Google links chat and mail services

IHT Google Internet

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/07/business/google.php
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/07/technology/07google.html

Google links chat and mail services
By Laurie J. Flynn The New York Times
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO Google is joining its instant-messaging service with its popular Gmail program, the latest indication that the company has set its sights beyond its search engine to the broader communications industry.

The new program, Gmail Chat, lets Gmail users exchange text messages with others without having to log on to a separate chat program, making instant messaging simpler and more integrated with the e-mail program.

Google's vice president for product management, Salar Kamangar, said Gmail Chat was being made available Tuesday to an unspecified number of Gmail users and to all users of the system by the end of February.

From anywhere in Gmail, the user can see who is available to chat. The program also allows users to store instant-message conversations.

Regardless of its features, Gmail Chat faces a considerable challenge if it hopes to lure users away from established instant-messaging programs like those of AOL, Yahoo and MSN, with about 100 million subscribers in total.

Gmail Chat will be able to send and receive instant messages from a small set of competitive programs, including Jabber and EarthLink, but none of the larger ones.

The more popular systems do not interact, and interoperability remains the holy grail of instant messaging.

Kamangar declined to say how many people used Gmail, saying only that there were millions.

AOL's instant messenger has 53 million users; MSN's 27 million and Yahoo's 22 million.

Gmail Chat builds on the company's earlier instant-messaging technology, GoogleTalk, which it announced in August.

That program, still available, allows GoogleTalk users to converse with others in remote locations, in addition to sending text messages.

Gmail Chat, on the other hand, focuses on simplifying the experience of sending and receiving text messages, Kamangar said.