Only recently we reported that Outlook.com now boasts Skype integration, letting users make video calls straight from the it. This didn’t come as much of a surprise, given the fact that Microsoft owns both of these services. What does come as a surprise is that Outlook.com has now directly integrated Google Talk, allowing its users to use this audio and text messaging service straight from the email service. For now, only text messaging is supported, though Outlook.com senior director Dharmesh Mehta says that they’re aware users want audio and video chat support as well, and that’s something they will be willing to talk to them about.
It is very simple to start using Google Talk from within Outlook.com. Users simply need to connect their Google Accounts with Microsoft’s webmail service and they’ll be good to go. It is interesting to see Microsoft add Google Talk to Outlook.com, as recent rumors suggest that Google is going to unify its instant messaging services under the Babel moniker, and make an announcement some time this week. While roll out has begun, Microsoft says that Google Talk integration will be completely rolled out worldwide over the next couple of days.