According to the LA Times Google is rumored to be launching an instant messaging service called Google Talk.
Continuing its rapid expansion into new product categories, the Internet search giant plans to launch an instant messaging program called Google Talk as early as Wednesday, according to people familiar with the service.
The new service follows by just a few days the introduction of Google Sidebar, which pulls news stories, photographs, weather updates, stock quotes and other features onto a user’s computer without opening a Web browser.
With all the new services, Google now competes with Internet portals such as Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Time Warner Inc.’s America Online squarely on their turf, even as those companies encroach onto Google’s with updated search engines.