Google Chases Skype With New Gmail Video Chat and poises to blow them out of the water.

Video chat service Skype has some new competition — Google has just added audio and video chat to Gmail. The new chat tools essentially offer most of the features of Skype, or Apple's iChat, within the standard Gmail interface.

I installed this today and it is sweet. I've been told Google has bought and is integrating a video streaming company into thier product line and this is the public taste of that merger.

There's also an installation link at Gmail.com/videochat.

"We think this pretty significant," said Rajen Sheth, senior product manager for Google's enterprise group. "It's something that we see bringing people closer together, especially in a business context."

Sheth said that Google has been using Gmail video chat across its more than 60 offices around the globe. "It actually is something that can help people, especially, in tough times, to save money," he said. "It makes it so you can do face-to-face meetings without travel."

-- Ref:http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/Google_Chases_Skype_With_New_Gmail_Video_Chat