Comparison Chart

Comparison Chart
Need that at-a-glance view to how things measure up? Gary was busy yesterday, and he's what he's assembled:
Feature AOL Google MSN Yahoo
GroupText Chats
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Voice (PC to PC)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Video Chat
Yes
No
Yes
No
VoIP (Call Regular Phone)
Yes
No
No
Yes
File/Image Sharing
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Google Desktop Index Chats?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Mobile Version?
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Built-InSearch Box
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Send Text To Mobile Phones
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Alerts (News, Mail, Etc)
Yes
Mail Only
Yes
Yes
Want Google Talk? You Need Gmail!
How do you get Google Talk? You have to have a Gmail account. But Gmail remains a closed beta, so how to get in if you're not there already?
Google's established a new program allowing anyone in the US who can receive an SMS message to gain a Gmail account. That pretty much means anyone with a US cell phone (though I'm betting a Canadian number will also work).
Visit this page and instructions on where to send a message to Google are posted. Once you receive your code via SMS, follow these instructions, you can get an account.
Why this runaround? Why not just open things up? Google says it wants to find a way to expand the program but prevent it from being used by those who might set up a ton of accounts for spamming purposes.
"We wanted to expand the list of people who can do it [Gmail], so we're doing these text message signups. But we want to prevent lots of spam. We want to make sure Gmail is not a haven for spammers or a place where you receive spam. So we decided at this point not to go forward with an open strategy but a slightly closed one," Harik said.
By the way, Google does plan to offer SMS messaging for those outside the US to get Gmail accounts, as it sorts out details with various access providers, it said.