Google Talk Instant Messenger

Google Talk is Coming! According to News Reports, Google is launching a new instant messenger service, called Google Talk, some time this week.

Says the LA Times, “According to a person who has seen the service, Google plans to let users chat using more than just their keyboards. Like similar programs from competitors, Google Talk also will let computer users with a headset have voice conversations with other computer users with headsets, this person said.”

It also cites a Google spokesperson as confirming that Google would be releasing a new product this week, but she declined to name the product, or confirm that it was Google Talk.

Said John Tinker, an analyst with Think Equity Partners, in explaining the move by Google into the instant messaging space, “Like any big company, [it's] got a brand name, and [it's] got to keep extending it,” and adding that “because the reality is, there’s not a whole lot of difference between [its] search [engine] and anyone else’s.”

While the LA Times claims that “Google faces an uphill battle in persuading people to change instant messaging programs [and that] these services are useful only if friends and family members also use it, and competing services from AOL, Yahoo! and Microsoft have been available for years,” I’m not so sure…

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