google talk posts

Facebook Chat gets XMPP, catches up with AIM, Google Talk and MSN

by Jay Hathaway Nov 6th 2009

Facebook Chat has been a bit slow to catch on. Since it's been relegated to being opened from the web in a Facebook Tab, it hasn't been able to compete with chat services that have their own dedicated clients, like AIM, MSN and Yahoo. Although some third-party apps - like Adium - have made the extra effort to support Facebook Chat, it's not widespread. That's about to change, though, when Facebook adopts XMPP and becomes compatible with tons of existing chat apps.

XMPP is most famous as the protocol behind Google Talk. That means any chat program that currently includes Google Talk will be able to include Facebook Chat too. Facebook, like Google, is starting out in the chat market with the advantage of huge pre-existing contact lists - for Google, it was your Gmail contacts, and for Facebook it's, well, Facebook. If you've ever wished you could just automatically add all of your Facebook buddies to your favorite IM program, you're in for a treat.

[via GigaOM]

Tags: AIM, chat, facebook, google talk, GoogleTalk, IM, jabber, xmpp

Filed under: Google, Social Software, Web

Fast fix - block your unwanted contacts from Google Chat

by Dolores Parker Sep 20th 2009

If you're like me, there may be several contacts that appear in your Google chat that you probably would never dream of emailing again, let alone having a late night chat with. Well the good news is you don't have to live with their names staring at you taking up desirable real estate screen space on your Gmail page. Here's how you can get rid of them in the good, non literal way.

Click on Contacts on the left side of your Google page.

Then, select the person you'd like to block. When you click on their name a window will open and you will see a "Show in Chat List" drop down menu. You can select from Auto, Always, Never, and Block.

Tags: Block contacts from Google Chat, BlockContactsFromGoogleChat, Google chat, Google chat list, google talk, GoogleChat, GoogleChatList, GoogleTalk

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0

Googleholic for July 4, 2008

by Christina Warren Jul 4th 2008

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix for everything Google, the July 4th column! Happy 4th everyone!

In this edition:

Google C++ testing framework
Google Talk for iPhone
Google Maps voice search for BlackBerry Pearl
Use Spotlight to find online Google Docs
More ways to earn revenue from YouTube

Tags: adsense, blackberry, c, google, google talk, googleholic, GoogleTalk, spotlight, youtube

Filed under: Utilities, Google, Social Software, Beta

Google Talk Labs edition released, adds group chat and more

by Simon Kerbel Apr 5th 2008

Google Talk Labs edition is a new desktop version of Google Talk that borrows some features from the online Google Talk Gadget, including the addition of Group Chat, emoticons and more.

Google Talk Labs edition also adds new desktop notifications from Google Calendar, Orkut, and Gmail.

Unfortunately, it skimps on a few of the desktop features, and seems more like an intermediate step toward a full-featured desktop Chat application rather than its fulfillment. The most notable missing features are voice calling and file transfers. If you need those, you're better off with the original Google Talk client.

We hope that, in the near future, Google can round up all of its Chat features into one application. Until then, you'll have to pick and choose which features are important to you, and download or use the appropriate Google Talk service.

[via Daily Apps]

Tags: google, google talk, GoogleTalk, IM, labs

Filed under: Internet, Google, Googleholic

Googleholic for February 26, 2008

by Romeo Wahed Feb 26th 2008

Welcome to Googleholic - your bi-weekly fix of everything Google!

This edition covers:

Put Google Talk in your blog - "chatback"
Pakistan's YouTube ban causes two hour downtime
Google helps lay another undersea cable to Japan

Put Google Talk in your blog - "chatback"

Google Talk has announced a new feature called "chatback," which is a way for you to better connect with visitors to your blog or online profile, by allowing them to chat with you directly from your site. The visitors won't need to download anything or sign up for an account - as long as you're online with your Google Talk account, they can message you via the chatback widget you throw up on your site. If this sounds like a good way to add value to your site, grab the widget.

Pakistan's YouTube ban causes two hour downtime

According to BBC News, the recent downtime on YouTube was a result of ISPs in Pakistan attempting to reroute traffic from YouTube after Pakistan wanted the site banned for containing some anti-Islamic content of Dutch origin. Apparently, the ISP shared its Border Gateway Protocol data for blocking YouTube within Pakistan with other ISPs, which passed it on to others. Nice. But things have resolved now, and everyone can get their daily dose of YouTube again without interruption.

Google helps lay another undersea cable to Japan

Google is part of an effort to lay another undersea cable to Japan, together with five other partners, Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, Singtel, KDDI, and Pacnet. The whole project costs about $300 million and will be done in about 2010, adding about 7.5 tbps of bandwidth.

Other Google related bits we've been covering at Download Squad:

Sign up for Google's Blogger and get a Grand Central invite - If you've been wanting an invite to Grand Central to get one phone number to rule them all, get a Blogger account.
New status: Get invisible on Google's Gmail chat - Want to see who's online without revealing to others that you are online? Yes, invisibility is now an option for Google chat.
Google2Go: Unofficial Windows Mobile app for Google services - Although unofficial, Google2Go is a mobile version of Google's application suite.

