Use Google Talk in Gmail?

Filed under: Text, Utilities, E-mail, Google, Freeware

Use Google Talk in Gmail?

by Victor Agreda, Jr. Feb 7th 2006

The good news is, you won't even need Google Talk. The bad news is, I have no idea when you'll be seeing this feature bestowed upon us. Anyone signing in to Gmail today will see a little blurb to the left explaining the Talk feature will eventually get glommed straight into Gmail's interface. I can only assume this is another Ajaxian trick, similar to Meebo, where you can already sign in to Jabber client IM's anyway. Having this in the Gmail interface could be pretty handy for some, but I can see it being a nuisance for others. More details of what it'll look like on Gmail's chat page. One nice feature is the ability to save those chats directly in the web interface, which could also just be another way to fill up that space Google keeps doling out. And I just had to throw this in because it's Google-related and topical: you can now see all the Superbowl ads on Google video. As if you weren't wasting enough time at work.

UPDATE: It's showing up in mine and others' Gmail. Anyone else out there see it? A little "Chat" icon... You can only save chats in there for now, live chat coming soon.

Tags: chat, gmail, gtalk, instant messaging, InstantMessaging

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

tyler said 11:11AM on 2-07-2006

I've got the chat icon too.

Whisky said 11:23AM on 2-07-2006

I also have the chat icon... personally I don't user Google Talk because I don't know anyone on it.
Hopefully when Google and AIM come together then I will use it.

Eliot Phillips said 11:57AM on 2-07-2006

I had it show up around 11PM EST

Veronica said 12:05PM on 2-07-2006

I believe everyone would see the chat icon, however only a small group of users have been 'chosen' to actually use the chat.

If I'm not wrong Gmail's implementing this to a small group of users first. If you're one of the lucky ones, you'd have received an email saying that you can now chat in gmail. Also, there'll be a Quick Contacts box above your labels. Users who're not able to use the chat yet will not see the Quick Contacts box yet.

If you've received the email and still do no see the Quick Contacts box, make sure you're not using a secured connection (https://). It has to be http:// for now. Hope that helps!

Veronica said 12:07PM on 2-07-2006

mark said 12:39PM on 2-07-2006

I'm glad to see it can log the chats even if your using the Google Talk service in a third party client (I'm using GAIM).

LarryVF said 12:54PM on 2-07-2006

Yes, have it showing up here also...Might be a handy little feature...who knows....

rfcn said 10:01AM on 2-08-2006

well i have the ability to chat now, and i've been testing it through the day!
must say i'm impressed!
i've chatted to people using gtalk, ichat and the gmail client, and they all work flawless.
there is the possibility to undock the chat window into a separate window (or a tab if you have the right firefox settings). seems like they added little smiley support aswell, but far less annoying then in any other im-client i've used.
some of the less good things i see now: imagine chatting to more then 5 people at a time (do i have THAT many friends?), the screen might get a bit cluttered if they're all docked. Some basic 'friend x is typing a message..' is also missing when communicating with non-gtalk clients (eg ichat).
And the docked chats are not resizable, but i'm still thinking if that's a good or a bad thing...

they also added a kinda hover-box to each contact/email, giving you the choice to send an e-mail, initiate a chat, alter contact info, send invites, block contact etc.
the quick contact menu is pretty customizable aswell, as you can choose which contacts always have to be there, or which name you never wish to see for example.

i can see this evolving to be a pretty good chat-client.
would be nice if they could make a google homepage widget for gtalk aswell! i know i'd use it.

some info for those who don't have it activated yet:
set your language settings to English (US) and make sure you loging with HTTP:// and not with HTTPS:// .
and from then on you just have to wait... but its worth it!

cheers,
R

Fabian said 9:59PM on 2-08-2006

Well it's showing up in my account and I could use it if I was willing to use unencrypted http instead of https - and I might not be the most paranoid and security minded guy out there, but sacrificing the small security that using https brings me to be able to use an additional chat feature just isn't worth it to me. Hopefully they'll be able to provide the functionality through https soon...

catt said 8:45AM on 2-27-2006

Anyone know when GTalk will be integrated into Gmail for everyone? I'm a loyal Gmail user (it's my main a/c) but still no sign of GTalk for me...

Carlos F. said 8:29PM on 3-03-2006

It really works. I just changed the language to english (US) and save this new setting.

When I logged on now the "Chat option" appears...

Cheers

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