Gmail is having GChat to let you audio/video chat with others, but to enable the same you need to install a separate plugin. Now Google Chrome is ready to bring live video and audio chat in browser using WebRTC (an open source project by Google to integrate Real Time Communications in browser) via simple Javascript APIs. Actually this project was initiated back in 2010 when Google acquired GIPS (Global IP Solutions) which was an internet telephony and conferencing specialized company. Google is planning to launch the integrated chat capability in next version of Google Chrome. To start a live chat through Chrome browser, all you will require is a Google Account. The feature is expected to come very soon in dev version of the browser and then it will take few weeks to come into stable version. It is still not clear whether Google Voice type feature (to call on mobile or fixed line phone numbers) will be there in the browser or not.
How The Browser Market Share and Google Chrome will Look after Live Chat addition?
As per the details provided by Google, Chrome is expected to get native audio and video parts which means you will have fully capable video chat application inside the browser. This is definitely a warning alarm for services like Skype. And once this capability will come in Google Chrome, the similar application is expected in Android’s browser as well which is again a bad sign for other chat services for Smartphone. Google Chrome is currently having around 20% global market share where Mozilla Firefox is at around 30%. With features like Video/audio chat, instant pages and TV commercials/Print Media marketing, by end of the year, it is expected that Chrome will replace the Mozilla Firefox from #2 position. IE is having 44% global market share at this time.
As WebRTC is an open source project, you can expect this thing in other browsers like Firefox, Opera as well in coming days. But again, the speed factor of Google Chrome is definitely going gain more users. The video/audio chat capability will also be there in recently launched Chromium OS as that OS is having the latest version of Google Chrome browser only.
What will happen to Skype and other Real Time Chat Applications
Don’t worry! Skype is no going to shut down. Yes, they are going to lose some market share and will see a tough time before they come up with some new features and plans. Chrome will attract more users to chat through the browser itself where they spend their maximum time. I am expecting that Google will add capability to chat with other IM IDs as well, and if it happens then the problem will be much bigger for Skype.
Get more details and technical aspect about codecs used in Chrome Video/Audio chat.