Tags: chatback, google, google chat, google talk, GoogleChat, googleholic, GoogleTalk, youtube

Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services, P2P, web 2.0

Google Talk and Meebo growing their user base

by Chris Gilmer Jul 30th 2007

What IM do you use? Google Talk and Meebo have been growing with leaps and bounds, and so has IMVU.

Meebo, the online instant messaging system has experienced growth rates of 354% in the past ten months, and Google Talk, both web based and desktop based, has grown 149%. IMVU is another Instant messaging application that you might use if you are a Second Life of Habbo fan. It lets users create a custom virtual characters complete with clothes and 3D scenes. They have experienced a 154% since last year.

A shocking result came from Skype. The eBay owned company saw only a 20% increase in users since last August.

[via VentureBeat]

UPDATE: Check out CenterNetworks who link to a Nielson study reporting that Meebo is the fastest growing IM destination.

Tags: google talk, GoogleTalk, IM, imvu, instant messaging, InstantMessaging, meebo, web2, web2.0

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Freeware, VoIP

Fring lets you make free VoIP calls from your Windows Mobile PDA

by Brad Linder Jun 21st 2007

Mobile VoIP company fring has added support for phones and PDAs running Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6. Since fring works with any internet connected device, that means you can use the software to make free phone calls from your PDA, even if it doesn't normally have telephone capabilities.

In a nutshell, fring lets you make VoIP calls using your 3G or WiFi connection. You can make calls to anyone on Skype, Google Talk, MSN Mesenger, SIP, or Twitter. You can also call other mobile phone users running the fring software, or you can use services like SkypeOut to make phone calls to any phone number without eating into your phone plan's voice minutes.

Before you download fring software, you'll be asked what type of phone or Windows Mobile devices you're using. For some reason, a number of devices, including the Dell Axim X3 are listed, even though they do not run Windows Mobile 5.0. And we've confirmed, fring will not work on devices running Windows Mobile 2003SE or older.

[via StartupSquad]

Tags: chat, fring, google talk, GoogleTalk, msn messenger, MsnMessenger, skype

Filed under: Internet, Blogging, E-mail, Web services

Read feeds in Google Talk with Anothr

by Chris Gilmer Apr 2nd 2007

Feed reading might be a little time intensive for some busy bodies. Open an application or web location, read, and repeat. How about making it a little easier? Anothr is trying its best to speed feed reading up. We covered them back in October with the release of their RSS aggregator for Skype, and now they enter the market with a reader for users of Google Talk and Jabber clients.

To get Anothr up and running, add the contact name "anothr@gmail.com" to your friends list in Google Talk. The Anothr RSS alert bot will send you back an IM with links to manage and share subscriptions. You can enter website links, or upload OPML files to import sites and get the news ball rolling. However, this solution might only be good for a few important news feeds. I couldn't imagine getting bombarded with a feed update every 2 seconds.

If you are looking for a simple way to read your news feeds, this could be for you. It could be an annoying way to receive updates to your favorite news, but if you want to be notified immediately of updates, this is a great way.

Tags: anothr, feed, feed reader, FeedReader, google talk, GoogleTalk, im, instant message, InstantMessage, opml, rss, skype

What happened to AIM-Google interoperability?

by Jordan Running Dec 21st 2006

Today marks the one-year anniversary of what could have been a great milestone between AOL and Google."'Could have been'?" you ask? Well, one year ago today the two internet giants announced a $1 billion deal that put 5% of ~~Google~~ AOL in ~~AOL~~ Google's pocket. One result they promised was that the companies' instant messaging products, Google Talk and AIM, would be interoperable, allowing Google Talk users to send messages to AIM users and vice versa. And, as Steve Rubel points out, one year ago to the day, that interoperability is nowhere to be found.

Rubel speculates that AOL isn't delivering the advertising revenue that Google hoped for, which has put integrations on hold. "After all, why get married if the courtship is rocky?" he says. "It would only upset users if they re-segregated the IM systems." Whatever the cause, it's been a long wait and I hope they haven't decided to scrap the whole thing.

Tags: aim, aol, google, google talk, GoogleTalk, gtalk, im, instant messaging, InstantMessaging, interoperability

Filed under: Business, Internet, E-mail, Office, Web services, Google, P2P

Google announces office suite

by Chris Gilmer Aug 28th 2006

Today Google announced Google Apps for Your Domain. Through this new service, Google is offering free private label email, instant messaging and calendar tools.

The web-based applications are built on the same free Google applications you are used to like Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, and Google Page Creator, but with the addition of your unique branding and interface design. Users have the ability to totally switch up the colors and logos used in the page layout.

Google originally launched the Gmail for your domain in February 2006 for select users to test out. In the main administration account, users can manage and set up email addresses and distribution lists through an easy to use control panel. With the Google Apps for your Domain service, it makes it extremely easy for smaller businesses to manage their information more efficiently, without costly additions to email software, upgrades, and IT staffing.

