It seems that in addition to Google killing off SMS integration with Hangouts, there will be additional services that Google will be sunsetting, and one of those is Google Talk. However all is not lost because while Google Talk will be shutting down, Google has announced that it will be integrated into Hangouts instead, so there is always that option if you’re interested.In an announcement on its blog, Google has confirmed that Google Talk will be saying its goodbyes. According to Google, “Talk users within Gmail will receive a prompt in the next few weeks, inviting them to switch to Hangouts. After June 26, users will be automatically transitioned to Hangouts, unless contractual commitments apply. For users that preferred the Google Talk look, there is a Dense Roster setting in Hangouts that provides a similar experience.”
For those who are unfamiliar with Google Talk, if you’ve ever used Gmail you might have noticed that you will be able to hold conversations with some of your contacts within the Gmail window itself, which is basically Google Talk. Users of Hangouts know that those conversations can carry on within Hangouts itself, so essentially the feature is being removed from within Gmail.
We suppose there is some appeal to Google Talk as it allows users to chat while having Gmail open, which might be handy if you’re at work and don’t want your boss to see you chatting. It also saves users from having to open another tab or window, but we guess for now users will just have to start getting used to using Hangouts instead.