Google Data » Google Talk https://googledata.org Everything Google: News, Products, Services, Content, Culture Wed, 28 Dec 2016 21:09:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.13 Free calling in Gmail extended through 2011 https://googledata.org/google-talk/free-calling-in-gmail-extended-through-2011-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/free-calling-in-gmail-extended-through-2011-2/#comments Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:01:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=279508be44f6d208fd111205f6d2da7c (Cross posted from the Gmail blog)

When we launched calling in Gmail back in August, we wanted it to be easy and affordable, so we made calls to the U.S. and Canada free for the rest of 2010. In the spirit of holiday giving and to help people keep in touch in the new year, we’re extending free calling for all of 2011.

In case you haven’t tried it yet, dialing a phone number works just like a regular phone. Look for “Call phone” at the top of your Gmail chat list and dial a number or enter a contact’s name.


To learn more, visit gmail.com/call. Calling in Gmail is currently only available to U.S. based Gmail users.

Happy New Year and happy calling!

Posted by Robin Schriebman, Software Engineer]]> (Cross posted from the Gmail blog)

When we launched calling in Gmail back in August, we wanted it to be easy and affordable, so we made calls to the U.S. and Canada free for the rest of 2010. In the spirit of holiday giving and to help people keep in touch in the new year, we’re extending free calling for all of 2011.

In case you haven’t tried it yet, dialing a phone number works just like a regular phone. Look for “Call phone” at the top of your Gmail chat list and dial a number or enter a contact’s name.


To learn more, visit gmail.com/call. Calling in Gmail is currently only available to U.S. based Gmail users.

Happy New Year and happy calling!

Posted by Robin Schriebman, Software Engineer]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/free-calling-in-gmail-extended-through-2011-2/feed/ 0 How to send chats (and 50 other things you might want to teach your parents) https://googledata.org/google-talk/how-to-send-chats-and-50-other-things-you-might-want-to-teach-your-parents-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/how-to-send-chats-and-50-other-things-you-might-want-to-teach-your-parents-2/#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:12:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=9ea3f95f855d846bb63caeb4a16a5e25
With a bit of tutoring and practice, my dad has become quite the master chatter, messaging me at all hours of the day, telling me to go to bed at night and asking me if I’ve gotten enough sleep in the morning.

We at Google love using technology in our daily lives and want to share that with our loved ones so we can connect whether we’re right next door or hundred of miles apart. TeachParentsTech.org is a site we’ve created to send basic how-to videos to our families. Here’s a video I created on how to use chat:



For more videos or to send videos to your loved ones, visit TeachParentsTech.org. Have a safe and happy holidays!

Posted By Allen Huang, Associate Product Manager]]>
With a bit of tutoring and practice, my dad has become quite the master chatter, messaging me at all hours of the day, telling me to go to bed at night and asking me if I’ve gotten enough sleep in the morning.

We at Google love using technology in our daily lives and want to share that with our loved ones so we can connect whether we’re right next door or hundred of miles apart. TeachParentsTech.org is a site we’ve created to send basic how-to videos to our families. Here’s a video I created on how to use chat:



For more videos or to send videos to your loved ones, visit TeachParentsTech.org. Have a safe and happy holidays!

Posted By Allen Huang, Associate Product Manager]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/how-to-send-chats-and-50-other-things-you-might-want-to-teach-your-parents-2/feed/ 0 How to send chats (and 50 other things you might want to teach your parents) https://googledata.org/google-talk/how-to-send-chats-and-50-other-things-you-might-want-to-teach-your-parents/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/how-to-send-chats-and-50-other-things-you-might-want-to-teach-your-parents/#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:12:00 +0000
With a bit of tutoring and practice, my dad has become quite the master chatter, messaging me at all hours of the day, telling me to go to bed at night and asking me if I’ve gotten enough sleep in the morning.

We at Google love using technology in our daily lives and want to share that with our loved ones so we can connect whether we’re right next door or hundred of miles apart. TeachParentsTech.org is a site we’ve created to send basic how-to videos to our families. Here’s a video I created on how to use chat:



For more videos or to send videos to your loved ones, visit TeachParentsTech.org. Have a safe and happy holidays!

Posted By Allen Huang, Associate Product Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/how-to-send-chats-and-50-other-things-you-might-want-to-teach-your-parents/feed/ 0 Santa’s calling (from his Google Voice number) https://googledata.org/google-talk/santas-calling-from-his-google-voice-number/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/santas-calling-from-his-google-voice-number/#comments Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:37:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=5a5e8359e492c07281499d5ed351b4c3 Growing up, December was always a favorite month of mine. School would let out for two weeks, snowflakes would start falling and I’d write my letter to Santa to remind him that I’d been especially good that year (and ask if he’d mind bringing me a few Ninja Turtles). He never answered those letters—he’s a busy guy, after all—but what if he could pick up the phone and call me instead? What if Santa had Google Voice and could easily call all the kids on his list?

Well, this year he can—with your help. If you know a kid (of any age) who’d like to hear from Santa, create and send a personalized phone call from the jolly man in the red suit himself at sendacallfromsanta.com.

There are hundreds of options to choose from, so you can send unique, customized phone calls to anyone you know, from your nieces and nephews to old college friends, over the phone (to U.S. numbers only) or via email, Facebook or Twitter.

If you or your kids have a special request or message for Santa, you can leave him a message at his Google Voice number: 855-34-SANTA. Although he’s too busy to return messages himself, you can always create one on his behalf at the Send a Call From Santa site.

Ready to spread some holiday cheer? Listen to a sample message, and visit sendacallfromsanta.com to send a message of your own.

And don’t forget—if you want to keep up with Santa as he travels around the globe delivering presents on Christmas Eve, you can track his journey on Google Maps, on Google Earth with the plug-in and on your mobile phone, too.

Posted by Michael Bolognino, Product Marketing Manager]]> Growing up, December was always a favorite month of mine. School would let out for two weeks, snowflakes would start falling and I’d write my letter to Santa to remind him that I’d been especially good that year (and ask if he’d mind bringing me a few Ninja Turtles). He never answered those letters—he’s a busy guy, after all—but what if he could pick up the phone and call me instead? What if Santa had Google Voice and could easily call all the kids on his list?

Well, this year he can—with your help. If you know a kid (of any age) who’d like to hear from Santa, create and send a personalized phone call from the jolly man in the red suit himself at sendacallfromsanta.com.

There are hundreds of options to choose from, so you can send unique, customized phone calls to anyone you know, from your nieces and nephews to old college friends, over the phone (to U.S. numbers only) or via email, Facebook or Twitter.

If you or your kids have a special request or message for Santa, you can leave him a message at his Google Voice number: 855-34-SANTA. Although he’s too busy to return messages himself, you can always create one on his behalf at the Send a Call From Santa site.

Ready to spread some holiday cheer? Listen to a sample message, and visit sendacallfromsanta.com to send a message of your own.

And don’t forget—if you want to keep up with Santa as he travels around the globe delivering presents on Christmas Eve, you can track his journey on Google Maps, on Google Earth with the plug-in and on your mobile phone, too.

Posted by Michael Bolognino, Product Marketing Manager]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/santas-calling-from-his-google-voice-number/feed/ 0 Santa’s calling (from his Google Voice number) https://googledata.org/google-talk/santa%e2%80%99s-calling-from-his-google-voice-number/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/santa%e2%80%99s-calling-from-his-google-voice-number/#comments Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:37:00 +0000 Growing up, December was always a favorite month of mine. School would let out for two weeks, snowflakes would start falling and I’d write my letter to Santa to remind him that I’d been especially good that year (and ask if he’d mind bringing me a few Ninja Turtles). He never answered those letters—he’s a busy guy, after all—but what if he could pick up the phone and call me instead? What if Santa had Google Voice and could easily call all the kids on his list?

Well, this year he can—with your help. If you know a kid (of any age) who’d like to hear from Santa, create and send a personalized phone call from the jolly man in the red suit himself at sendacallfromsanta.com.

There are hundreds of options to choose from, so you can send unique, customized phone calls to anyone you know, from your nieces and nephews to old college friends, over the phone (to U.S. numbers only) or via email, Facebook or Twitter.

If you or your kids have a special request or message for Santa, you can leave him a message at his Google Voice number: 855-34-SANTA. Although he’s too busy to return messages himself, you can always create one on his behalf at the Send a Call From Santa site.

Ready to spread some holiday cheer? Listen to a sample message, and visit sendacallfromsanta.com to send a message of your own.

And don’t forget—if you want to keep up with Santa as he travels around the globe delivering presents on Christmas Eve, you can track his journey on Google Maps, on Google Earth with the plug-in and on your mobile phone, too.

Posted by Michael Bolognino, Product Marketing Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/santa%e2%80%99s-calling-from-his-google-voice-number/feed/ 2 Call credits for military families this holiday season https://googledata.org/google-talk/call-credits-for-military-families-this-holiday-season-3/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/call-credits-for-military-families-this-holiday-season-3/#comments Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=422bac1b18e501062f3680678eef0872 (Cross-posted from the Google Voice blog)

Keeping in touch with family during the holiday season can be challenging for anyone, but it’s especially difficult for military families with loved ones serving around the country or overseas.

Gmail’s built in video chat and free calls to the U.S. and Canada can help keep friends and family in contact regardless of how far apart they may be. To make staying in touch this holiday season even easier for military families, we’re offering a $10 calling credit to help them reach their loved ones serving abroad.

These international call credits can be used to make calls with Google Voice or from right inside Gmail, and will provide families with roughly 30 minutes of call time to Afghanistan, 60 minutes to Iraq, or hundreds of minutes to many countries in Europe and around the world.

To make this possible, we’ve partnered with Blue Star Families and Sesame Street, two organizations dedicated to supporting service members and their families.

