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Internet giant Google announced that video chat is coming to the Android smartphone platform.
The Google Talk instant messenger client, built-in to the Android OS, will now gain video and voice chat functionality, first appearing in an Android 2.3.4 over-the-air update for Nexus S handsets.
The system will be interoperable between Android smartphones and Google Talk in the Gmail web mail application on desktop computers. Google said calls can be made over 3G or 4G data networks or over Wi-Fi.
The new chat client will also superimpose text chat on the phone’s screen and will allow users to move out of the application to check something elsewhere on the phone, merely pausing the video while this occurs.
Google said the Nexus S will get the update ‘over the next few weeks’ while other Android 2.3+ devices can expect the new feature later.
Google demonstrated the new Android video chat as follows:
