im.org].

    It supports AIM, ICQ, Jabber, IRC, MSN and maybe some others.

  • OK (Score:5, Funny)

    by The Bungi ( 221687 ) <thebungi@gmail.com> on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:39PM (#13384585) Homepage
    Check this one - nn to the next round of breathless speculation about what Google will do.

    Will they release an office suite?
    Will they release a browser?
    Will they release a line of refrigerators?
    Will they purchase Oracle?
    Will they purchase Uruguay?
    Will they hire Stallman?
    Will they hire Ballmer?
    Will they hire Peter Griffin?

    I sure as hell don't know, but I'm sure I'll hear about it constantly on GashDot. Um... I mean Slashoogle. Er, that is... Slooshdot. Eh, fuck it.

  • Great News! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by eno2001 ( 527078 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:39PM (#13384587) Homepage Journal
    I'm very happy that this indicates they may be using the Jabber protocol for IM. I've been using it for my friends and family (I run my own Jabber server behind an OpenVPN network) for quite some time now and it's a much nicer protocl than any of the other ones out there. The main reason being that it's free/open. Plus, I don't need to change my chosen clients to talk to the rest of the world now since anyone who matters (to me) has a GMail account. Here's to Google making a wise choice yet again! :)

  • Google spellchecking (Score:5, Funny)

    by flibble-san ( 700028 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:39PM (#13384588)
    I wonder if they will add Google-style spellchecking... omfg lol rofl - Did you mean "I'm a sad script kiddy?"

  • ok, the server works (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mecro ( 597901 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:39PM (#13384593)
    Ok, so their server works. That's the part that most of us don't care about. What sort of client will GIM be using? Isn't that what makes it or breaks it for most of us?
    • What sort of client will GIM be using? Isn't that what makes it or breaks it for most of us?
      Why would it be? I will just keep using Psi as I always did. But what is good now is that more people will use Jabber on their side, making life easier for me (sure, there are transports already, but they are not feature-complete, and sometimes simply buggy).

  • Made Clear? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Azarael ( 896715 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:40PM (#13384598) Homepage
    The reasoning behind google sponsoring so many people to work on GAIM for summer of code? Maybe they will release a gaim based client?

  • smash's world: I'm almost slashdotted right now! (Score:5, Informative)

    by sootman ( 158191 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:40PM (#13384601) Homepage Journal
    (Thirty-odd comments and the site is little slow. Just in case...)

    I'm on Google Talk right now.
    Google Talk = Google's new IM service that they're announcing tomorrow.

    All you need is a Jabber-compatible Instant Messaging client (such as Apple's iChat, or GAIM), and a GMail address. Digg this, NOW!

    WELCOME SLASHDOT!

    Server: talk.google.com
    Username: youremail@gmail.com **OR** youremail@talk.google.com (pick one)
    Password: yourpassword

    Note: If you can't login, try to turn off 'Secure Messaging' or 'Encryption'... etc.

    -- TRILLIAN USERS: Someone just told me that they got it working with Trillian, but I can't verify this. Just go to Trillian's plugin page on their site and download the Jabber plug-in, install it, and configure a new connection as below:
    "server : talk.google.com
    port : 5222
    Use legact SSL for connection : not checked"

    How to set it up with GAIM on Windows/Linux, or Adium on the Mac:
    -- For iChat, just enter the information above.
    1. Add an account, select "Jabber" as the protocol.
    2. Your screen name is everything before the '@gmail.com'.
    3. Server is 'talk.google.com' as listed above.
    4. Click "show more options" and make sure "use TLS if available" is checked. Leave "Force old SSL" and "allow plaintext..." unchecked for now. Connection port should be 5222, connection server should be blank... if not just 'talk.google.com' without the quotes.
    5. Ta-da! Just login and you should be good-to-go.

    Another user reports the following:
    "weird, I've never sent you email from my gmail, and now that you're on my buddy list on google talk, it autofilled your email address, and alias on my gmail"
    -- The "/me" command works too, even on iChat. "/me says hi" translates to "smash says hi" or whatever if you're not familiar!

    Feel free to IM around with fellow GMail users just by adding their addresses to your list! I'm not sure how long this is going to work, but let's make the best of it.

    UPDATE: I'm online right now, give me a hollar if you're able to login! I'm talking with someone I added to my list. :)

  • Great (Score:5, Funny)

    by dtfinch ( 661405 ) * on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:41PM (#13384618) Journal
    Now I have yet another account with no buddies in Gaim.

  • IM Client - Mac OS X (Score:5, Informative)

    by nighty5 ( 615965 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:45PM (#13384649)
    I've been using http://adium.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net] for a while now, it totally rocks.