The free, ad-supported service that is launching today is still in a beta form, and consists of 2 gigabytes of email storage for each user in the system that is currently built for US-English only. (Google is currently working to develop the service in other languages) Google is working on a premium version of Google Apps for your Domain for more advanced users, and will release more details and pricing soon.

Tags: domain apps, DomainApps, email, gmail, google, google apps, google apps for your domain, google calendar, google news, google talk, GoogleApps, GoogleAppsForYourDomain, GoogleCalendar, GoogleNews, GoogleTalk, page creator, PageCreator

Filed under: Google, Googleholic

Googleholic for August 8th 2006

by Chris Gilmer Aug 8th 2006

In this issue of Googleholic we'ss cover:

Google Talk WiFi phone
Google and AP
Military Secrets
GoogDesk
Google Digital Music

Dive into Googleholic...

Tags: ap, apple, dell, digital music, DigitalMusic, googdesk, google, google earth, google maps, google talk, GoogleEarth, googleholic, GoogleMaps, GoogleTalk, opengl, phone, wifi, yahoo

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Utilities, Video, E-mail, Web services, Yahoo!, VoIP, P2P

Yahoo Messenger is out of Beta

by Chris Gilmer Jul 28th 2006

The new Yahoo! Messenger version 8 with voice has been brought out of beta to stir the pot with MSN Messenger, and Google Talk.

Besides being able to tie into MSN Messenger contacts, the new Yahoo messenger is loaded with plug-ins and cool new features from both internal developers, and users, by using Yahoo Messengers Plug-in SDK. Top plug-ins for Yahoo Messenger include one for Coupons.com, Newsgator RSS feeds, and one from Jeteye that lets you store and organize your online world. Nothing tops the new Movie Trailer plug-in that allows you to catch the latest movie trailers while IMing though.

It looks like there is a full on IM war out there. And Yahoo!, MSN, and Google are stuffing their messengers with new features like crazy.

[via cnet]

Tags: google talk, GoogleTalk, instant messenger, InstantMessenger, msn, msn messenger, MsnMessenger, plug-ins, sdk, yahoo, yahoo im, yahoo messenger, YahooIm, YahooMessenger

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Utilities, E-mail, Web services, Google, Microsoft, VoIP, P2P

Google Talk File Transfer, Voicemail, and Music Status Update

by Chris Gilmer Jul 28th 2006

Google has just released a great new version of Google Talk. This new version has all the goodies people have been asking for.

This new feature list includes:

File Transfer - Send unlimited files and folders to contacts. With no restrictions on file size.
Voicemail - If your buddy isn't answering his/her call, leave a message. A voicemail message. And even if your friend doesn't use Google Talk, they can still receive it in a nice little attached audio file.
Music Status - Show what tunes you are currently listening to.

Google Talk is shaping up to be an ultimate player in the IM and VoIP world. They have come a long way since the launch of their first rendition of a barebones instant messenger. MSN Messenger look out!

Tags: audio, file transfer, FileTransfer, fmsn messenger, FmsnMessenger, google, google news, google talk, GoogleNews, GoogleTalk, im, instant messenger, InstantMessenger, music status, MusicStatus, voicemail

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Photo, Windows, E-mail, Web services, Google, Freeware

Google Talk sports new interface with pictures

by Jason Clarke Apr 4th 2006

There is a new version of Google Talk available that adds a feature that most other instant messaging clients have: user pictures. It also contains a number of new features, including:

Pop-up boxes for contacts when rolled over
Multiple visual themes with different formats to display chats
Alerts now have a close button and right-click option
Contact status changes occur mid-conversation
Ability to set alert to display when a contact comes online
Ability to sort contacts by name
Contact's name changes transmit occur more quickly

All in all, it sounds like they've addressed a number of issues that kept it slightly behind the cutting edge in the world of instant messaging. Being integrated with Gmail has to have been a huge boost for Google Talk, and if they can continue to improve the client, it may well have a chance. Unfortunately, there is no mention of a fix to my personal bugaboo: hotkeys. Hopefully soon.

Note - this is a beta version of a beta product. Confused yet? Me too. Basically, this is a test build. Install at your own risk, yada yada yada. And here's a review if you're not sure you want to take the plunge just yet.

Tags: Gmail, google talk, GoogleTalk

Goowy adding web-based IM, file storage

by Jordan Running Mar 9th 2006

Goowy, a personalized home page site whose main distinguishing feature until now has been its Flash-based interface, is planning to add some more compelling features soon, namely instant messaging and online file storage. According to TechCrunch's Michael Arrington the file storage feature will be through Box.net using its new API and include up to 1GB storage (with a crappy 5MB-per-file limit), and the IM component will work with all the major IM networks (a la Meebo). Head over to TechCrunch for a screenshot of the new IM feature.

Speaking of Google Talk and personalized home pages, though, it seems odd to me that Google has yet to integrate its own IM service with its own Personalized Home. Perhaps they're working on it.

Tags: box, box.net, google, google talk, goowy, im, personalize home page, storage

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

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