Now you can do even more within Gmail. On Wednesday, Google announced that they've added a new voice and video chat function to their Gtalk instant messaging system.Those who use the Gtalk will soon have the option to chat via video or voice through the program.
The video and voice chat function will rival similar free chat programs like Skype and Meebo.
And as bloggers at popular tech news site TechCrunch point out, "Life just got a lot harder for start-ups pushing point solutions around video chat."
Gtalk is an instant messaging program that's run through the Gmail page. For Gmail users who are constantly glued to their inbox, the new video and voice chat function means they'll be able to consolidate all their communication needs on one page, rather than opening and closing various applications to chat.
The video chat program is thought to be Google's next step in their attempts to seamlessly connect their various services.
Google's blog posting about their new service says the video chat will be rolled out globally over the next few days.
Their post also pointed to YouTube and web-cams as examples of how users want to the option to literally see what's happening.
"More and more of us are realizing that video is the next best thing to an in-person conversation," the blog post says.
Gtalk itself looks no different, but users will have to download a plugin that will allow them to click on a video chat tab to start their web-cam. The same program can be used by those without web-cams as a voice chat system.
Users will have control over the chat screen, and can choose between full screen view or change the size and positioning as they wish.
The new feature was developed from Google's engineering group in Sweden.