Photo by Sesame Workshop, 2010

To be eligible for $10 calling credits, military family members must:
  1. Be a member of either Blue Star Families or Sesame Street Family Connections — registration is free for all military families
  2. Provide their Gmail address
  3. Enable calling in Gmail and accept the terms of service OR have an existing Google Voice account
  4. Complete this registration form by December 22, 2010

We recognize the sacrifices military family members make when loved ones serve abroad, and we’re proud to help make it a little bit easier for families to stay connected over the holidays.

At this time, Google Voice and calling in Gmail are available in the U.S. only.

Posted by Michael Bolognino, Product Marketing Manager]]> (Cross-posted from the Google Voice blog)

Keeping in touch with family during the holiday season can be challenging for anyone, but it’s especially difficult for military families with loved ones serving around the country or overseas.

Gmail’s built in video chat and free calls to the U.S. and Canada can help keep friends and family in contact regardless of how far apart they may be. To make staying in touch this holiday season even easier for military families, we’re offering a $10 calling credit to help them reach their loved ones serving abroad.

These international call credits can be used to make calls with Google Voice or from right inside Gmail, and will provide families with roughly 30 minutes of call time to Afghanistan, 60 minutes to Iraq, or hundreds of minutes to many countries in Europe and around the world.

To make this possible, we’ve partnered with Blue Star Families and Sesame Street, two organizations dedicated to supporting service members and their families.

Photo by Sesame Workshop, 2010

To be eligible for $10 calling credits, military family members must:
  1. Be a member of either Blue Star Families or Sesame Street Family Connections — registration is free for all military families
  2. Provide their Gmail address
  3. Enable calling in Gmail and accept the terms of service OR have an existing Google Voice account
  4. Complete this registration form by December 22, 2010

We recognize the sacrifices military family members make when loved ones serve abroad, and we’re proud to help make it a little bit easier for families to stay connected over the holidays.

At this time, Google Voice and calling in Gmail are available in the U.S. only.

Posted by Michael Bolognino, Product Marketing Manager]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/call-credits-for-military-families-this-holiday-season-3/feed/ 0 New in Labs: Video chat enhancements https://googledata.org/google-talk/new-in-labs-video-chat-enhancements-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/new-in-labs-video-chat-enhancements-2/#comments Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:20:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=146256e89c74b83fc66867632d9b4f93 Gmail Blog)

If you use video chat in Gmail, you might be interested in a new Labs feature we just rolled out that allows you to preview new video chat features before they're turned on for everyone. Visit the Gmail Labs tab under Settings, turn on "Video chat enhancements," and right away, you'll see higher resolution video and a bigger video chat window.



The higher resolution video uses a new playback mechanism which enables widescreen VGA and frees up valuable resources on your computer. For it to work, both you and the person you're chatting with will need to have the lab turned on. Remember that you can always revert to standard video chat by disabling the lab.

We plan to add more video chat enhancements to this lab in the future, so if you have it on you'll automatically get those too. Feel free to post your comments or report any issues you encounter in the video chat forum (we also follow #googlevideochat on Twitter).

]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/new-in-labs-video-chat-enhancements-2/feed/ 0 Call phones from Gmail https://googledata.org/google-talk/call-phones-from-gmail-3/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/call-phones-from-gmail-3/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:40:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=4df91457c102dc4c90b6259cd4a975d5 (Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer’s microphone and speakers. But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time. Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, “wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?”

Starting today, you can call any phone right from Gmail.



Calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of the year and calls to other countries will be billed at our very low rates. We worked hard to make these rates really cheap (see comparison table) with calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan—and many more countries—for as little as $0.02 per minute.

Dialing a phone number works just like a normal phone. Just click “Call phone” at the top of your chat list and dial a number or enter a contact’s name.


We’ve been testing this feature internally and have found it to be useful in a lot of situations, ranging from making a quick call to a restaurant to placing a call when you’re in an area with bad reception.

If you have a Google Voice phone number, calls made from Gmail will display this number as the outbound caller ID. And if you decide to, you can receive calls made to this number right inside Gmail (see instructions).

We’re rolling out this feature to U.S. based Gmail users over the next few days, so you’ll be ready to get started once “Call Phones” shows up in your chat list (you will need to install the voice and video plug-in if you haven’t already). If you’re using Google Apps for your school or business, then you won’t see it quite yet. We’re working on making this available more broadly - so stay tuned!

For more information, visit gmail.com/call.

Posted by Robin Schriebman, Software Engineer
]]> (Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer’s microphone and speakers. But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time. Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, “wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?”

Starting today, you can call any phone right from Gmail.



Calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of the year and calls to other countries will be billed at our very low rates. We worked hard to make these rates really cheap (see comparison table) with calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan—and many more countries—for as little as $0.02 per minute.

Dialing a phone number works just like a normal phone. Just click “Call phone” at the top of your chat list and dial a number or enter a contact’s name.


We’ve been testing this feature internally and have found it to be useful in a lot of situations, ranging from making a quick call to a restaurant to placing a call when you’re in an area with bad reception.

If you have a Google Voice phone number, calls made from Gmail will display this number as the outbound caller ID. And if you decide to, you can receive calls made to this number right inside Gmail (see instructions).

We’re rolling out this feature to U.S. based Gmail users over the next few days, so you’ll be ready to get started once “Call Phones” shows up in your chat list (you will need to install the voice and video plug-in if you haven’t already). If you’re using Google Apps for your school or business, then you won’t see it quite yet. We’re working on making this available more broadly - so stay tuned!

For more information, visit gmail.com/call.

Posted by Robin Schriebman, Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/call-phones-from-gmail-3/feed/ 0 Call phones from Gmail https://googledata.org/google-talk/call-phones-from-gmail/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/call-phones-from-gmail/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:40:00 +0000 (Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer’s microphone and speakers. But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time. Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, “wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?”

Starting today, you can call any phone right from Gmail.



Calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of the year and calls to other countries will be billed at our very low rates. We worked hard to make these rates really cheap (see comparison table) with calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan—and many more countries—for as little as $0.02 per minute.

Dialing a phone number works just like a normal phone. Just click “Call phone” at the top of your chat list and dial a number or enter a contact’s name.


We’ve been testing this feature internally and have found it to be useful in a lot of situations, ranging from making a quick call to a restaurant to placing a call when you’re in an area with bad reception.

If you have a Google Voice phone number, calls made from Gmail will display this number as the outbound caller ID. And if you decide to, you can receive calls made to this number right inside Gmail (see instructions).

We’re rolling out this feature to U.S. based Gmail users over the next few days, so you’ll be ready to get started once “Call Phones” shows up in your chat list (you will need to install the voice and video plug-in if you haven’t already). If you’re using Google Apps for your school or business, then you won’t see it quite yet. We’re working on making this available more broadly - so stay tuned!

For more information, visit gmail.com/call.

Posted by Robin Schriebman, Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/call-phones-from-gmail/feed/ 0 Use Linux? Now you can video chat too https://googledata.org/google-talk/use-linux-now-you-can-video-chat-too-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/use-linux-now-you-can-video-chat-too-2/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:05:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=ccc5d5671a2ce83750e8f0f5076ee479 (Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

If you’ve been wanting to use voice and video chat on Linux (our top video chat request), then we have good news for you: it’s now available! Visit gmail.com/videochat to download the plugin and get started. Voice and video chat for Linux supports Ubuntu and other Debian-based Linux distributions, and RPM support will be coming soon.

Posted by Tristan Schmelcher, Software Engineer]]> (Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

If you’ve been wanting to use voice and video chat on Linux (our top video chat request), then we have good news for you: it’s now available! Visit gmail.com/videochat to download the plugin and get started. Voice and video chat for Linux supports Ubuntu and other Debian-based Linux distributions, and RPM support will be coming soon.

Posted by Tristan Schmelcher, Software Engineer]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/use-linux-now-you-can-video-chat-too-2/feed/ 0 Video chatting with Grandma https://googledata.org/google-talk/video-chatting-with-grandma-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/video-chatting-with-grandma-2/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:35:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=02c032b5da7f48d62048db82dd1ca578 (Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

Two weeks ago we asked you to submit photos of you video chatting with your grandma. Thank you for all your submissions! As promised, we’d like to highlight a few photos that particularly touched us.

Emmanuel from Israel submitted this photo and wrote "My grandmother lives in Nice, France and could not come to our wedding in Israel, this is as close as we got to having her with us."


Charlie from New York City sent in these great photos of his daughter Maayan’s first video chat with her grandparents in Portland.



And Niranjan from Bangalore submitted this photo of him video chatting with his grandmother in Mumbai while away at college.


Thanks again for your submissions-- and happy video chatting!

Posted by Cody Bratt, Google Chat team]]> (Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

Two weeks ago we asked you to submit photos of you video chatting with your grandma. Thank you for all your submissions! As promised, we’d like to highlight a few photos that particularly touched us.

Emmanuel from Israel submitted this photo and wrote "My grandmother lives in Nice, France and could not come to our wedding in Israel, this is as close as we got to having her with us."


Charlie from New York City sent in these great photos of his daughter Maayan’s first video chat with her grandparents in Portland.



And Niranjan from Bangalore submitted this photo of him video chatting with his grandmother in Mumbai while away at college.


Thanks again for your submissions-- and happy video chatting!

Posted by Cody Bratt, Google Chat team]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/video-chatting-with-grandma-2/feed/ 0 Grandmother’s guide to video chat https://googledata.org/google-talk/grandmothers-guide-to-video-chat-4/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/grandmothers-guide-to-video-chat-4/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:59:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=f0ec4caf51a6954741600aaa8180c293 (Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

Often when I tell people that I work on Google video chat, I hear stories about how they’ve used it to give a video tour of a new home to friends, introduce a baby to relatives, keep in touch with traveling loved ones... the list goes on. This got me thinking about how convenient— and sometimes even magical — the experience of video chatting is.

