Dec 12

Multiple IM Support Coming to Google?

Posted in: Email, Features, Gmail, Google, Screenshots, Today's Chili

This article was written on October 31, 2007 by CyberNet.

Gmail Contacts Messenger One of the things people like to do with Google’s products is search through their source code looking for any possible hints of features to come. As nerds users it is our duty to do that, and the new Gmail 2.0 is no exception.

Ionut over at Google OS started digging through the source code, and saw some hints of more features that are lurking around: color-coded labels, ability to remove emails from a threaded conversation, and Jabber transports. Hmm, Jabber transports? It’s possible that you haven’t even heard of these before, and that’s understandable.

What the Jabber transports do is connect you with other instant messengers services, such as MSN and AIM, by converting received messages into the Jabber format. Google Talk is a Jabber client, and there is some early indication in Gmail’s new source code that a Jabber transport protocol is already in the works. This would give you the ability to add friends from Yahoo!, MSN, AIM, and more!

There are already tricks available for using third-party Jabber transports with Google Talk, but it requires some work. The benefits of having Google implement this is added stability, and it will be much easier to add contacts than trying to go through a third-party transport.

One other indication that Google will be offering such a service lies in the new contact manager. As seen in the screenshot above you can actually add/remove cross-network messenger ID’s for your friends. It could be just a coincidence, but hopefully this all means something!

Note: I still don’t have access to the new Gmail 2.0 features.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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