In February 2006, Google integrated real-time chat into the Gmail email service. The goal was to let users switch between email and instant messaging without having to think about which they were using — even a history of chats and emails was kept together in conversation threads so users could view and search both without worrying about whether the conversation happened as an email or a chat session.
But we know many of our users also have friends who use other chat services such as AIM.
So today we’re rolling out a new feature to make it even more convenient and useful to chat from Gmail: you can now chat with all your AIM buddies right inside Gmail. Just click on the upside-down triangle next to “set status here” in your Gmail chat and select “Sign into AIM” from the drop down menu. Once you’ve entered your AIM log-in information, your AIM contacts will appear intermingled among your Gmail contacts, and you can select an AIM contact and chat with them directly.
This is just one of the first new features we’re able to launch using Gmail’s new code structure. This is rolling out in the newest English version of Gmail first and will be available in other languages soon. We’re always looking for new and useful ways to help our users connect with friends, family, and coworkers, and we look forward to your feedback.
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