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Tips and tricks: Let’s talk Google
Gone are the days when ICQ ruled the Instant Messaging world. MSN came and literally swept the IM market. However, this unparalleled rule by the ‘IM king’ is now being challenged by the Google team whose efforts are creating waves with the introduction of a brand new IM beta called Google Talk. It remains to be seen if the latest venture by Google would affect Microsoft’s MSN the way Firefox affected Internet Explorer.
Downloading Google Talk does not take long, as it is about 900KB. Installation is easy and does not require any settings. The interface is flat and simple with ample white spaces. Instead of a standard menu at the top, there are three hyperlinks: Inbox (opens up Gmail), Settings (IM options and settings) and Help which is online. Currently, the communication modes include text chat and voice chat.
One thing to keep in mind is that the other party must also have Google Talk for communication, and this requires a Gmail account.
In fact, contacts defined in Gmail are automatically loaded in Google Talk which means that if you are a dedicated Gmail user, you will not have to add peers. And if your virtual community does not have a Gmail account, you can always add the users on your list and an invitation will be sent out for Gmail account creation.
As soon as the contact creates an account, a grey dot will appear in your listing, signifying that the user is now on Gmail and can be contacted using Google Talk. And if you are worrying about the number of friends you can invite, the limit is now 100 and even this can be renewed if exhausted!
Google has focused a lot on good voice quality, and specifically recommends headsets over the usual built-in microphones and speakers.
Plus, there is an online list of recommended accessories for best Google Talk experience.
Another feature that is noticeable is the clean interface with no pop-ups, clutters, side bars, icons, ads or tickers. However, the most important thing in Google Talk is that the IM is based on open standards, and one that lets users connect with everyone else (not fully realized yet, though).
Settings
All the options of Gmail are present under the Settings section. The first sub-section is General, which sets auto-start preference, sets opening of Gmail page if a related link is pressed, controls sorting of Friend List, gives option of hiding contacts not in the Friend List, and an icon to access web-based Gmail Account Set- tings.
The second sub-section is Privacy which gives the option of automatically adding people with whom there is frequent communication. And finally, the standard Save Chat option. The chat is saved locally.
The Notifications sub-section controls the option of displaying notification boxes popping up from the bottom right of the screen and playing sound in the case of incoming call, incoming chat or email arrival. Proxy settings appear along with Connection Monitor under the Connection sub-section.
Lastly, there are audio settings in the Audio sub-section, which enable input and output device selection, besides providing the option of auto adjustment of microphone sensitivity and auto unmute speaker.
For developers
If you are a developer and want to connect to Google Talk, go through http://www.xmpp.org/ specs/ since this IM is developed in adherence to XMPP open standards. The IM service is hosted at talk.google.com where port 5222, TLS is required and authentication mechanism that is supported is SASL PLAIN.
Non-Windows OS
Presently, Google Talk is available for Windows Operating System only, but the developers are working to release copies for Linux and Mac OSX as well. However, all clients who support XMPP protocol can access Google Talk and this includes Trillian, GAIM, iChat, Adium, and Psi, which are available for free.
Future options
In future, Google Talk is working in collaboration with EarthLink and Sipphone to create a ‘federation of services’, which will provide maximum inter-connectivity in a secure, reliable and scaleable way. It also plans to introduce the feature that will support more languages.
Google Talk also promises to support complete encryption of chats and calls before its official release.
Writer’s e-mail is nizar.ali@ gmail.com
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