Google puts instant message service inside e-mail
SAN FRANCISCO, Reuters:
Google Inc. Will introduce over the
coming weeks a simpler way for Google users to conduct instant message chats from inside a Web browser window, alongside their e-mail, the company said on Monday.
Google, which is known for its simple way of searching the Web, is hoping that by embedding new instant
messaging software it calls ''Gmail Chat'' into its existing e-mail service it can differentiate itself in a crowded market it was late to join.
The Mountain View, California-based company is struggling to stand out in an entrenched field. Instant messaging was pioneered by America Online more than a decade ago. It, Yahoo Inc. And Microsoft Corp. Now have tens of millions of users each.
Google is fixing a decade-old technical divide between the generic Web browser that can check e-mail, search the Web or perform a host of other activities, and separate software used to converse in quick back-and-forth messages with buddies.
''We are breaking down some of the artificial barriers between e-mail and Web browsing,'' Salar Kamangar, Google's vice president of product management, said in a phone interview.
''We observed by talking with our users that there is no reason to think of IM as different from an e-mail message.'' Gmail Chat complements Google Talk, a more sophisticated program the company introduced six months ago that combines instant messaging (IM) with free Web-based calling features. By joining IM to e-mail, Chat can reach a wider base of users.
''This is training wheels for Google Talk,'' said Greg Sterling, an analyst with Kelsey Group. ''It is a way to introduce a broader population to instant messaging and give them exposure to Google Talk.'' Gmail Chat requires no special software download. It is available to any registered user of Gmail e-mail. Existing contacts within the more advanced Google Talk program automatically show up in Google Chat, the company said.
Gmail Chat features include a Quick Contacts list on the left side of a Google e-mail page which automatically displays the people the user communicates with most frequently, not just via Chat but also via Gmail e-mail or Google Talk services.
Gmail Chat can also be set to keep a running record of all instant-messaging conversations, which are in turn archived in Gmail just as any e-mail message would be. Users who don't wish to record such messages can turn the feature off.
In effect, Google is innovating by solving an essential frustration of millions of users of instant messaging services -- the need to install special software on each computer in order to hold instant chats with friends or colleagues.
While this presents little difficulty for computers users sitting at a PC they control, many office workers are restricted from downloading the special IM software required to their work machines. Casual Web users checking their e-mail on friends computers or Internet cafes hit similar roadblocks.
But the innovation is one of degree. Both Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and Microsoft allow users to send IM from within a Web browser, although neither emphasizes the feature.
Yahoo, which has recently introduced upgrades to both its e-mail that critics say put it ahead of other free consumer e-mail services for the time being, does not yet offer a Web route for Yahoo instant messaging users to contact each other.
''We are always evaluating enhancements,'' Yahoo spokeswoman Terrell Karlsten said.