google talk

Google's Official Chat Extension Frees Chat from Your Browser Tabs, Lets You Start IMs and Hangouts from Anywhere

Submitted by admin on Wed, 02/22/2012 - 19:30

Chrome: Google's chat feature is useful for sending quick IMs and starting video chat sessions, but you can only view it when you're on a Google page like Gmail. Google has released an official Chrome extension that detaches it from your browser, allowing you to view it no matter what web page you're viewing. More »

 

Chrome OS "panels" and Google Talk Chrome Web app go cross-platform

Submitted by admin on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 15:00
google talk web app for chrome
Back when we had the chance to play with some more mature builds of Chromium OS, one feature we particularly liked was its slick, panelized Google Talk funcationality. It later disappeared, replaced by a Gtalk app in the Chrome Web Store -- but while Google talks about 'the same platform everywhere,' the Gtalk Web app only worked on Chrome and Chromium OS.

What about all us Windows, Mac, and Linux users? Well, now we can get in on the action, too, even though the Chrome Web Store loudly proclaims ** THIS APP REQUIRES A CHROME NOTEBOOK **!

While that's not totally true anymore, you do need panel functionality, which your version of Chrome probably doesn't offer yet. However, if you have a recent Chromium build you can add the command line switch --enable-panels to enable basic panel functionality. There's no about:flags entry for this yet, so you'll have to use the switch for now. If you need help, just check our tutorial on how to add command line switches to Chrome.