So when I saw that my grandma, who loves keeping in touch with family more than anyone, wasn’t set up to use video chat, I decided to help her get started. While doing so, it occurred to me how many people there must be out there in similar situations. If only there were a simple way that any grandmother could use to get started on her own...

Introducing the Grandmother’s Guide to Video Chat:



This video, along with a printable guide, can be accessed at google.com/chat/grandma. Feel free to share this link with your grandma—or grandpa—or, well, anyone who wants to video chat to help get them up and running.

And after your grandma is all set up, take a screenshot of you video chatting with her and email it to grammy324@gmail.com to share it with us. The first 100 people to do so will get a t-shirt, printable guide and VHS of the video (because if your grandma’s like mine, she’s still a cassette kind of girl).


In a few weeks, we’ll feature the best photos submitted on the Gmail blog.

Posted by Jason Toff, Grandson of Evelyn & Ida
]]> (Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

Often when I tell people that I work on Google video chat, I hear stories about how they’ve used it to give a video tour of a new home to friends, introduce a baby to relatives, keep in touch with traveling loved ones... the list goes on. This got me thinking about how convenient— and sometimes even magical — the experience of video chatting is.

So when I saw that my grandma, who loves keeping in touch with family more than anyone, wasn’t set up to use video chat, I decided to help her get started. While doing so, it occurred to me how many people there must be out there in similar situations. If only there were a simple way that any grandmother could use to get started on her own...

Introducing the Grandmother’s Guide to Video Chat:



This video, along with a printable guide, can be accessed at google.com/chat/grandma. Feel free to share this link with your grandma—or grandpa—or, well, anyone who wants to video chat to help get them up and running.

And after your grandma is all set up, take a screenshot of you video chatting with her and email it to grammy324@gmail.com to share it with us. The first 100 people to do so will get a t-shirt, printable guide and VHS of the video (because if your grandma’s like mine, she’s still a cassette kind of girl).


In a few weeks, we’ll feature the best photos submitted on the Gmail blog.

Posted by Jason Toff, Grandson of Evelyn & Ida
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/grandmothers-guide-to-video-chat-4/feed/ 0 Friend Suggestions in iGoogle chat https://googledata.org/google-talk/friend-suggestions-in-igoogle-chat/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/friend-suggestions-in-igoogle-chat/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:30:00 +0000

In addition, Google Chat will automatically suggest contacts we think you’ll be interested in, based on the people you email with the most (similar to what is currently done in Gmail). Suggestions will typically appear upon sign in (if available).


If you don’t want to receive contact suggestions, you can turn them off by clicking Options, then clicking Chat Settings, and clearing the Display contact suggestion banners checkbox.

Posted by David Bennett, software engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/friend-suggestions-in-igoogle-chat/feed/ 0 Friend Suggestions in iGoogle chat https://googledata.org/google-talk/friend-suggestions-in-igoogle-chat-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/friend-suggestions-in-igoogle-chat-2/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:30:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=ca668c236bf8d70a9915e1314c3c45f5

In addition, Google Chat will automatically suggest contacts we think you’ll be interested in, based on the people you email with the most (similar to what is currently done in Gmail). Suggestions will typically appear upon sign in (if available).


If you don’t want to receive contact suggestions, you can turn them off by clicking Options, then clicking Chat Settings, and clearing the Display contact suggestion banners checkbox.

Posted by David Bennett, software engineer
]]>

In addition, Google Chat will automatically suggest contacts we think you’ll be interested in, based on the people you email with the most (similar to what is currently done in Gmail). Suggestions will typically appear upon sign in (if available).


If you don’t want to receive contact suggestions, you can turn them off by clicking Options, then clicking Chat Settings, and clearing the Display contact suggestion banners checkbox.

Posted by David Bennett, software engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/friend-suggestions-in-igoogle-chat-2/feed/ 0 File transfer in iGoogle and orkut chat https://googledata.org/google-talk/file-transfer-in-igoogle-and-orkut-chat/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/file-transfer-in-igoogle-and-orkut-chat/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:14:00 +0000 iGoogle and orkut.  To give it a try, just click Send a file... in the Actions menu while chatting with a friend (no download required):

This feature is also compatible with the file transfer functionality in the Google Talk downloadable software, so you can share files directly from the web with folks who use the desktop version.

File transfer is available in orkut and iGoogle only for now.  We're working on bringing it to Gmail as well, and we'll keep you posted when that happens!

​Posted by Lizhen Wang, software engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/file-transfer-in-igoogle-and-orkut-chat/feed/ 0 File transfer in iGoogle and orkut chat https://googledata.org/google-talk/file-transfer-in-igoogle-and-orkut-chat-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/file-transfer-in-igoogle-and-orkut-chat-2/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:14:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=fba48ddffb2a99b2e00f9223330f5579 iGoogle and orkut.  To give it a try, just click Send a file... in the Actions menu while chatting with a friend (no download required):

This feature is also compatible with the file transfer functionality in the Google Talk downloadable software, so you can share files directly from the web with folks who use the desktop version.

File transfer is available in orkut and iGoogle only for now.  We're working on bringing it to Gmail as well, and we'll keep you posted when that happens!

​Posted by Lizhen Wang, software engineer]]> iGoogle and orkut.  To give it a try, just click Send a file... in the Actions menu while chatting with a friend (no download required):

This feature is also compatible with the file transfer functionality in the Google Talk downloadable software, so you can share files directly from the web with folks who use the desktop version.

File transfer is available in orkut and iGoogle only for now.  We're working on bringing it to Gmail as well, and we'll keep you posted when that happens!

​Posted by Lizhen Wang, software engineer]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/file-transfer-in-igoogle-and-orkut-chat-2/feed/ 0 Easier chat controls https://googledata.org/google-talk/easier-chat-controls/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/easier-chat-controls/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000 work even better, and the reception has been so good that we're giving voice, video and group chat a new and improved home at the top of the chat window in iGoogle and orkut. While this isn't a major change, we hope it makes using all of our features easier.

If you’ve never used voice or video chat in iGoogle or orkut, it’s easy to get started. You'll just need a webcam and a microphone. If you already have a webcam and a microphone, you’ll just need to download a small plugin for video chat, available for free at www.google.com/chat/video.

With the plugin installed and your camera enabled, your friends will see a small green camera icon like this  next to your name in their chat lists. Then, to start a voice or video chat, simply click either the voice or video icon in the toolbar and talk away to your heart's content - all for free.

If you primarily use chat in Gmail, don't worry, we haven't forgotten you!  It'll be coming soon to Gmail as well.

Posted by Bruce Leban
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/easier-chat-controls/feed/ 0 Easier chat controls https://googledata.org/google-talk/easier-chat-controls-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/easier-chat-controls-2/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=7b123ff4c372da34817777b56c6ec107 work even better, and the reception has been so good that we're giving voice, video and group chat a new and improved home at the top of the chat window in iGoogle and orkut. While this isn't a major change, we hope it makes using all of our features easier.

If you’ve never used voice or video chat in iGoogle or orkut, it’s easy to get started. You'll just need a webcam and a microphone. If you already have a webcam and a microphone, you’ll just need to download a small plugin for video chat, available for free at www.google.com/chat/video.

With the plugin installed and your camera enabled, your friends will see a small green camera icon like this  next to your name in their chat lists. Then, to start a voice or video chat, simply click either the voice or video icon in the toolbar and talk away to your heart's content - all for free.

If you primarily use chat in Gmail, don't worry, we haven't forgotten you!  It'll be coming soon to Gmail as well.

Posted by Bruce Leban
Software Engineer]]> work even better, and the reception has been so good that we're giving voice, video and group chat a new and improved home at the top of the chat window in iGoogle and orkut. While this isn't a major change, we hope it makes using all of our features easier.

If you’ve never used voice or video chat in iGoogle or orkut, it’s easy to get started. You'll just need a webcam and a microphone. If you already have a webcam and a microphone, you’ll just need to download a small plugin for video chat, available for free at www.google.com/chat/video.

With the plugin installed and your camera enabled, your friends will see a small green camera icon like this  next to your name in their chat lists. Then, to start a voice or video chat, simply click either the voice or video icon in the toolbar and talk away to your heart's content - all for free.

If you primarily use chat in Gmail, don't worry, we haven't forgotten you!  It'll be coming soon to Gmail as well.

Posted by Bruce Leban
Software Engineer]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/easier-chat-controls-2/feed/ 0 ​A smoother voice and video experience https://googledata.org/google-talk/%e2%80%8ba-smoother-voice-and-video-experience/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/%e2%80%8ba-smoother-voice-and-video-experience/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:21:00 +0000 Google voice and video chat plugin installed, you have recently received an automatic update that contains:
  • A fix that reduces crashes on newer macs (Mac OS X v10.6.2 specifically)
  • A fix for webcam compatibility on Windows (including HP webcams)
  • Several fixes to increase plugin stability
  • Several fixes to the infrastructure used to set up and connect your video calls.

From users who have chosen to “Report quality statistics” in their chat settings, we can see a substantial increase in call connection rates and a big decrease in the call drop rate (see chart below). We hope that this will result in more enjoyable conversations with our software.

As with all software, working on improving quality is a never ending process, so we hope that you will continue to report any issues you have in our user forum, and we will continue to work on improving connection rates and call quality.

Thanks to all of you who use our service -- and especially those of you who report issues!

