Google Talk is real!

Looks like the rumors of a Google instant messaging client are true, and surprisingly, it's not based on Hello, which Google already owns (acquired when they picked up Picasa). It uses the open "Jabber" protocol, and apparently, the server is already up and running. Anyone with a GMail account can use a Jabber client (like Apple's iChat or Trillian) and connect.

Need a Gmail account? I've got 50 invites still ...

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Update: Whoops, looks like Google found out, and shut down the server. Considering it's supposed to launch tomorrow, it's not that big of a deal. In fact, the first review was posted. The client looks COOL! :)

Interesting speculation afoot ... Google has been dabbling in translation software lately. Could we see the launch of the first truly language-agnostic IM client? Universal Translator, here we come!

Oh, and I e-mailed Google's blog asking about why they decided to make Google Talk instead of leveraging Hello. That should be an interesting discussion.