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Google Talk Adds Voice Mail, File Sharing

broadband.gigaom.com — Google Talk is offering an update today that will enable users to easily transfer files, set presence with music, and send and receive voice mails.

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  • DVRDude, on 10/12/2007, -7/+16Download the updated client here:
    http://www.google.com/talk/
    • armbar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27Or, just right click on the system tray icon and click "Check for updates".
    • x1987x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13"music" can now be displayed in the available or away modes! wooo just updated. I love the file transfer and voice mailbox, they have some english accented lady.
    • itanshi, on 10/12/2007, -23/+4thanks, cause my system tray is missing, really x_x
    • sahaskatta, on 10/12/2007, -27/+6wasn't all this launched over 2 weeks ago? why are they announcing it again?
      I had posted about these features on 7.31.06
      http://www.skattertech.com/2006/07/google-talk-gets-upgraded/
    • shoover, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Yea, I've had it for close to a month now, but I didn't see any public announcement by Google.

      For kicks, call someone and leave a message, I think the message attendant voice is the best!

      *MEEEEP*
    • DVRDude, on 10/12/2007, -7/+6Not everyone has Google Talk installed, which is why I provided the download link. Not to mention the page includes links to descriptions the new features!
      http://www.google.com/talk/whatsnew.html
    • Giever, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Does anybody notice the difference between the actual title bar for Google Talk, and the title bar they show for it on the website? The website version appears to be glossier, it resembles the newer Mac OS X menu bar. I, personally, prefer the way it looks on the site. Is there some way to change it that I don't know about?
    • mfearby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Why not link directly to Google Talk's blog instead of the original article which has practically nothing to say and really is just spam trying to catch more clicks?

      http://googletalk.blogspot.com/2006/08/its-finally-here.html

      (Hmm, Digg's spell checker suggests "bog" for "blog"; this may be accurate in the case of the original article :-)
    • DVRDude, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@mfearby: The GigaOm article was written several hours before Google posted anything to their blog. I put a comment here on Digg with Google's direct link and on the GigaOm blog so people could find it. The blog also updated their post with that info.
    • trylleklovn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Giever I think that what you can see is a result of the low quality gif on their site, as it does not show the smooth gradient on the top bar, and instead shows 2 different colors, seperated in different places when looking on some of the other windows.
  • DVRDude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19Google has updated their blog with even more details here:
    http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/more-ways-to-connect-and-share-with.html
  • ngerber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18The "Send Files" option was long overdue, I'm glad it is available now!
  • datagod, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23This is SWEET! THANK YOU FOR KICKING ASS, GOOGLE!
  • music13, on 10/12/2007, -9/+19And once again Google doesn't add support for Macs. Oh well, iChat works for now.
    • a7bat, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16And no Linux client, but apparently it's being worked on....
    • Jerk, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8I think iChat works better. You can do video chat over the google talk server if the recipient has iChat as well. You've also been able to send files with iChat over the Talk servers.
    • lampshade, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1I don't see why the linux version isn't already out. They will more than likely just use wine like they did with Picassa and that works...well... it works but I can't say it works well since some of the very simple features aren't available(such as locate folder--you have to write the script yourself--wtf?)

    • a7bat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Because it still isn't out, just like GAIM's full google integration still isn't available. I know we're all impatient, but it'll eventually come.
      And no, they said Google Talk for Linux won't be wine based. Everyone was complaining that Google Earth would be, but it isn't.
    • phronko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah, but the "show what I'm listening to" feature doesn't work in iChat. Pointless, I know, but it's a fun little feature.
    • mporcheron, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1and people outside of the us.
    • DCMacHead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You might want to give Adium a try. Great program, but the icon BLOWS, so plan on changing that (unless you like a goofy icon).
    • adsoftheworld, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is really sad, but I guess we can't expect much with such market share.
  • ohhhL3ThaL, on 10/12/2007, -14/+7hey cool I've had this for weeks!
    • TheBigGuycouk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1same here, there was a public beta a week ago, quick beta to release time for Google tho, well beta beat to beta
    • salmonmoose, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Not a beta, it was released gradually in case there were problems with stress on the system.
  • Kamael, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4It's nice that they're adding features much more quickly now. Still, if they don't get some "killer feature", it's hard to see Gtalk stealing the MSN/Yahoo/AOL userbase...
    • datagod, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5My "Killer Feature" would be video chat + selectable quality settings for both sound and audio.
    • razei, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7They plan on giving Google Talk the ability to 'talk' with other IM Services such as AIM. Sure, this has already been done with the countless other Jabber Clients available, but gTalk will probably be the most popular all-in-one IM services amongst the common user, seeing as it's by a company that is already well known.
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Considering Google's in talks with AOL and others about an interoperability between their networks, Google could quite easily win over plenty of people.

      Then again, Google doesn't need to win over everyone all at once, and I think that's something big that a lot of people overlook. Google has explosive growth in the advertising market, it doesn't need explosive growth everywhere else, and if it did have that kind of growth everywhere, you'd start getting concerned about a bust happening.. Think of the whole slew of Google services as longterm investments; they're all young, still in massive development, and still getting their feet into traditionally non-Google markets. In order to corner the market, you've first got to get in, get your feet wet, and understand what people want.

