They’ve done it… again. Google just launched their instant messaging, simply called Google Talk. With that service you’ll be able to talk by text or by voice. The system is in beta but is already working. Like Google Earth or Picasa, Google Talk is a desktop applications that runs on your computer and connect to Google servers using your GMail account to sync with your contacts. The desktop client is only available for Windows but will be available later on for Mac and Linux.

What’s damn cool with Google is that they deeply rely on Internet open standards. That means that you can use their services whatever your platform is. As so, The Google Talk service can be used from any open source IM client (like Adium or Gaim) which is based on the XMPP protocol initially designed by Jabber and recently standardized by the IETF. iChat the default IM client provided with MacOS X is also compatible with the VOIP service of Google Talk.

The Google strategy is clearly to become a hub for connecting people. They want people to communicate whatever the service their are subscribed to–the main limitation of current IM services–and the computer platform or device you use. They’re already working in unifying services between other IM service providers. Even if I don’t know how Microsoft will react to this news, that will be a noble challenge for Google. I strongly believe in Google, they’re providing fantastic services for everybody. If there is a company that can leverage existing technologies and show what can be done, it’s Google.