Posted by Jessan Hutchison-Quillian and Mikael Drugge
Software engineers

]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/%e2%80%8ba-smoother-voice-and-video-experience/feed/ 0 ​A smoother voice and video experience https://googledata.org/google-talk/%e2%80%8ba-smoother-voice-and-video-experience-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/%e2%80%8ba-smoother-voice-and-video-experience-2/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:21:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=ec04fb785873815bccd2fe249dce30b6 Google voice and video chat plugin installed, you have recently received an automatic update that contains:
  • A fix that reduces crashes on newer macs (Mac OS X v10.6.2 specifically)
  • A fix for webcam compatibility on Windows (including HP webcams)
  • Several fixes to increase plugin stability
  • Several fixes to the infrastructure used to set up and connect your video calls.

From users who have chosen to “Report quality statistics” in their chat settings, we can see a substantial increase in call connection rates and a big decrease in the call drop rate (see chart below). We hope that this will result in more enjoyable conversations with our software.

As with all software, working on improving quality is a never ending process, so we hope that you will continue to report any issues you have in our user forum, and we will continue to work on improving connection rates and call quality.

Thanks to all of you who use our service -- and especially those of you who report issues!

Posted by Jessan Hutchison-Quillian and Mikael Drugge
Software engineers

]]> Google voice and video chat plugin installed, you have recently received an automatic update that contains:
  • A fix that reduces crashes on newer macs (Mac OS X v10.6.2 specifically)
  • A fix for webcam compatibility on Windows (including HP webcams)
  • Several fixes to increase plugin stability
  • Several fixes to the infrastructure used to set up and connect your video calls.

From users who have chosen to “Report quality statistics” in their chat settings, we can see a substantial increase in call connection rates and a big decrease in the call drop rate (see chart below). We hope that this will result in more enjoyable conversations with our software.

As with all software, working on improving quality is a never ending process, so we hope that you will continue to report any issues you have in our user forum, and we will continue to work on improving connection rates and call quality.

Thanks to all of you who use our service -- and especially those of you who report issues!

Posted by Jessan Hutchison-Quillian and Mikael Drugge
Software engineers

]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/%e2%80%8ba-smoother-voice-and-video-experience-2/feed/ 0 Google voice and video update for Snow Leopard https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-update-for-snow-leopard/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-update-for-snow-leopard/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:36:00 +0000
However, if you have previously installed an older version of Google voice and video chat on OS X v10.6, you will need to re-install it manually by visiting http://www.google.com/chat/video and download the new 1.0.15 version.

You can use your Gmail account to find out what version is currently installed. Simply go to the Gmail Settings page and look under the "Chat" tab. You will see the plugin version under the "Learn more" link, in small type.

The following Mac OS X v10.6 issues were fixed in version 1.0.15:

* Fixed problem where the Google Talk Plugin was not detected in Safari
* Fixed problem where the Google Talk Plugin would delay system sleep by 30 seconds
* Fixed problem where video would not be displayed in a video chat
* Fixed problem where registration for automatic upgrades did not work
* Fixed problem when uninstalling and reinstalling the same version

If, after installing version 1.0.15, you continue to encounter issues with video not being displayed, a single reboot of your Mac should fix the problem. We are working with Apple to resolve this. If you are on 1.0.15 and experience problems, please report them on the Gmail voice and video chat forums.


Posted by Justin Uberti
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-update-for-snow-leopard/feed/ 0 Google voice and video update for Snow Leopard https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-update-for-snow-leopard-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-update-for-snow-leopard-2/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:36:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=3d7b3fbf2ab25040aaa3e162a040ae36
However, if you have previously installed an older version of Google voice and video chat on OS X v10.6, you will need to re-install it manually by visiting http://www.google.com/chat/video and download the new 1.0.15 version.

You can use your Gmail account to find out what version is currently installed. Simply go to the Gmail Settings page and look under the "Chat" tab. You will see the plugin version under the "Learn more" link, in small type.

The following Mac OS X v10.6 issues were fixed in version 1.0.15:

* Fixed problem where the Google Talk Plugin was not detected in Safari
* Fixed problem where the Google Talk Plugin would delay system sleep by 30 seconds
* Fixed problem where video would not be displayed in a video chat
* Fixed problem where registration for automatic upgrades did not work
* Fixed problem when uninstalling and reinstalling the same version

If, after installing version 1.0.15, you continue to encounter issues with video not being displayed, a single reboot of your Mac should fix the problem. We are working with Apple to resolve this. If you are on 1.0.15 and experience problems, please report them on the Gmail voice and video chat forums.


Posted by Justin Uberti
Software Engineer]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-update-for-snow-leopard-2/feed/ 0 XMPP support on App Engine https://googledata.org/google-talk/xmpp-support-on-app-engine-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/xmpp-support-on-app-engine-2/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:50:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=240fd8bc5addc1676cd820c639b6a3f9 translation or just for fun, but up until today deploying and maintaining a chat bot was a lot of hard work. So we're happy to announce the release of an API that makes it very simple to build Talk bots on top of App Engine. Check out the App Engine blog for more details.

Posted by: Michael Davidson
Software Enginer]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/xmpp-support-on-app-engine-2/feed/ 0 XMPP support on App Engine https://googledata.org/uncategorized/xmpp-support-on-app-engine/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/xmpp-support-on-app-engine/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:50:00 +0000 translation or just for fun, but up until today deploying and maintaining a chat bot was a lot of hard work. So we're happy to announce the release of an API that makes it very simple to build Talk bots on top of App Engine. Check out the App Engine blog for more details.

Posted by: Michael Davidson
Software Enginer
]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/xmpp-support-on-app-engine/feed/ 0 Google voice and video plugin update https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-plugin-update-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-plugin-update-2/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:01:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=28f0730653f8afa27f570a2abe02217f Recently, we released the 1.0.13 update for the Google voice and video chat software. All current installations have begun an automatic update and should reach you within the next few days. If you do not have the plugin, you can visit http://www.google.com/chat/video and run the installer.

Here's what's new in version 1.0.13:
  • Improved startup time for both voice and video calls.
  • Detection and recovery for some situations that would cause the plugin to hang indefinitely, which could lead to messaging like "Detecting devices" in the settings page or "Add voice/video chat" in the roster or chat menu.
  • Fixed connectivity problems caused by VMWare virtual network adapters.
You can use your Gmail account to find out what version is currently installed. Simply go to the Gmail Settings page and look under the "Chat" tab. You will see the plugin version under the "Learn more" link, in small type.

If you're on 1.0.13 and still having a problem, please report it on the Gmail voice and video chat forums.

Posted by Tim Haloun
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-plugin-update-2/feed/ 0 Google voice and video plugin update https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-plugin-update/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-plugin-update/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:01:00 +0000 Recently, we released the 1.0.13 update for the Google voice and video chat software. All current installations have begun an automatic update and should reach you within the next few days. If you do not have the plugin, you can visit http://www.google.com/chat/video and run the installer.

Here's what's new in version 1.0.13:
  • Improved startup time for both voice and video calls.
  • Detection and recovery for some situations that would cause the plugin to hang indefinitely, which could lead to messaging like "Detecting devices" in the settings page or "Add voice/video chat" in the roster or chat menu.
  • Fixed connectivity problems caused by VMWare virtual network adapters.
You can use your Gmail account to find out what version is currently installed. Simply go to the Gmail Settings page and look under the "Chat" tab. You will see the plugin version under the "Learn more" link, in small type.

If you're on 1.0.13 and still having a problem, please report it on the Gmail voice and video chat forums.

Posted by Tim Haloun
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-voice-and-video-plugin-update/feed/ 0 Video chat from iGoogle https://googledata.org/google-talk/video-chat-from-igoogle-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/video-chat-from-igoogle-2/#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:25:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=613a1f34d1a7e0c2ccb3127a19b4c183 iGoogle to chat with friends while I check the daily news, email co-workers, and even scan through cute kitty pics — you name it, iGoogle has it. Chatting is great for sharing quick thoughts, but sometimes I'd rather just talk to my friends face to face. For instance, last week I got to hold an adorable 3-month-old giant panda. I really wanted to share the excitement of it with my friends, but my fingers just couldn't keep up with the speed and emotion of my thoughts. Now we're making it easier to chat face-to-face, with video chat built right into iGoogle. Just a few clicks and I can see and hear friends and family right from my homepage.

The first time you use video chat in iGoogle, you'll need to download a small plugin. It's free and installs in seconds. To video chat with a friend, click on the "Start video chat" link in the "Actions" menu at the bottom of a chat window. You can see which of your friends are set up for video by the small green camera icon next to their name in their chat list. Once you start chatting, you can pop out the window and make the size bigger or go full-screen.


We have had video chat in Gmail for a little while now, but the nice thing about video chat in iGoogle is that you can video chat with friends who don't have gmail accounts, all you need is a Google account. One less thing to worry about when you want to stay in touch. We'll also be rolling this new feature out over the course of the next few days so if you don't see it on your homepage today, just keeping checking back. As always, we'd love to know how you're enjoying the new feature.

Posted by Robin Schriebman
Software Engineer]]> iGoogle to chat with friends while I check the daily news, email co-workers, and even scan through cute kitty pics — you name it, iGoogle has it. Chatting is great for sharing quick thoughts, but sometimes I'd rather just talk to my friends face to face. For instance, last week I got to hold an adorable 3-month-old giant panda. I really wanted to share the excitement of it with my friends, but my fingers just couldn't keep up with the speed and emotion of my thoughts. Now we're making it easier to chat face-to-face, with video chat built right into iGoogle. Just a few clicks and I can see and hear friends and family right from my homepage.

The first time you use video chat in iGoogle, you'll need to download a small plugin. It's free and installs in seconds. To video chat with a friend, click on the "Start video chat" link in the "Actions" menu at the bottom of a chat window. You can see which of your friends are set up for video by the small green camera icon next to their name in their chat list. Once you start chatting, you can pop out the window and make the size bigger or go full-screen.


