Friday, 11 July 2008

GTalk Makes Its Official Entry on IPhone

Internet search behemoth, Google has launched a mobile version of its Google Talk (GTalk) for Apple’s iconic touch-screen smartphone and its non-telephony iPod Touch stable mate. The mobile version of GTalk comes with design...

Internet search behemoth, Google has launched a mobile version of its Google Talk (GTalk) for Apple’s iconic touch-screen smartphone and its non-telephony iPod Touch stable mate.

The mobile version of GTalk comes with design improvements that make the service work solely through Safari, the Apple browser, eliminating the need to download and install any software.

In a note posted on GTalk’s official blog, Leo Dirac, Product Manager of GTalk, announced that an iPhone version of Google’s client is now available for download.
The new version of Google Talk is designed specifically for the iPhone and runs in the Safari browser, so the iPhone owners who wish to use the IM client don't need to download or install anything. They will have just to type www.google.com/talk in Safari’s address bar and start chatting.

The Google Talk on the iPhone has a few differences as compared to the computer version. The iPhone version of chat system requires the Google Talk application must be kept open in the safari browser to ensure that the instant messages are received. Which means if you check on any other application or window, the status on Google Talk will display as unavailable and the application will launch itself again when you return the Google Talk page.

In an effort to keep the iPhone version as closely aligned to the computer iteration of Google Talk as possible, users will still be able to search contacts, manage multiple conversations, and select contacts from an easy-access quick list.

In his blog post, Google software engineer Adam Connors enthused that; "We've tried to keep the design as faithful to the desktop experience as possible, so it should be familiar to you. You can select from a quicklist of the people you contact most, search your contacts, and manage multiple conversations."

This is not the first service optimized by Google for the iPhone. In January this year Google revealed a new integrated applications suite for the iPhone. The suite was unveiled after in December Google launched its first customized Web portal for iPhone users.

GTalk for iPhone is browser-based, which means that it will work on the 3G iPhone as well, which is slated to hit the stores Friday, July 11 2008.