Google getting into IM/VoIP? Google Talk?

What’s this now? Reuters is reporting that the LA Times said Google is planning an IM system.

This has been rumored for a while now… Om suggested a VoIP spin just yesterday and everyone’s been wonding when they were going to do something with Hello (part of the Picasa acquisition?).

They say it’s built on Jabber which means it should be able to talk to ICQ and iChat. What about the other major IM services (Y!, MSN, Skype, AIM)? Why can’t they all just get along

Supposedly it could be released as early as tomorrow… we’ll see

UPDATE: Apparently, their Jabber server is available right now. A few people here are already playing around with IMing through talk.google.com

And as Terry mentions in my comments, Jabber is an open protocol that should be able to interop with other IM networks. I can’t wait to see this client interface; I wonder if it’ll be sweet…

UPDATE 2: Dru thinks that Google will announce that they’ve bought Trillian tomorrow, but Derek in my comments points out that Download Squad has the screenshots now… thanks for the tip Derek!