We have had video chat in Gmail for a little while now, but the nice thing about video chat in iGoogle is that you can video chat with friends who don't have gmail accounts, all you need is a Google account. One less thing to worry about when you want to stay in touch. We'll also be rolling this new feature out over the course of the next few days so if you don't see it on your homepage today, just keeping checking back. As always, we'd love to know how you're enjoying the new feature.

Posted by Robin Schriebman
Software Engineer]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/video-chat-from-igoogle-2/feed/ 0 Video chat from iGoogle https://googledata.org/uncategorized/video-chat-from-igoogle/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/video-chat-from-igoogle/#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:25:00 +0000 iGoogle to chat with friends while I check the daily news, email co-workers, and even scan through cute kitty pics — you name it, iGoogle has it. Chatting is great for sharing quick thoughts, but sometimes I'd rather just talk to my friends face to face. For instance, last week I got to hold an adorable 3-month-old giant panda. I really wanted to share the excitement of it with my friends, but my fingers just couldn't keep up with the speed and emotion of my thoughts. Now we're making it easier to chat face-to-face, with video chat built right into iGoogle. Just a few clicks and I can see and hear friends and family right from my homepage.

The first time you use video chat in iGoogle, you'll need to download a small plugin. It's free and installs in seconds. To video chat with a friend, click on the "Start video chat" link in the "Actions" menu at the bottom of a chat window. You can see which of your friends are set up for video by the small green camera icon next to their name in their chat list. Once you start chatting, you can pop out the window and make the size bigger or go full-screen.


We have had video chat in Gmail for a little while now, but the nice thing about video chat in iGoogle is that you can video chat with friends who don't have gmail accounts, all you need is a Google account. One less thing to worry about when you want to stay in touch. We'll also be rolling this new feature out over the course of the next few days so if you don't see it on your homepage today, just keeping checking back. As always, we'd love to know how you're enjoying the new feature.

Posted by Robin Schriebman
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/video-chat-from-igoogle/feed/ 0 Video chat tips https://googledata.org/google-talk/video-chat-tips-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/video-chat-tips-2/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:14:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=2112dba5b613237800aff20f793fce2a Hi all, we wanted to share some thoughts, tricks and tips around our Gmail video chat feature. Our first video chat tip is around making the call window bigger on your screen. When a video chat first starts, it is in the small chat window, and you see more of your email inbox than the person you wanted to talk to.

Did you know you could use the "pop-out" arrow on the top of a chat window to make a video chat bigger? This will separate the video chat into its own window that you can resize and move around as you like.

If you want to make the video chat as large as possible and block everything else out, simply use the Full Screen button in the top left corner of the video area. This will fill up your screen and make your conversation much more immersive. Based on the feedback you've given us, we have added the ability to mute your microphone while in full screen mode. To do this, simply hit the space bar!

Feel free to reach us by linking to this blog and by using twitter. We monitor "Gmail video chat", Gmail video chat", "Google video chat", or #googlevideochat in your tweets.

Posted by Fredrik Oja,
Software Engineer]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/video-chat-tips-2/feed/ 0 Video chat tips https://googledata.org/uncategorized/video-chat-tips/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/video-chat-tips/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:14:00 +0000 Hi all, we wanted to share some thoughts, tricks and tips around our Gmail video chat feature. Our first video chat tip is around making the call window bigger on your screen. When a video chat first starts, it is in the small chat window, and you see more of your email inbox than the person you wanted to talk to.

Did you know you could use the "pop-out" arrow on the top of a chat window to make a video chat bigger? This will separate the video chat into its own window that you can resize and move around as you like.

If you want to make the video chat as large as possible and block everything else out, simply use the Full Screen button in the top left corner of the video area. This will fill up your screen and make your conversation much more immersive. Based on the feedback you've given us, we have added the ability to mute your microphone while in full screen mode. To do this, simply hit the space bar!

Feel free to reach us by linking to this blog and by using twitter. We monitor "Gmail video chat", Gmail video chat", "Google video chat", or #googlevideochat in your tweets.

Posted by Fredrik Oja,
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/video-chat-tips/feed/ 0 Attention Nerds! A new gadgets API for communication https://googledata.org/google-talk/attention-nerds-a-new-gadgets-api-for-communication-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/attention-nerds-a-new-gadgets-api-for-communication-2/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 16:35:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=7b1942122378f55e51d94b11d31f7db3
This was in the back of my mind when I started putting my 20% time towards building a simple javascript library on top of our Google Talk web client. After some demos, my 20% project grew to an 80% project, and we're now ready to show off -- and get feedback on -- the gadgets.realtime set of APIs. These APIs will let Google gadgets hosted in different user's browsers communicate with each other. The first API, gadgets.sharedstate, is available on the new Talk Developer Sandbox. With this API, you can share an object between instances of a gadget, and be notified in realtime when the other instance modifies it. More APIs and UI improvements to allow gadgets.realtime gadgets to be used on orkut and iGoogle are in the works and coming soon.















For more information and for sample applications, see the documentation.

We've set up a discussion group to collect feedback. So, help me out, fellow geeks! Try out this API and let me know what you think and share any cool gadgets you write.

Moishe Lettvin, Software Engineer

Update (4/12/10): Our team decided to stop working on the gadgets.sharedstate API. The sandbox and the test harness will be shut down soon. Thanks for giving it a try.
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/attention-nerds-a-new-gadgets-api-for-communication-2/feed/ 0 Attention Nerds! A new gadgets API for communication https://googledata.org/uncategorized/attention-nerds-a-new-gadgets-api-for-communication/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/attention-nerds-a-new-gadgets-api-for-communication/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 16:35:00 +0000
This was in the back of my mind when I started putting my 20% time towards building a simple javascript library on top of our Google Talk web client. After some demos, my 20% project grew to an 80% project, and we're now ready to show off -- and get feedback on -- the gadgets.realtime set of APIs. These APIs will let Google gadgets hosted in different user's browsers communicate with each other. The first API, gadgets.sharedstate, is available on the new Talk Developer Sandbox. With this API, you can share an object between instances of a gadget, and be notified in realtime when the other instance modifies it. More APIs and UI improvements to allow gadgets.realtime gadgets to be used on orkut and iGoogle are in the works and coming soon.















For more information and for sample applications, see the documentation.

We've set up a discussion group to collect feedback. So, help me out, fellow geeks! Try out this API and let me know what you think and share any cool gadgets you write.

Moishe Lettvin, Software Engineer

Update (4/12/10): Our team decided to stop working on the gadgets.sharedstate API. The sandbox and the test harness will be shut down soon. Thanks for giving it a try.
]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/attention-nerds-a-new-gadgets-api-for-communication/feed/ 0 Show your Talk buddies where you are https://googledata.org/google-talk/show-your-talk-buddies-where-you-are-2/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/show-your-talk-buddies-where-you-are-2/#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 19:04:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=57483b9964905610c16ff1054c2c91c0 Google Latitude is a service that allows you to see where your friends are on a map in real time. You can choose whether to share your location with any or all of your friends and can display what you are up to with a status messages. And now there is a new feature that makes it easy to automatically share your location with your Google Talk buddies. Read more on the Google Apps blog.

Brian Hutchins
Product Marketing Manager]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/show-your-talk-buddies-where-you-are-2/feed/ 0 Show your Talk buddies where you are https://googledata.org/uncategorized/show-your-talk-buddies-where-you-are/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/show-your-talk-buddies-where-you-are/#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 19:04:00 +0000 Google Latitude is a service that allows you to see where your friends are on a map in real time. You can choose whether to share your location with any or all of your friends and can display what you are up to with a status messages. And now there is a new feature that makes it easy to automatically share your location with your Google Talk buddies. Read more on the Google Apps blog.

Brian Hutchins
Product Marketing Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/show-your-talk-buddies-where-you-are/feed/ 0 All Orkut users can chat https://googledata.org/google-talk/all-orkut-users-can-chat/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/all-orkut-users-can-chat/#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:39:00 +0000 Hi Orkut users! For those of you who didn't have Gmail enabled for your account or use a gmail.com user name, you may have found it odd that Google Talk was not available in Orkut for you. Well, now we are enabling chat for all Orkut accounts, without the Gmail requirement. Any Orkut user will be able to chat on the Google Talk network using their existing email address as their user name! We are in the process of turning it on for everybody, so if you don't see it yet then it's coming soon.

For added security, we require a simple email verification to use this new feature. Click here to learn how to verify your account.

Those of you who have been paying closer attention might have noticed that chat for non-Gmail accounts already works in the new version of iGoogle (available for some users, coming soon to everyone). The Talk server team has been working behind the scenes to make this possible. We've engineered a solution that allows you to chat using an email address that is not hosted at Google, while preserving our existing interoperability with 3rd party XMPP clients and server-to-server communication with other XMPP networks.

Talk in Gmail is great, and we are really excited about putting Talk in other fun and useful places. If you already have a Google account, you're all set.

Adam Fass,
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/all-orkut-users-can-chat/feed/ 0 Chat on iGoogle https://googledata.org/google-talk/chat-on-igoogle/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/chat-on-igoogle/#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:45:00 +0000 iGoogle, Google’s personalizable homepage, while checking news, watching videos, or playing games. iGoogle chat works from your browser, like Gmail chat, and you can exchange instant messages with any of your contacts that have an iGoogle, Gmail, or Google Talk account. To read more about iGoogle chat, check out this post on the Official Google blog.


















Posted by Rhett Robinson, Google Talk Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/chat-on-igoogle/feed/ 0 Voice and video chat now in Gmail https://googledata.org/google-apps/voice-and-video-chat-now-in-gmail/ https://googledata.org/google-apps/voice-and-video-chat-now-in-gmail/#comments Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:30:00 +0000 Gmail blog and the Official Google blog.

