Google just announced integration of their instant messaging service, Google Talk, with Google IG, their personalized home page. The flash-based widget plugs into your Google Personal Home Page as an integrated buddy list and IM window. The new widget can be added to your page here.
Google IG is still only 1/7th or so the size of Yahoo’s competing product according to worldwide Comscore numbers. But Google’s integration with it’s own widget platform puts it ahead of the personal page giant Yahoo, which hasn’t integrated with it’s own konfabulator widget platform. Yahoo widgets have also been tough for others to wrangle. Netvibes’ Universal Widget API won’t include the platform in its first iteration.
The widget isn’t just a copy of the Gmail version, it also has some of its own cool new features. Compared to popup message windows in the Gmail version, the widget’s conversations open up tabs instead. The new widget will also will also intelligently parse Picassa and YouTube links, displaying the content embedded right in the conversation.
Here’s Google’s run-through of the new functionality.
Well that’s pretty spiffy. Would be spiffier in Netvibes mind you, but still spiffy.
datter
I use Google IG extensively and was waiting for this kind of gadget for long time. Great one.
One little issue with the configuration menu, it is hidden behind the main talk widget. (Firefox 2.0)
Any sort of chat room function? Like ‘merge tabs’ into one conversation with three people?
Oh what am I still doing on TC i need to get over to my personalized home and add this gadget.
Mmmmmmm. Intelligently parsing YouTube links into Talk. I usually do this manually by copy-and-pasting. Wonder how much more intelligently YouTube links can be parsed into Talk conversations?
Always,
TUFTS vs CITS
I just tried it out. Pretty cool, I like the differences between it and the Gmail talk client. I dont use IG though… takes too long to load
Ah well.
With the ability to put this on your blog you will expose your contacts to the world and allow anyone to chat them up.
I would like to see a chat to IM gadget for blogs and such.
Very cool – however, no reason to pull people away from Netvibes as they’ve had a meebo widget for a while. Although you don’t get the intelligent youtube/picassa parsing, with meebo you can still contact people on other IM networks.
I feel (in my gut) that those Comscore numbers are off. Who are these people using Yahoo!’s start page? I remember signing up for an account ages ago, but I never go there.
Also, remember the Google Reader numbers that just came out and made everyone’s Feedburner subscribers go up. My guess is that Google homepage accounts for more than 50% of that… Unless there is some way to differentiate between IG and Reader traffic that I don’t know about.
There seems to be a retarded delay, between IM Clients like Gaim and Adium though.
And between the IG chat and people using Gmail Chat
this is a killer
I thought I was seeing things when I recognized a name on the Google widget — then, I realized I wasn’t. Seems I’m in everyone’s circles.
And despite the fact that Google infrastructure could never have scaled without Linux, it still looks like Linux desktop users are treated with scorn. There is still no capability for Voice when running the widget on Linux. Not one flavor of GTalk supports Voice for Linux users.
Google can be so absolutely frustrating some times – more so when we were the ones that helped them get started when they were an embryo.
Thanks for nothing Google.
I must try this gadjet. (-_-)
It will be nice if it have audio alert when getting message. Something like what meebo already have.
And for those who want to include it in his Netvibes Homepage, i create a widget.
http://www.coop...gary.info/talk/
Gary
How cool! I tried a few Google Gadgets but never used them because I don’t like Google Personalized Page. But this Google Talk gadget has attracted my whole attention!
I’m gonna put it on my blog.
Just started to use this nifty widget, very cool! Google keeps on going!
I like meebo.com. First of all they combined AIM, Y!M, GT, MSN, ICQ and Jabber into one; it is completely web based; and can place multiple widgets on different web pages to be available to chat with online visitors.
I just installed it and it seems to work well.
Hey there,
A few notes…
- No, you’re not exposing your contacts when you put this widget on any page. Each person viewing the page just sees his or her OWN contacts, not yours
- Re: linux… hey, we love linux, we use linux; don’t lose hope, honest
- Audio alerts… yep, you hear the same “ding” you get via Google Talk in Gmail.
DISCLAIMER: I work for Google and use GTalk, but don’t work on that team
neato! does anyone know of a service, much like google personalized homepage, that allows others to view your homepage? would be interesting to know if there is anyone out there with similar feeds.
Hi Ian,
just saw your post. There are some personal homepages that allow publishing (for example Yourminis or Pageflakes). I have found that Pageflakes works really well – takes only 2 minutes to put a nice public homepage together. Mine is: http://www.page...ouise-1971.ashx
Send me an email with your public page link when you are done
Regards
Louise
it would be nice if this widget was available in DHTML for blogs. More traffic and more communications.
yeah, I heard the “ding” sound now. seem like i forget to on my speaker during my first testing. lol
Stupid…absolutely no use…they pay their employees to do this?