  • What about Hello? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by AstroDrabb ( 534369 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:55PM (#13384743)
    Google Hello [hello.com] lets you send images almost instantly to other Hello users and integrates with Google Picasa [google.com] very well. Hello also has a built-in IM client for other Hello users. I actually use Hello at work to chat with my wife since all the other IM protocols are blocked where I work and Hello works over HTTP.

    Does anyone know if Hello will work with Google Talk? I don't feel like having to run Hello and Google Talk. However, if they do both work together, what would be the point of Google having both Hello and Google Talk?

  • Works with tor, yeehaw! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mwilliamson ( 672411 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @06:58PM (#13384768) Homepage Journal
    looks like it allows connections from tor [eff.org] servers. I love routing my IM's over tor to stop prying eyes. ;-)

  • AP Press Release (Score:3, Informative)

    by Volcane ( 27387 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @07:06PM (#13384839)
    some news agencies are quoting a AP press report:

    http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=3757295 [kron4.com]

  • Conference Rooms? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by randomErr ( 172078 ) <ervin.kosch@nOspAm.gmail.com> on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @07:09PM (#13384876) Journal
    Is there anyway to get a list of conference rooms on Google Talk?

  • automatically adds your gmail contacts (Score:4, Informative)

    by adpowers ( 153922 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @07:15PM (#13384918)
    I've been using Google Talk for a little while with my Gmail account and iChat. One interesting thing I noticed is every time you send an e-mail in Gmail, that person is automatically added to your buddy list as "Not Authorized" (where users I add are "Waiting for Authorization", at least until I talk to them). This is kind of annoying, since there are lots of people I contact using Gmail that I know will never get Jabber (for example, a mailing list e-mail address).

    Other than that, it seems really neat. Oh, also, icons and offline IM don't appear to work. If someone knows how to get those to work, I'd be interested to hear it.

    Andrew

    PS: You can jabber me at adpowers@gmail.com
  • Google Talk ... and all that dark fibre Goggle has been buying up? This isn't just about instant messenger - Google is building the next voice communications network! With their new WiFi hotspots - it could be wireless voice communications (at least if you're in a major center).

    Bee-bee-boo-boop "Picard to all phone companies: You are being replaced."

  • Help me out here... why Jabber? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @07:30PM (#13385054)
    I understand that (a) Jabber is XML and open protocol and all that, and (b) anyone can install a Jabber server, and (c) Jabber provides secure connections to said server, in Google's case by default.

    Granted all this. But speaking as someone who's just running a client, why should I care? Aside from the secure connection, will chatting on Jabber be much different for me than chatting on Yahoo or AOL or ICQ?

    With GMail, there's a web-based client which has a lot of whiz-bang features that clearly distinguish it from AOL Webmail or Yahoo Mail. But I need a chat client to connect anyway, and it's the client's features that impress me, not the protocol.

    Hmm, perhaps I just answered my own question.

  • Kicked out (Score:4, Informative)

    by chrisbro ( 207935 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @07:32PM (#13385072)
    Myself and a buddy of mine just got kicked off. Think they found out and shut it down? Any others having the problem?

  • 405: Not Allowed (Score:4, Informative)

    by dtfinch ( 661405 ) * on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @07:40PM (#13385132) Journal
    I logged in earlier, but now I'm blocked.

    • Re:405: Not Allowed (Score:4, Informative)

      by Packets ( 8071 ) <stephen.thorne@id@au> on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @11:04PM (#13386401) Homepage
      I logged in earlier, but now I'm blocked.

      I dug down into the help documents, and there's a bit of a strange thing you have to do, you have to set up your username/server as such:

      Username: stephen.thorne
      Server: gmail.com

      but you have to then go into the advanced options and set the 'connect server' as such:

      Connect Server: talk.google.com

      This will allow you to connect properly, and the 405 error will go away.

  • This (may) sucks (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Krunch ( 704330 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @07:46PM (#13385168) Homepage
    It looks like talk.google.com users can't talk to external Jabber users (like thoses using jabber.org for example). I really hope it's not a feature and that it will be fixed when they'll announce the new service. If it's not the case it's not that better than MSN, it's just leaving a monopoly for another one. Nice to see they use an open protocol but it would really sucks to have a closed Google Jabber network.

    Another thing some people might have noticed is that reverse DNS for talk.google.com is toolbar.google.com. Now have a look at JEP0151 [jabber.org].
    Virtual presence on Web pages (also sometimes known as co-browsing, while co-browsing can also mean something different) makes people aware of each other, who are at the same Web location at the same time. The basic purpose of a virtual presence system is to show names, icons, and/or avatars of people who are on a page or a set of pages and to let them communicate.