Serge Lachapelle
Product Manager, Stockholm
]]> https://googledata.org/google-apps/voice-and-video-chat-now-in-gmail/feed/ 0 New Google Talk Help Forum https://googledata.org/google-apps/new-google-talk-help-forum/ https://googledata.org/google-apps/new-google-talk-help-forum/#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:37:00 +0000 Forum within Google Help that allows you to ask questions about Google Talk and have them answered by both Google employees and other Google Talk fans. We believe this new platform will make it even easier for you to find help, and for Google employees and fans to share their knowledge of the product.

Particularly great answers can be marked as a "Best Answer", so people with a similar problem can find a solution quickly and easily. The Google Help Forum also keeps track of how active a user is in the Forum. For example, you can see who is a Google Employee, top contributor, seasoned poster, or new poster.



And don't worry, we aren't removing the ability to search and read our old Google Talk Help Group content, but we have closed it from any additional posts. So, if you do have a question regarding Google Talk, go ahead and ask it!

Dana Jermanis
Google Help Team
]]> https://googledata.org/google-apps/new-google-talk-help-forum/feed/ 0 New transliteration bots make it easy to chat in Indian languages https://googledata.org/google-apps/new-transliteration-bots-make-it-easy-to-chat-in-indian-languages/ https://googledata.org/google-apps/new-transliteration-bots-make-it-easy-to-chat-in-indian-languages/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:52:00 +0000 Have you ever wished that you could chat with your family and friends in your native language? Sometimes there's just no substitute for expressing a thought in your own language. Google Talk now has transliteration bots that will convert text from English to Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil or Telugu. Think of a bot as an invited guest to your chat session that will transliterate what you type in English to the right local script. For those who are not familiar with transliteration, it is a service provided by Google India that allows you to type in Indian languages using phonetically equivalent English script (it is also available on our labs page, orkut scraps and blogger). If you're chatting in Hindi, when you type 'haal kaisa hai janab ka?' the en2hi.translit@bot.talk.google.com bot will reply in Hindi as 'हाल कैसा है जनाब का?'

There are currently 5 transliteration bots - Hindi (en2hi.translit), Kannada (en2kn.translit), Malayalam (en2ml.translit), Tamil (en2ta.translit) and Telugu (en2te.translit), and remember that their names end with "@bot.talk.google.com". To use one of these bots follow these three steps:

1) First add the bot that you want to your friend's list. (For example, add en2hi.translit@bot.talk.google.com for Hindi). You just need to do this once.
2) Start a chat session with your friend
3) Convert the chat session to a group chat and invite the bot to it.

Read this to know more about the bots, and let us know what you think.


तो शुरू हो जाइए...





Kuntal Loya
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-apps/new-transliteration-bots-make-it-easy-to-chat-in-indian-languages/feed/ 0 Chat on your iPhone https://googledata.org/google-talk/chat-on-your-iphone/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/chat-on-your-iphone/#comments Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:02:00 +0000 Attention iPhone owners! You can now chat with all your Google Talk buddies while on the go. Our new version of Google Talk is designed specifically for the iPhone and runs in the iPhone's browser, so you don't need to download or install anything. Just visit http://www.google.com/talk on your iPhone, sign in, and start chatting. And because it is built for the browser, it will work on today's iPhones as well as on tomorrow's 3G iPhones.
If your businesses, school or organization uses Google Apps, you can instant message using your Google Apps account on your iPhone. From your iPhone's browser, visit http://talkgadget.google.com/a/your-domain.com/talkgadget/m, but be sure to replace 'your-domain.com' with your actual domain name.

Happy mobile chatting!

Leo Dirac,
Product Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/chat-on-your-iphone/feed/ 0 Bringing the web and desktop together https://googledata.org/google-talk/bringing-the-web-and-desktop-together/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/bringing-the-web-and-desktop-together/#comments Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:39:00 +0000
While recently we have spent more time on web integration scenarios, we have also been developing a new client that allows our downloadable and web versions of Google Talk to move forward together more quickly. The Google Talk, Labs Edition release is a sneak peek into this work. Of note in this Labs Edition release is its use of the open source Webkit engine to host the Google Talk gadget. We've used Webkit to bring the Talk gadget out of your browser, and onto your desktop, able to run in the Taskbar. Google Talk, Labs Edition combines “downloadable client behavior”, like stacking notifications and displaying presence outside the browser, with nearly all of the web behaviors of the Google Talk gadget, such as emoticons, multi-user chat, tabbed conversations, etc. It can also natively display web notifications from multiple sources, such as Gmail and calendar alerts and Orkut scrap changes. A few weeks ago we added invisible mode to the Google Talk Gadget, and this functionality immediately extended to Google Talk Labs Edition.

Google Talk, Labs Edition is a first step towards a more unified experience whether you're using Talk through the web or on the desktop. Some of our savvy users may already appreciate the advantages of this approach, and we are confident that the continued improvements being made will translate into a better Google Talk experience for all our users.

Chee Chew
Engineering Director
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/bringing-the-web-and-desktop-together/feed/ 0 More Translation Bots! https://googledata.org/google-talk/more-translation-bots/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/more-translation-bots/#comments Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:10:00 +0000 translation bots for Google Talk. While machine translation isn't 100% accurate, the idea of reducing language barriers with automated chat translations appealed to many people, and we received a lot of positive feedback. So when Google Translate recently added new languages, we decided to create chat bots for these languages.

The new bots speak Bulgarian (bg), Croatian (hr), Czech (cs), Danish (da), Finnish (fi), Hindi (hi), Norwegian (no), Polish (pl), Portuguese (pt), Romanian (ro), Swedish (sv) and Traditional Chinese (zh-hant).

There are 26 new bots: bg2en, cs2en, da2en, en2bg, en2cs, en2da, en2fi, en2hi, en2hr, en2no, en2pl, en2pt, en2ro, en2sv, en2zh-hant, fi2en, hi2en, hr2en, no2en, pl2en, pt2en, ro2en, sv2en, zh-hant2en, zh-hant2zh, zh2zh-hant. For reference you can also check out the full list of supported language combinations. To add one of these bots to your contacts, remember to use the following format [from language]2[to language]@bot.talk.google.com.

Toivon, että pidät siitä!

For those that don't know Finnish...



Jonas Lindberg
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/more-translation-bots/feed/ 0 New chatback styles https://googledata.org/google-talk/new-chatback-styles/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/new-chatback-styles/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 21:11:00 +0000 New chatback badge style examples One line basic:
Two line basic:
Hyperlink and status icon: Chat with Itala

We recently added the ability to create Google Talk chatback badges in several new styles. These options are available by clicking on the “Styles” drop down menu when creating a chatback badge. Examples of the new types of formats can be seen on the right.

The two borderless versions of the badge make it easier to fit into your page and customize the appearance as you like. You can just paste the code where you want the link to appear. If you want to further tweak the appearance, you can add some style parameters: Add fontfamily and fontsize to choose a specific font or size, and textcolor and linkcolor to set the colors using a hexadecimal RRGGBB value. You can add these parameters to either the new badge URL or to the iframe's src URL in the generated HTML. You can also use the h and w parameters to specify the height or width of the badge.

For example, &fontfamily=courier%20new&fontsize=13&linkcolor=000000&textcolor=880000 will give you Courier New 13 with black for the link text and dark red for the rest of the text. Here is an example of how this looks with the classic badge:

In addition to providing more flexibility in terms of appearance, chatback can now be used on web sites that don’t allow frames. For these sites, use the new HTML version of the badge. This version can’t display a status messages but it will show your status as a colored circle anywhere you can embed an image. And if you can’t embed an image (like in an email message), you can use the hyperlink by itself or just the URL.

To create a badge, visit http://www.google.com/talk/service/badge/New or, if you are a Google Apps user, visit http://www.google.com/talk/service/a/DOMAIN/badge/New replacing DOMAIN with the name of your domain.

Bruce Leban
Software Engineer

]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/new-chatback-styles/feed/ 0 New notifications in Google Talk, Labs Edition https://googledata.org/google-talk/new-notifications-in-google-talk-labs-edition/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/new-notifications-in-google-talk-labs-edition/#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:40:00 +0000 For me, life moves pretty fast, and with so much stuff going on it's easy to have things fall through the cracks. The other day I missed an important meeting because I forgot to open up Google Calendar after restarting my browser (don't tell my manager). Sometimes I just need a little help to stay on top of all the information that breezes by.

Our new experimental release of Google Talk helps solve this problem - it's called Google Talk, Labs Edition. It has all the features of the Google Talk gadget (but runs outside a browser), plus it adds new desktop notifications that remind you of appointments and alert you the moment messages arrive. There are notifications for Google Calendar appointments, Orkut scraps, Gmail messages, and Talk chats (of course). My favorite part? The snooze feature on Calendar notifications! Now I can put off that reminder for a few extra minutes without worrying about forgetting the meeting.

Give Google Talk, Labs Edition a try and let us know what you think!

Jonathan McPhie
Associate Product Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/new-notifications-in-google-talk-labs-edition/feed/ 0 Google Talk goes green https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-goes-green/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-goes-green/#comments Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:01:00 +0000 clean energy future and reducing our carbon footprint. And now Google Talk is part of the solution. We don't know about you, but we were surprised to learn the inconvenient truth that every character (byte) we send in a message results in about 0.0000000000000000034 metric tons* of CO2 being released into the atmosphere! So if we can reduce the number of characters we send when we chat with all our friends, we can help the environment at the same time.

Teenagers (and some adults) must be aware of this, because they already reduce their character usage by abbreviating words and dropping vowels when they send IM and SMS (text) messages. We think this is a great idea. If all our millions of users started using IM-speak, we'd save hundreds of millions of wasted (and environmentally damaging!) characters.

For example, if we want to say:
As far as I'm concerned, you can give me the twenty dollars you owe me when I see you later.

You could save more than 50% in wasted characters by saying:
AFAIC, U can gve me the 20 $$ YOM whn I CUL8R.

