computer science

Google Talk

Google Talk is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Google Talk rather than just read about it. In short: Google Talk was an instant messaging service that provided both text and voice communication. The instant messaging service was variously referred to colloquially as Gchat, Gtalk, or Gmessage among its users.

Key takeaways

Google Talk belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Google Talk to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Google Talk from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Google Talk was an instant messaging service that provided both text and voice communication. The instant messaging service was variously referred to colloquially as Gchat, Gtalk, or Gmessage among its users. Google Talk was also the name of the client applications previously offered by Google to use the service. Google Talk applications were available for Microsoft Windows, Android, BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10 and ChromeOS operating systems. A Google Talk mobile web app had also been previously available. In February 2015, the Windows client was discontinued and ceased to work, with Google recommending users to use Google Hangouts instead. Users of Windows client were instructed to migrate to the Google Hangouts app on the Chrome browser platform.

Features

Product integration Google Talk was integrated into Gmail in 2006, where users could send instant messages to other Gmail users. As it worked within a browser, the Google Talk client did not need to be downloaded to send instant messages to Gmail users. Conversation logs were automatically saved to a "Chats" area in the user's Gmail account. This allowed users to search their chat logs and have them centrally stored in their Gmail accounts. For a long time, it was not possible to directly download chat logs that were not attached to an email conversation, although some workarounds had been found. However, on September 15, 2011, Google announced a new feature of its Google Takeout program that allows users to download chat logs via IMAP. Google also integrated Google Talk with Orkut. This enabled Google Talk users to interact with registered Orkut users, by sending and receiving "scraps" within Orkut. Orkut has since been shut down. Google Talk Gadget was a web-based module that could be embedded in iGoogle (since discontinued) and other web pages, allowing text chat with users of Google Talk. This functionality was at some point discontinued without any real announcement, likely in the face of the release of the Google Hangouts services. Google+ was integrated into Google Talk. In the standalone client and the Google Talk widget embedded into Gmail and Google+, Google+ contacts appeared in the contacts list; their respective circles were shown in Google+'s iteration of the widget. Google+ has since been shut down.

Voice and Video It was possible to place and receive phone calls from within Gmail by using Google Talk. In order to receive calls, however, the user had to upgrade to a full Google Voice account. Initially, users outside of the US could not upgrade to a full Google Voice account or receive phone calls in Gmail. (Outbound calling through Gmail did not require Google Voice and was available in many countries outside the US.) Google Talk allowed users to leave a voicemail for a contact whether or not they were signed into Google Talk. Messages could be up to 10 minutes long and users could choose to have them sent to their Gmail inbox. Messages could be sent with or without first ringing the recipient's phone number. Google also provided a Voice and Video Chat browser plugin for Google Talk (not to be confused with the standalone Google Talk client) that supported voice and video chat between Gmail users. The plugin was available for Windows (XP, Vista, and 7), Mac OS X (only on Intel-based Macs), and Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and OpenSUSE packages available, but the binaries worked on other systems). The plugin had to be downloaded and installed, but otherwise seamlessly integrated into the Gmail interface.

Encryption The connection between the Google Talk client and the Google Talk server was encrypted, except when using Gmail's chat over HTTP, a federated network that didn't support encryption, or when using a proxy like IMLogic. End-to-end messages were unencrypted. Some XMPP clients natively supported encryption with Google Talk's servers. It was possible to have end-to-end encryption over the Google Talk network using OTR (off-the-record) encryption using other chat clients like Adium (for Mac) or Pidgin (for Linux and Windows). Google's version of "Off the Record" was not OTR (off-the-record) encryption. Enabling "off the record" inside Gmail's Chat turned off logging of messages, but did not enable encryption.

Offline messaging On November 1, 2006, Google introduced offline messaging to Google Talk. This allowed users to send messages to their contacts, even if they were not signed in. They would receive the messages when they next went online even if the user who had sent it was offline. This only worked between Gmail-accounts, not between Google Talk servers and other XMPP servers.

Mobile device compatibility On June 30, 2006, Nokia released new software for their Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, that included Google Talk as one of the compatible VoIP clients, because of the XMPP-based software. Another Google Talk-compatible device was Sony's mylo, released on September 15, 2006. A Google Talk client was also available for BlackBerry devices from the BlackBerry site. Google Talk support was also integrated into Google Android devices, but did not support voice and video calls below Android version 2.3.4. This was released in April 2011 for the Google Nexus S. However, given that Google Talk provided XMPP protocol, most mobile phones for which a suitable XMPP client existed could also offer Google Talk service, at least theoretically (depending on the handset, the user may have encounter security warnings because of unsigned Java ME MIDlets or limits put in place by the mobile service provider). Mobile clients specially designed for Google Talk existed as well. Most phones supported the IMPS protocol, and there was hybrid XMPP/IMPS networks (through XMPP transports, or specially designed hybrid servers), which could also contact Google Talk users. The Google Talk service itself was unusable from IMPS (that means, one could not log with their Gmail account, but they could talk with their Gmail friends with their IMPS account from their mobile phone). For most smartphones, including Symbian-based as well as Android, third-party applications such as Nimbuzz and Fring included support for Google Talk accounts, including VoIP calls.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Google Talk: A screenshot showing the Google Talk, Labs Edition preview release — A screenshot showing the Google Talk, Labs Edition preview release

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Google Talk

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Google Talk claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Google Talk before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Google Talk ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Google Talk

In research: Google Talk appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Google Talk in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Google Talk is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2005 software, Android (operating system) software, BlackBerry software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Google Talk outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Google Talk in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Google Talk means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Google Talk out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Google Talk in simple terms?

Why does Google Talk matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Google Talk?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Google Talk.