Google's entry this week into the IM space gave a high-profile shot in the arm to the open IM protocol XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). The decision to base Google Talk on the XML-based XMPP framework -- combined with Google's considerable market clout -- could shake up stalled IM interoperability efforts, or at the very least gives a big lift to a grassroots Internet standard.
When instant messaging started to surge in popularity a few years ago, a hot-button issue crept up around IM standards. At the time, two fledgling IM protocols were making their way through the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standardization process: SIMPLE, based on the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) telephony protocol, and XMPP, based on XML.
Although a standards push among public IM networks never quite got off the ground, corporate vendors started taking sides. On one side, heavyweights Microsoft and IBM lined up behind SIP and SIMPLE, while XMPP gained traction with Jabber and implementations at companies including Apple, HP, and France Telecom. XMPP last year received official IETF ratification, while SIMPLE is still trudging through development in the IETF.
Google's choice to base its Google Talk IM on XMPP shakes up this landscape considerably. The company has said it is committed to enabling open communications, and selecting an open, XML-based protocol for its IM service is a step in that direction.
Meanwhile, public IM networks such as those from AOL, Yahoo, and MSN have closely guarded their subscribers and shied away from standards, although some have taken small steps at interoperability through individual agreements aimed at corporate users.
For example, AOL has established agreements between its AIM network and select vendors. AIM is the largest of the public networks with 41.6 million subscribers. Earlier this year AOL unveiled its Enterprise Federation Partner program, designed to allow select enterprise IM systems to add AIM and ICQ users to their IM contact lists and send and receive messages. In addition, this week enterprise IM vendor Antepo launched secure federation with users on the AIM network through its OPN System XT, an updated version of its server-based IM software. Antepo's product has native support for both SIP/SIMPLE and XMPP.
Although the Google Talk offering is aimed at consumers, the fact that it is based on the XMPP protocol encourages developers of all stripes to jump in.
"We want to encourage the developer community to create new and innovative applications that leverage our service. To enable this, Google Talk uses the standard XMPP protocol for authentication, presence, and messaging," Google officials wrote in the Google Talk release notes.
Google Talk also allows users to use other clients to connect to the Google IM service. Any client that supports XMPP can connect to Google Talk, Google officials said. This list includes: Adium, iChat, GAIM, and Trillian Pro, among others.
In an interesting twist, Google Talk enables voice call support through a custom XMPP-based signaling protocol and peer-to-peer communication mechanism, according to Google officials. Typically SIP, which is designed from the ground up for Internet telephony, is used to support voice. Google officials said it plans to add support for SIP in a future release.
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