In honor of Earth Day (3 weeks from today: April 22, 2008), on that day our Google Talk servers will start automatically sending your conversations using IM-speak instead of normal words. But you can help save some computing power (and more wasted energy!) by shortening your conversations yourself.

We know you'll all want to practice your IM-speak, so we're helping by introducing a new translation bot, en2im@bot.talk.google.com, which will translate your conversations into IM-speak, to help you get used to the new lingo. Add this user to your roster, or use our convenient new chatback feature to start a conversation with the bot by clicking the badge below:



You'll be doing your part to help the environment. If you get a message with an abbreviation you don't understand, send just that abbreviation to the bot and it will translate it back. And parents: as a side bonus you'll finally understand what your kids are saying! Kp on chttng, & CUL8R!

The Google Talk Team


* It takes about 2.5 Watts to power a 1Gb/s link [1]. 2.5 Joules/s / 1Gb/s = 2.5e-9 J/b * 8 b/byte = 2e-8 Joules/byte. The average emissions cost of electricity in the United States is 0.605 metric tons of CO2 per MWh [2]. 1MWh is 3.6e9 Joules. So to produce 2e-8 Joules, we emit about 3.36e-18 metric tons of CO2.

[1] C Gunaratne, K Christensen, B Nordman. Managing energy consumption costs in desktop PCs and LAN switches with proxying, split TCP connections, and scaling of link speed. Internation Journal of Network Managment, 15(5), September 2005. See slides

[2] US Department of Energy. Electric Power Annual 2006. Table ES (Divide
total CO2 emissions by total electricity generated.)
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-goes-green/feed/ 0 Google Talk chatback https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-chatback/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-chatback/#comments Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:23:00 +0000
To use chatback, you must have a Google Talk account ... but your visitors don't have to! They don't even need to have an email address, or to have ever used instant messaging.

When they visit your site, they'll see a badge like the one on the right showing your online status (available, busy, offline) and, if you're available, they can just click and start chatting. Chatback uses the web-based Google Talk Gadget so your visitors don't need to download anything. It opens in a new window so they can keep chatting with you even if they browse to other pages.

Of course, chatback isn't just for blogs. You can use it on any web page that you can add HTML content to. To get started, visit the chatback start page. (This is also linked from the Google Talk homepage.) Then just copy the provided HTML snippet to your web site. Visitors will then see a badge on your site indicating your availability, and can click to start a chat with you. If there's a time when you don't want to be distracted, just set your online status to "busy" and visitors won't be able to chat with you until you change your status back to "available."

If you're not already a Google Talk user, it's easy to become one. If you've got a Gmail account, then you already have a Google Talk account. If not, just go to www.google.com/talk or www.gmail.com to get started.

Bruce Leban
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-chatback/feed/ 0 Try Google Apps Team Edition with Google Talk https://googledata.org/google-talk/try-google-apps-team-edition-with-google-talk/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/try-google-apps-team-edition-with-google-talk/#comments Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:41:00 +0000 sign up right now.

With Google Apps Team Edition, you and members of your organization get Google Docs, for creating and sharing documents, spreadsheets and presentations, and Google Calendar, for coordinating your schedule. When you use Google Talk with Google Apps Team Edition, your contacts list will automatically include the other people at your organization using Google Apps Team Edition. And since Team Edition recognizes your connection to co-workers or classmates, it makes sharing documents and calendars easier too. Give it a try by visiting www.google.com/apps.



Bill Kee
Associate Product Marketing Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/try-google-apps-team-edition-with-google-talk/feed/ 0 Merry Christmas, God Jul and 圣诞快乐 https://googledata.org/google-talk/merry-christmas-god-jul-and-%e5%9c%a3%e8%af%9e%e5%bf%ab%e4%b9%90/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/merry-christmas-god-jul-and-%e5%9c%a3%e8%af%9e%e5%bf%ab%e4%b9%90/#comments Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:30:00 +0000
If you want to try it, just add en2zh@bot.talk.google.com as a friend in Google Talk and send it a message to translate from English to Chinese. You can use it as an interpreter in your group chat, or as a pocket translator in your Google Talk client for BlackBerry.



For more languages, just add any of the 29 23 other translation bots. They're named using two-letter language abbreviations as "[from language]2[to language]@bot.talk.google.com", and the supported language pairs are: ar2en, de2en, de2fr, el2en, en2ar, en2de, en2el, en2es, en2fr, en2it, en2ja, en2ko, en2nl, en2ru, en2zh, es2en, fr2de, fr2en, it2en, ja2en, ko2en, nl2en, ru2en, zh2en. So, for French to German translation, talk to fr2de@bot.talk.google.com.

For those of you into programming, why not build your own bot? Maybe a weather service or a rock/paper/scissors game. The Google Talk service uses an open protocol called XMPP, and it's easy to find client libraries and code samples that will give you a flying start. For Java users, check out Ignite Realtime's Smack library. Please note that the Google Talk service enforces traffic limitations on user accounts, so if you want to support more than a few thousand Google Talk users on your bot, connect using the server-to-server protocol (either by making your bot act as an XMPP server or by hosting the bot on your own XMPP server).

Jonas Lindberg
Software Engineer

Update: Our initial list of available bots included some languages that are not actually available. There are 24 bots currently available: ar2en, de2en, de2fr, el2en, en2ar, en2de, en2el, en2es, en2fr, en2it, en2ja, en2ko, en2nl, en2ru, en2zh, es2en, fr2de, fr2en, it2en, ja2en, ko2en, nl2en, ru2en, zh2en. As some have guessed, this is a 20% project, and while machine translation isn't perfect, we hope these bots can be helpful in bridging language barriers.
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/merry-christmas-god-jul-and-%e5%9c%a3%e8%af%9e%e5%bf%ab%e4%b9%90/feed/ 0 Set your Google Talk picture with a webcam https://googledata.org/google-talk/set-your-google-talk-picture-with-a-webcam/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/set-your-google-talk-picture-with-a-webcam/#comments Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:46:00 +0000
From the Google Talk gadget, click on your Google Talk picture, and select the "Take Photo" option. You'll see the image from your webcam appear, and you'll be able to take and retake pix to your heart's content. When you get that perfect shot, just click "Save" to set it as your picture.

Currently, this feature only works in the Google Talk gadget, but will set your picture across the Google Talk network, including in Gmail.

Have fun, and let us know what you think here.

Justin Uberti
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/set-your-google-talk-picture-with-a-webcam/feed/ 0 Google Talk Gadget in 20 new languages https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-gadget-in-20-new-languages/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-gadget-in-20-new-languages/#comments Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:41:00 +0000
To access the Google Talk Gadget in your language, go to the Google Talk homepage, select your language in the drop-down menu in the top right, and click on the 'launch Google Talk Gadget' link. Or you can simply add the Google Talk gadget to your iGoogle home page.

As usual, we would love to hear your feedback. Anything we can do to improve the experience for your language? Let us know.

Katya Rogers
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-gadget-in-20-new-languages/feed/ 0 Lessons in Building Scalable Systems https://googledata.org/google-talk/lessons-in-building-scalable-systems/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/lessons-in-building-scalable-systems/#comments Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:06:00 +0000 Google Scalability Conference hosted by Googlers in Seattle. You can watch the video below.

Here is the abstract:
Since launching Google Talk in the summer of 2005, we have integrated the service with two large existing products: Gmail and orkut. Each of these integrations provided unique scalability challenges as we had to handle a sudden large increase in the number of users. Today, Google Talk supports millions of users and handles billions of packets per day. In the presentation, I discuss several practical lessons and key insights from our experience that can be used for any project. These lessons cover both engineering and operational areas.



Posted by Reza Behforooz, Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/lessons-in-building-scalable-systems/feed/ 0 Google Talk Gadget on Google Apps https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-gadget-on-google-apps/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-gadget-on-google-apps/#comments Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:06:00 +0000 If you use Google Apps at your business, organization or school, you can now use the Google Talk Gadget on your Start Page to have chats with colleagues or classmates (including group chats). Google Apps lets your organization create Gmail accounts that use your domain name -- like me@my-organization.com -- instead of @gmail.com in the email address. It also offers collaborative tools, like Google Calendar, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and the customizable Start Page, where all your students, employees, or members can view relevant content, preview their inboxes and calendars, and now, chat with one or more colleagues or classmates -- all from the same webpage.

As a Google Apps user, you can add the Google Talk Gadget to your Start Page by clicking on the "Add stuff" link on the top left corner of your homepage, opening the 'Google Apps' category of gadgets, and clicking 'add it now.' If you're a Google Apps administrator, click here to learn how to add the Google Talk Gadget and other content to your users' Start Page. If your organization doesn't use Google Apps yet, you can learn more about getting started at http://www.google.com/a.

Adam Fass
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-gadget-on-google-apps/feed/ 0 Group Chat for the Google Talk Gadget https://googledata.org/google-talk/group-chat-for-the-google-talk-gadget/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/group-chat-for-the-google-talk-gadget/#comments Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:07:00 +0000 Google Talk Gadget: group chat. Now, for instance, when the two of us are chatting about an upcoming launch, and we've heard that Seth knows the latest, we can just invite him to join our chat.

To start a group chat, launch the Google Talk Gadget here, and start a chat with one of your friends. Click on the button at the top of the chat window that says "Group Chat," and then pick the name of the third (or fourth, or fifth...) friend you want to invite from the drop-down menu. They'll receive an invitation to join the group chat. If your friends are using Gmail chat or the downloadable Google Talk client, their invitation will launch the Google Talk Gadget.

