Google will continue expanding beyond its core search engine when it launches an instant messaging service with voice-over-IP capabilities today. Google Talk, as the new program will be known, is beta mode and requires that its users have an account in Google’s free Web mail service Gmail, due to the two being tightly integrated.

Earlier today, Mahangu Weerasinghe, a tech/tsunami relief blogger & undergrad from Sri Lanka who was the first to break the news about Google Talk to Sri Lanka’s blogosphere, happily gave Angelo Embuldeniya co-founder/blogger of the GSearchBlog team the heads up on how to go about using Google Talk:

First though, you’ll need to download a jabber client such as GAIM. After you’ve got that installed, follow the steps below to connect.

1. Add an account, select “Jabber” as the protocol.
2. Your screen name is everything before the ‘@gmail.com’.
3. Server is ‘gmail.com’.
4. Click “show more options” and make sure “use TLS if available” is checked. Leave “Force old SSL” and “allow plaintext…” unchecked for now. Connection port should be 5222, connection server should be ‘talk.google.com’ without the quotes.
5. Ta-da! Just login and you should be good-to-go.

The GsearchBlog team agrees with Mahangu when he says that Google’s patronage of Jabber is a step in the right direction. “Jabber is an open protocol, and I love the fact that Google is using it, instead of trying to build their own proprietary service. Google may just be the force Jabber needs to stabilize and provide better connectivity”.

If anyone needs a gmail address(es) (which you need to use GTalk), please feel free to leave a comment here and we’ll be happy to send out those gmail invites. Hope you all have fun using Google Talk!