    • Re:This (may) sucks (Score:4, Informative)

      by humina ( 603463 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @01:08AM (#13386900)
      I set up a jabber server to try and see if I could talk to my gmail IM. Took me forever and it looks like the google talk won't let you connect from an outside jabber server. I found people talking about opening the googletalk servers here:

      http://groups.google.com/group/google-talk-open [google.com]

      I'm going to recommend that people post on it to request that google open their network to the full jabber community instead of keeping it locked up.

    • Closed network (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Nurgled ( 63197 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @02:24AM (#13387176)

      According to the Google Talk developer page [google.com], Google is only planning pre-arranged peering with a set of providers. Their goal, it appears, is to reduce spam and other abuses by ensuring that all clients are connecting through trusted services.

      While I see their point, it does seem like a bit of a cop out. "Service choice" doesn't really mean much unless I can choose to use my own service and still inter-operate. A truly open system should allow anyone to play, not just the big boys.

  • Getting around the "Not Allowed" message (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @07:55PM (#13385239)
    You can still log in to the server! You just need to fudge it a little.

    In Gaim's "Server" field put in gmail.com.

    But, in the "Connect server" field put in talk.google.com.

    Now, connect :cool:

  • There goes Philosophy point #2 (Score:5, Funny)

    by wombert ( 858309 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @08:05PM (#13385313)
    From http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/tenthings. html [google.com]

    Google does search. Google does not do horoscopes, financial advice or chat.

    (Guess they better remember to update that page when they make the announcement...)

    And the real burning question - When can I get my Googlescope???

    • Re:There goes Philosophy point #2 (Score:5, Informative)

      by Barrakketh ( 302427 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @11:18PM (#13386482)
      From the same page:

      "* Full-disclosure update: When we first wrote these "10 things" four years ago, we included the phrase "Google does not do horoscopes, financial advice or chat." Over time we've expanded our view of the range of services we can offer -- web search, for instance, isn't the only way for people to access or use information -- and products that then seemed unlikely are now key aspects of our portfolio. This doesn't mean we've changed our core mission; just that the farther we travel toward achieving it, the more those blurry objects on the horizon come into sharper focus (to be replaced, of course, by more blurry objects)."

  • Jabber interoperability (Score:3, Insightful)

    by TardisX ( 15222 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @08:38PM (#13385522)
    Hmmmm, as of this point it doesn't appear that you can have contacts on other jabber servers.

    The whole point of jabber is that servers are distributed, the server name is part of the JID (Jabber ID) which means that JID's look a lot like email addresses.

    I hope the inability to have contacts with non @gmail.com JID's is merely a pre-launch wrinkle.

  • Still works - changer server to gmail.com ... (Score:4, Informative)

    by ashlux ( 791540 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @08:50PM (#13385585) Homepage

    I've got mine setup in gaim as:

    Screen Name: ashlux
    Server: gmail.com
    TLS: checked
    Port: 5222
    Connect Server: talk.google.com
    And it works just fine.

  • Developers! (Score:5, Informative)

    by GraZZ ( 9716 ) <jack.jackmaninov@ca> on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @10:48PM (#13386305) Homepage Journal
    The Google Talk developer's page [google.com] gives a good overview of Google's short-term plans for GTalk, such as partnering with Earthlink and Sipphone (or federating as they call it)

    "It's like the Federation of Planets on your Star Trek program."
    "Ohhhhhh"

  • iChat/Google Talk supports video conferencing (Score:4, Informative)

    by Clith ( 5063 ) <rae@tnir.org> on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @10:51PM (#13386329) Homepage Journal
    I just spent about 1/2 hour video chatting with a friend after clicking on his Google Chat video icon in iChat. Hm, that is a rather unweildy phrase. What do you call chatting with someone in iChat via Jabber on Google's Server? how about iGoogleChat? :-)

    Well then, I clicked on the video icon in my iGoogleChat buddy list to start a video chat with my friend, and it worked just fine. User experience and video qualkity were the same as "native iChat". Not sure who's "fault" this is -- iChat for managing to send video presence info through Jabber, or Jabber for supporting video presence. Whoever is responsible though: well done.

  • clue to easter egg in client? "play wumpus game" (Score:5, Interesting)

    by sp1der ( 909763 ) on Tuesday August 23, 2005 @11:00PM (#13386383)
    In the Google Talk client, in the icon tray, select About. Notice on the bottom light grey characters on the which background. They read: "play 23 21 13 16 21 19 7 1 13 5" Using a=1, z=26, it translates to: "play wumpus game" Not sure what to do with it, just thought it was interesting that it was there. Investigating...

  • Google Talk Over SSH (Score:4, Informative)

    by image ( 13487 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @11:43AM (#13390191) Homepage
    For those that are stuck behind a firewall, I wrote up a detailed, step-by-step guide on using Google Talk over SSH. This includes instructions for Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX, and focuses on the official Google Talk client, iChat, and Gaim.

    You can find the guide at Google Talk over SSH [unto.net].

    Enjoy!

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