Rhett Robinson and Qi Ke
Software Engineers
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/group-chat-for-the-google-talk-gadget/feed/ 0 How are you using Talk? https://googledata.org/google-talk/how-are-you-using-talk/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/how-are-you-using-talk/#comments Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:40:00 +0000 We focus a lot in this blog on the features we're adding to Google Talk and the technology behind them. But I wanted to share a bit about our users and what they're doing with Google Talk.

As a member of the Google Talk support team, my day is usually busy reading emails reporting issues, troubleshooting, and generally learning about what's up with Google Talk users and how we can make their experience better. Mixed in to the grab bag of technical issues are bits and blurbs from users who can't get enough of Google Talk. Nothing makes my day more than hearing from Google Talk users who enjoy using the product to keep in touch with their friends, families, classmates, fellow online gamers, and business partners. It's inspiring to be a part of something that helps make the world a smaller place.

Reading stories from avid Google Talkers has made me think twice about ways to use the product. Some users have come up with creative ways to help communicate with their contacts and loved ones:

"I'm an exchange student here in Monterrey, Mexico. I'm originally from France and two months ago I left my family and my loved one there. What I like about Google Talk is the MP3 message you get in your Gmail address when someone leaves you a voicemail. You see, my girlfriend works during the day, and with the time difference it's sometimes hard to stay the phone for a long time. So when she's sleeping and I, on the other end of the planet, am not, I leave her Google Talk messages and she listens to them at work during the day, while I am asleep. Also, she can transfer the MP3 messages on her USB device at work and take them home to listen to me if she misses me or she can just connect back to her email address and I'm there! In a way Google Talk helps us keep up our relationship and reduces a bit of the awful distance that separates us." -Olivier, Monterrey, Mexico.

"I am hard-of-hearing and in my daily work activities, and I conduct or
participate in meetings in the form of teleconferences. I dial in on my
desk phone, but I still need help understanding the others on the line, so
I use the Google Talk client for Blackberry.

That's not all. My wife is deaf and she is from an all deaf family. We
keep in touch with each other by using Google Talk for the Blackberry (like
hearing couples tend to use their cell phones) and keep in touch with deaf
family members and many of our deaf friends, no matter which IM client
they choose." - Steve, Dunbar, IA

I also love to read about the zany and fun things people are doing with Google Talk:

"I talk to my 1 year old niece on Google Talk. She lives in North Dakota and I am in Michigan.

She often says things like: jk[-;p//om90, or: .........ff.;;..;. ycv?"C( cc96? C9('?(( (?('"

It is very fun to talk to her via Google Talk. I hear that she runs
upstairs to the computer and says 'Lee lee' (her name for me) when she
hears the incoming chat sound." -Leigh, Commerce, MI

"I met my girlfriend in Abu Dhabi, UAE when I had gone back for my summer vacation. When I came back to the United States to complete my undergrad education, I didn't want to lose contact with her. We speak day and night through Google Talk. I can't count the number of times I've fallen asleep to wake up in the morning with the headset still on my head, and still connected to her." - Carnik, Abu Dhabi, UAE

If you have a story of your own, let us know!


Iris Lu
Online Sales & Ops Coordinator
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/how-are-you-using-talk/feed/ 0 Something to :) about https://googledata.org/google-talk/something-to-about/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/something-to-about/#comments Thu, 24 May 2007 23:10:00 +0000 Google Talk Gadget has got your back. Today we're introducing an emoticon menu to put those :D and :-( feelings right at your fingertips. We've also heard you asking for a wider emoticon selection, so we added some new choices. You can choose from three different styles of emoticons. Maybe you like things simple and classic . Maybe you like them colorful and fun . Or maybe you're a square . Everybody can be themselves with the Google Talk Gadget, and you'll find it right here.

Jake Knapp
User Interface Designer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/something-to-about/feed/ 0 Talking with TypePad https://googledata.org/google-talk/talking-with-typepad/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/talking-with-typepad/#comments Mon, 21 May 2007 16:42:00 +0000 I was excited when the Google Talk Gadget launched in March, since it meant there was one more way to chat with your buddies on the Web -- it let you access Google Talk as a gadget on iGoogle or add it to your own Web page. Today we're pleased that TypePad has syndicated the Google Talk Gadget to their Widget Gallery, and we're looking forward to staying connected with our fellow bloggers. Check it out here: http://www.sixapart.comtypepad/widgets/chat/google-talk.html

Mary Himinkool
New Business Development
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/talking-with-typepad/feed/ 0 Popouts, Buttons and Slideshows https://googledata.org/google-talk/popouts-buttons-and-slideshows/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/popouts-buttons-and-slideshows/#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2007 00:53:00 +0000
(1) To make it easier to use Google Talk anywhere, we made it possible to pop out the Google Talk Gadget into a separate window. If you're using Google Talk on your Google Personalized Homepage, you'll find a link in right inside the gadget that lets you pop it out. You can also find the popout version of the gadget at http://www.google.com/talk.



(2) For website owners and bloggers, we announced earlier that you can add Google Talk to your own webpage with a single line of code. To take advantage of the new pop-out functionality, we created a new way to add Google Talk to your website: a button you can add that lets your visitors launch Google Talk in a separate window.



To add the button, just copy and paste this script into your site's HTML:



(3) We also wanted to highlight a way to use the gadget that others discovered shortly after our first release. If you use Firefox, you can run the gadget in your Firefox sidebar, so it stays open when you navigate from page to page in the main frame. Just click on the link below:

Google Talk Sidebar

You can also bookmark Google Talk for your sidebar in Firefox. Right click on the link above. Select "Bookmark this Link," then "Create In: Bookmarks Toolbar." Next open the Bookmarks menu from the Firefox menu bar, right click on the Google Talk bookmark entry, and select "Properties." In the menu that opens, check the box that says: "Load this bookmark in the sidebar."



When you open the bookmark, the gadget will load in the sidebar on the left.



(4) We also added some new media viewing capability to the gadget. In addition to watching YouTube videos and Picasa Web Albums slideshows, you can now also view Flickr photo slideshows by pasting URLs from Flickr into your chats.



We look forward to adding more and more features to the gadget. And you don't need to do anything to get the updates. Each time you load the gadget you will have the latest version.

Scott Ludwig
Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/popouts-buttons-and-slideshows/feed/ 0 Google Talk Gadget https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-gadget/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-gadget/#comments Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:57:00 +0000
We know a lot of people love being able to chat with their friends in Gmail Chat, so we created the Talk Gadget to offer that experience in other places, starting with the Google Personalized Homepage. You'll also find all your Gmail and Google Talk contacts organized for you in the Talk Gadget. And just like with Gmail Chat, you don't have to download and install software to use it. One thing we really like is that it looks and feels the same on a Linux desktop as on a Windows laptop, and it also works on Macs. No matter where you go, all you have to do is login to your Google account, and there it is.

And if you have a webpage or blog, you can put the Google Talk Gadget in those places too, so your visitors can sign in and start instant messaging right from your page. If you post your username next to it, visitors can add you as a contact and start chatting with you right away. Like most other gadgets, you can do this by pasting a single line of code into your page, which you can find here.

We worked hard to make the Google Talk Gadget embody the same simple, clean feel of Gmail Chat and the Talk download client--but we threw in some extra goodies too. You'll notice that your conversations all open up in tabs inside the Gadget. And one of the coolest features in the Google Talk Gadget is the ability to do media previews. When we're not busy working on new features for Talk, we're checking out "Ask A Ninja" on YouTube or Friday night's party photos on Picasa Web Albums, sending around links to this multimedia in our chats, and posting them in our status messages. It was just plain silly that our IM client didn't know more about photos and videos other than the fact that it was a link. So by scratching our itch, we can now watch YouTube videos and see Picasa Web Albums photos inside of the Google Talk Gadget anytime someone IMs us a link or sets it as their status message.

So give it a try, let us know what you think, and keep an eye out for lots of improvements to come!

Dudley and Wes Carr
Software Engineers

P.S. Get a sneak peek at the Google Talk Gadget in this short video:

]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/google-talk-gadget/feed/ 0 Twittering with Google Talk https://googledata.org/google-talk/twittering-with-google-talk/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/twittering-with-google-talk/#comments Wed, 28 Feb 2007 20:54:00 +0000 polypropolene."

Twitter is a site that makes it easy to let the world know what you're doing, and see what other people are up to in a fun, social environment. You can think of it as low-effort mini-blogging. And you can update your status with even less effort by using Google Talk. Just add twitter@twitter.com to your contact list and shoot off an IM to it about how you're "cooking up some spicy chicken jambalaya" or "walking the cat." (Cats can go on walks, too.)

You can also use Talk with Twitter on a mobile device. Using the RIM Blackberry Google Talk Client you can quickly and easily send status updates to Twitter, and we'll all know how you're shoveling yourself out of a foot of snow. Advanced apologies to our NYC office, we've got sun here in Mountain View.

Add twitter@twitter.com to your Google Talk contacts to check it out.

Bill Kee
Associate Product Marketing Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/twittering-with-google-talk/feed/ 0 Headsets: Making your Google Talk Experience Better https://googledata.org/google-talk/headsets-making-your-google-talk-experience-better/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/headsets-making-your-google-talk-experience-better/#comments Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:56:00 +0000
I've often been in situations where I've tried to make calls to other Google Talk users using only my notebook PC's built-in microphones and speakers. While this works, it's not the best experience. Others around you can hear your conversation. Plus, the other side can hear nasty audio feedback that makes it hard to discern what you're trying to say.

We've tested many headsets on the market and we found three from Plantronics that we liked so much that we even added the Google Talk logo to them. You can purchase these headsets online at the Google Store.

The winning feature: a noise canceling microphone. This eliminates any audio feedback or echos you often get from using your PC's built in microphone and speakers. There are many other headsets you can use as well. You and your caller will appreciate the better sound quality... and prevent those Nosy Nellies around you from eavesdropping on your weekend gossip.

Wesley Chan
Product Manager
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