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November 2008: Google Talk is added to Gmail with voice and video chat.
#Latest google talk app android
October 2008: Google launches Android for smartphones, with support for both Google Talk and regular SMS texting. November 2007: Google Talk receives support for group chats, allowing users to message multiple contacts in real time. Found in the “Chat” window in Gmail, users wind up calling it GChat. Talk would be integrated into Gmail in 2006 as the sort of “AOL Instant Messenger” to Gmail’s “AOL” email service. In addition to instant messaging, Talk also offered voice calls through its desktop client. Originally assumed to be an April Fools’ joke.Īugust 2005: Google Talk launches, kicking off Google’s foray into messaging services. Arguably Google’s first communication product, Gmail promised a new kind of email service where users wouldn’t have to delete emails and could search old threads with the same power as Google’s main site. Here are the four eras of Google messaging so far: The Google Talk era (2004–2011)Īpril 1st, 2004: Gmail launches in beta. It’ll build out new services, integrating them into more areas of its product lineup, then try to wipe the slate clean, launch new services that (eventually) replace the old set, and start the cycle anew. Google keeps falling into the same cycle, though, one that has repeated itself throughout the years. Or there’s Apple’s iPhone approach, which ties email addresses and phone numbers to two services: iMessage for text and FaceTime for audio and video.
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Within that mess of product names are two core issues: Google’s apparent love of launching new services and its inability to combine products under one umbrella.Ĭompetitors like WhatsApp demonstrate what the opposite approach could be: a chat service tied to a user’s phone number that allows for video and voice, all from one app.
#Latest google talk app plus
Video conferencing services: Google Talk, Google Voice, Google Plus Hangouts, Google Duo, Google MeetĬollaboration software: Google Wave, Google Plus circles, Google Docs chat, Google Chat SMS/RCS services: Google Voice, Android Messages app with RCS chat integration Messaging services: Google Talk, Google Plus Huddle, Google Hangouts, Google Allo, Google Chat, plus innumerable chat features built into other Google products we won’t mention here Here’s a breakdown of Google’s major messaging offerings over the years, with currently active services in bold:
#Latest google talk app full
Is this a coincidence that brings Google’s messaging ouroboros full circle, or is it meant to entice GChat fans into actually using the company’s latest attempt?įor another, Google Chat contains its own messaging rooms that were previously called Rooms but will soon “evolve” into something called Spaces, even though Google introduced a different messaging app called Spaces in 2016.
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For one thing, Google Chat is the name fans have affectionately used to refer to Google’s original messaging service, Google Talk, for many years.
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