Microsoft Ties-Up With Google, Adds Google Talk Support To Outlook.com

New feature would be rolled out in a couple of days from now, do keep checking your Outlook.com Inbox.

Rahul R
15:39 15th May, 2013

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Tech major Microsoft which expressed its interest to integrate Skype within Outlook.com, and even rolled out a preview version of this integration to its users in the United Kingdom; announced users another bonanza, in the form of integrating Google Talk support in its email service. This feature marks the tie-up between Microsoft and Google, and is a first as far as email service is concerned. Alternatively, it may simply be Microsoft's attempt to ward-off any probable anti-trust lawsuits, by integrating both Google Talk and Skype (formerly Live Messenger).

Microsoft details the GTalk integration in a blog post, "With this feature, the next time you're reading an email from someone who uses Gmail, you can reply with a quick chat right from your Outlook.com inbox. And if you're working together on an Office document in SkyDrive, you can send an instant message to a Google contact with just a click". The company states that the feature is rolling out, and users would be able to play with it in a couple of days. As the successor of Hotmail, Outlook.com is said to have an active user base of over 400 million, as of now.

With the integration of GTalk in Outlook.com, users can chat with all their Google contacts on SkyDrive, apart from being able to stay connected with existing email contacts and Skype chats. This would be an interesting feature to play around with as it enables simultaneous communication while editing/creating documents. Google Talk appearing in Outlook.com enhances the functionality of a Google Account, and lets you keep fewer browser tabs open to do what you need to.

Since Microsoft's new feature allows users to chat with their Google contacts in Outlook.com, users would get a message once they open the Messaging pane in Outlook.com/SkyDrive with which the "chat with Google contacts" can be set up. On clicking the message, users will be guided with the set-up in less than a minute. So, if you feel you miss your Gmail friends after switching over to Outlook.com, do try out the Google Talk integration after it has rolled out.

Microsoft Ties-Up Google, Adds Google Talk Support To Outlook.Com
Screenshot of how the feature would look.

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