I'd be impressed if Google could just implement push email from gmail - like Yahoo!, etc...

It sounds like this is just doing voice/video over Jabber/XMPP (the IM protocol Google Talk uses), so it sounds like it'd be possible for the feature to work beyond GMail. It might even allow voice chat with existing jingle enabled Jabber clients already.

So support for other platforms should be possible, although maybe not easily from within GMail.

Sorry, but what's the point of linking an audio/video app to an email/chat? Let me rephrase that, what's the point of emailing/chatting when you are on an audio/video-link with the same guy?

It's like getting a free Ferrari when you buy a Ford Fiesta.

And anyway what's revolutionary about this? I've been able to do this for years with NetMeeting, Skype etc.

...and the Google Talk widget. I work in a U.S. government office, where Gmail's chat feature is disabled. Google Talk can be installed (indirectly; wink, wink!) but it can't support video.

I've read the two white papers from the company that developed the video technology. It's truly amazing stuff, going beyond Apple iChat's H.264 by intelligently dropping down in quality (S/N ratio), frame rate, and image dimensions when bandwidth is scarce, so as to prevent the image from freezing up.

By remaining silent on plans to add video to Google Talk, Google may be signaling an agressive move to "inspire" users of competing email systems into Gmail and, thereby, into the Google ecosystem.

By the way, when you use video in gmail chat, you can't use it to connect to your AIM buddies. Nor can you hold a group video call: It's like Skype: You can have a 3-way call or video, but not both.