Google adds video chat to Gmail

Google has added another feature to its growing list of innovative Gmail ideas.

Not long ago, the search engine introduced a safety feature for users who might have had too much to drink. The option prompted users to answer a series of simple math questions before an e-mail could be sent out.

This time around, it’s voice and video chat.

Now you too can live out your wildest sci-fi fantasies via Gmail as you and a friend communicate face-to-face over the net.

Although the technology has been available for a while now, this is one of the first instances where video chat has been made readily accessible to everyday consumers. (Skype’s video feature, for example, has been around for more than a year.)

The addition of video chat is a move that may not bode well for Google’s main e-mail competitor, Microsoft.

Not content with having an instant messaging feature already tied to the e-mail system, Google seems committed to driving Microsoft’s Hotmail into the ground by offering a variety of options that Hotmail doesn’t have.

In an effort to compete, Hotmail has recently revamped its interface and increased its storage capacity, though users don’t seem to be taking too kindly to the new look.

One thing is clear in the e-mail arms race; users are the winners as they now have more features than ever to choose from when it comes to communicating online.