      The changes going into gTalk show that Google's listening. While it might not be much, it's more. Think evolutionary, not revolutionary.
    • axiomata, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Count me as one of those that will switch to gTalk when it talks with the AIM network. Until then, I'll be one reading these updates wishing that intercommunication feature is released soon.
  • digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -17/+3maybe google is against apple and linux?
    • music13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5No, because then why would the release an add-on to Picasa that provides seamless uploads between iPhoto and Picasa Web Albums? Also, most of Google's other services work with a Mac.
    • a7bat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Then why does Google use Linux and released Picasa for it? And Google Earth is available for both OS X and Linux.
    • lickmygiggle, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2@sahakatta

      The earlier release was a Beta, this is a final.
  • chrismm, on 10/12/2007, -25/+0Oh nice, more stuff that no one will ever use because we've already been doing this for years with the pre-existing 23948230948 IM clients out there.

    • armbar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Thanks for the insight, but I won't use AIM or MSN because of the ridiculous ad spamming. That's why it's nice that GTalk is introducing these features.
    • itanshi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9they do voice mail?
    • bluemech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Yeah why should they add features soemone else has, that's so stupid! I'm so sick of seeign new cars with the same old round tires! Why bother with that? 19023409123489128953145893487 other cars already have them!
  • mikewhite314, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12The killer feature would be integration for AIM/MSN/Yahoo. Then, a lot of people who like google but don't use GTalk because they have no one to talk to would switch.
    • DVRDude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16I assume it will come eventually since they did hire the lead developer from GAIM...
    • Giever, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Maybe if ALL of those people switched in the first place, they would have people to talk to. =P
    • factoryjoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yeah, you mean like in Adium?

      Just gotta crack the Skype protocal and not get DMCA'd for baking it into Adium.
    • velo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You could register on Gateways to the other Networks using another client and just use them in Google Talk...
    • itanshi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1what gateway did you use? my node is down
    • tmahmood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The day GTalk talks to Yahoo... I'll dump Yahoo messenger(That stupid bs) and Start GTalk!
  • Crypty, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5I really want it to be popular but I still don't see that happening.

    I can't stand the idea of using an AOL-made chat protocol.
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8AOL didn't make Jabber.
    • Crypty, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Well it was popularized by AOL anyway, and still connects through AOL servers.
    • tapo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Er...no? When did AOL use Jabber?

      Jabber is an open source project, which developed a standardized IM protocol (known as XMPP) through the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). They're not really related to anybody, although they let a company known as Jabber, Inc. use the trademark in return for hosting and employing many of the Jabber developers - though the project predates the company.

      AOL uses OSCAR (Open System for CommunicAtion in Realtime) which isn't open at all - really. It's shared by AOL's AIM and ICQ clients. ICQ used to use its own protocol, ICQv5, which was peer to peer and UDP based, and very unreliable as a result.

      Yes, I'm an IM geek.
  • Syndrome, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1What annoyed me about this, this was released a few weeks ago but I couldn't use the features just because I didnt register my gmail account long enough ago...
    • razei, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Did the people you were testing it with have the newest version of Google Talk?
  • shaolinpunks, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Google Music Trends doesn't seem to be working with winamp 2.81
    google's site says it supports winamp but there is no mention of what version
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+102.81 is ANCIENT, there's no wonder Google doesn't support it. Try 5.
    • shaolinpunks, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15 is a piece of junk.
      2.81 is great! the best version they ever made.

      seems like it is now working with gTalk.
      very suprised that it did work
    • lament, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"5 is a piece of junk.
      2.81 is great! the best version they ever made."

      no, you're thinking of 3 being the piece of junk. 5 blows away 2.81. let go of the past.
  • nickgon, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2didn't this come out in july? http://googletalk.blogspot.com/2006/07/testing-new-version-of-google-talk.html#links
    • DVRDude, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7It was only released to a subset of folks. Today is the official release and announcement.
    • Trekkie101, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Yes, it did, this news is old. It could be released to only a few people but the fact is, the features were talked about back then, the blog thats linked to is just nonsense, doesn't add much that the Google Blog wouldn't do better.
  • crispyart, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I wish GTalk woudl catch on b/c it offers some really great feaures--it's simple but effective. Clearly it's still missing a few major features (namely video, mac support, and better rich text options), but it'll get there eventually.
    • salmonmoose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Some would say a lack of rich text is a feature not a bug :)

      You can bold text, and italicise it, and it even highlights your smileys in light blue, what more do you REALLY need?

      Or, are you a 14 year old girl?
    • crispyart, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1the interface could be easier. i'd much rather hit ctrl+i then deal with the underscores. i guess i'm used to it now, but making that more straight forward would be important for getting new users, too.
  • EdwardD, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Ok, I understand all that, but when will we be able to call landlines and mobiles?
  • Subcranium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Quick question. Last time I tried it, I couldn't send offline messages. With Yahoo and ICQ, I can. Nothing I hate more than being in the middle of a message when the other guy logs off and then not being able to send it.

    Does GoogleTalk support offline text messages to be sent yet?
    • mDot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3No.
    • ejp1082, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Sort of - that's why it has such tight integration with Gmail. An e-mail is supposed to be their offline messaging, I think. Still, it'd be nice to support that directly.
    • dylanrjones, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1The voicemail feature is so much better than offline messages. Use that.
    • Subcranium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Voicemail. No that doesn't work for me. I just want text offline messages. Good idea though.
    • tapo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Jabber supports offline messages, and Google Talk is a Jabber client and server. But technically they don't support them.

      It used to be that it wouldn't send, and then it was if your friend was using another Jabber client (since offline messages are extremely well loved in the Jabber community) and sent you an offline message, the text would bounce back as a 'reply' from you.

      Now, you get no response, and your sender gets no error message. But the offline message does get logged in Gmail. Very annoying, but it shows that offline messaging is in the works, and might make it into a future release.
  • Cymrubeats, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3Still too bland and basic. Maybe in a few months/years google.

    On another note, it only used 2mb less memory than the current yahoo, so before they add anything else they ought to sort that out.
    • bcnewman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Yeah!!! We need more bloat!!!
    • ejp1082, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Personally, the minimalism is exactly what makes it my favorite client and I hope they don't abandon that in favor of feature bloat.

      I have it running right now and it's taking up less than 2 Mb of RAM compared to 20 for Yahoo. Not sure what you're doing differently.
  • aelias, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Amen. For that matter, why does google desktop need three running tasks, each taking between 10 and 20 megs of ram?
  • Dmatias, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3made the front page 19 days ago
    http://digg.com/software/MAJOR_Google_Talk_UPDATE_With_Voicemail_Music_status_File_transfer
    had 2525 diggs
    the only difference in this submission is that it links to a blog and google finally posted some information about it.
    • majorbabu, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6that was a test version. this is final
  • accidental, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4Wow old news. This happened like 2 weeks ago.
    • mporcheron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5no, a closed beta which was only open to certain us citizens was released a few weeks ago, google has released it to all us citizens now.
  • MisterCookie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, I just figured out that music can be looped back through Google Voice, allowing you to share music with friends. Works with even the most DRM-infested files. This was probably always in Google Chat, but its awesome to discover it now.
  • sylenzednuke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Cool one, Google is taking over every aspect of th web. Blogging, hosting, maps, videos, mail and now it is improving its IM service.
    Pretty cool that now the File Sharing is on!
  • quantumyorkie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Now if I just knew somebody who used Google Talk I would be all set ;)
  • Jammerdelray, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Google talk is nice except I don't like the idea that they'll keep records of every IM sent til 2038 or that it does not let you connect to all the different IM services. Maybe in a year it will be up to par.
    • RunnyBabbit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Well you can turn logging off. And you've got access to the records, as they're in your GMail inbox, so you can delete them whenever you want.
    • tuxracer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5You can choose if you want it to store the IMs or not. You can also choose during a conversation to selectively to "off the record" and not have just that portion of the IM stored.
  • rikardos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I would move to GTalk or just use their jabber service, but I still missing delivering offline messages. I'm accustomed to use them as a quick way how to send message to someone who is offline and I'm too lazy to write an email.
  • ejp1082, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Before there was ever Google Talk, there was "Hello" which Google picked up when they bought Picasa. It was an unnotable IM client except for the one thing it was designed for, which was easily sharing pictures with contacts. It was actually a really neat feature... I'm glad to see that they're folding it into Google Talk.
  • LiquidTim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Its about time they installed the File Sharing feature.
  • plasmatic, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1I've been using this for a month...
  • plasmatic, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1btw, if anybody wants to display their current elapsed time of their song playing in gtalk if they use winamp, try out my winamp plugin: http://www.plasmasoft.net/downloaddisplay.php?id=11

    I quickly whipped it up very quickly a while ago :P
  • SeanFL, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2one cool thing I like about google talk is that even if both people are behind firewalls, it still seems to find a way to transfer files between the two. I could never get icq or aim to do that when I was using them last year. I could be dumb or just need to open ports. This just works...I've sent some huge files and seems to work well.
  • Ares139, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5If anyone's interested, here's how you can make a portable version of Google Talk:

    http://www.robloach.net/projects/portablegoogletalk


    -Ares
  • GerryDaman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This is pimp style. The voicemail feature is awesome.
  • Himself, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4ALL yourself are belong to google
  • Solan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Awesome...awesome....awesome....awesome!!!!
  • DigitalCreators, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I've been using google talk since it was first released and I think it's much better than other chat clients since It really uses very little system resources and its voice chat capabilities are very very good.
  • ejvyas, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0http://www.google.com/talk/index.html
  • peorth, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Still doesn't work with Foobar to show the current music track :(
  • diggitydank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Now if they would just add SSL. I know some other jabber clients have it, but I like the look and feel of gTalk much better.
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