From the Android SDK M5 API Changes Overview, Dave Cridland pointed out the following:

The com.google.android.xmppService package has been replaced by the com.google.android.gtalkservice package. This is driven by the fact that the GTalk API is not XMPP compliant, and will be less so going forward. The reason is that XMPP is too verbose and inefficient for mobile network connection, and the GTalk API will be moving to a binary encoding for the protocol between the client and the server.

I'll enumerate the implications and conclusions:

1. XMPP is verbose.
2. XMPP is inefficient for mobile networking.
3. A proprietary binary protocol would be more efficient for mobile devices.
4. The former Android xmppService API will diverge away from XMPP.

I think that this direction is unfortunate, and the reasons misguided. Read on, and I'll elaborate...

I don't want to seem unappreciative, so I'll start out with some good points. Google Talk has energized Jabber/XMPP to a level of activity that is unprecedented. Think about all of the things that have happened since Google Talk went beta: how much of it is a direct or indirect result of Google choosing to use XMPP as the protocol for their IM service? I don't want to minimize this point. Google Talk has been one of the best things to happen to the Jabber community in recent memory. And kudos to them.

Ever since Google Talk flipped the switch to enable server-to-server communications, Google Talk has become my default recommendation for anyone looking to get a ‘jabber account’. Back then, jabber.org was still having stability problems (as it was still running jabberd 1.4), and my own server was also less than reliable. Google Talk also came with several useful features, such as the chat client built right into gmail.

However, I have recently realized that Google Talk is not the ideal, stable jabber server that I thought it would be. Read on to find out why.

UPDATE: (2006-11-01) Google Talk now supports offline message delivery!

Ok, ok... I know this isn't new... But it's new to me. It would seem that Livejournal now runs their own Jabber server!

LJ Talk is what they call it, and they apparently have big plans---all of them revolving around interoperability and freedom of choice.

There are many Jabber clients out there for just about every platform imaginable. This is often cited as one of the strengths of Jabber, but it does have serious drawbacks; namely end-user confusion and (for open-source projects)duplicated developer effort. I'm starting to think that the approach that nearly all Jabber clients take is sub-optimal.

A few months ago I made a post telling the world that as of my birthday of this year I would no longer be using AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, or ICQ---and use federated IM services (Specifically those using the Jabber protocol) exclusively. Well, guess what: Today's my birthday.

For those of you who are still confused as to what exactly Jabber is, read on and I'll break it down for you one more time.

When I announced a while back that as of my Birthday (May 19^th) of this year I would no longer be using AIM, ICQ, YIM, or MSN in favor Jabber, I did not quite anticipate the response I received. Apparently I struck a chord with some people.

Some were confused, some even seemed upset, but most of the responses I have received have been extraordinarily positive---even to the point of adopting my birthday as the day that they swear off those legacy services.

The idea was pretty simple: The most common excuse I hear for not using jabber is "I don't know anyone who uses Jabber who doesn't use anything else". Well, now they will. But getting a Jabber account just to chat with me seems kind of silly. It can be kind of hard to know who has a Jabber account and who doesn't, even with the Jabber Users Directory. I think what we may need is to create a database which also includes people's legacy addresses as well. That way, if/when you migrate to jabber, you can more easily see who is using Jabber. Just a thought.

It doesn't feel right to make a post about Jabber without also mentioning the recent loss that the Jabber community has suffered. Peter Millard, a long time member and contributor to the Jabber community, passed away on April 26th. My condolences go to wife and daughter. He will be missed.

I just noticed yesterday that Google Talk now seems to support vCard avatars! Apparently, they support pretty much nothing else about vcard-temp... but hey, at least I no longer have to keep explaining to my friends why their avatars don't work with their gmail accounts.

Just a reminder to everyone: I'll be dropping my accounts on AIM, MSN, ICQ, and YIM on May 19^th of this year, and switching entirely to Jabber. So grab yourself a gmail account if you don't already have a jabber account!

The idea of using XMPP as a transport for email (possibly a replacement to SMTP) is not new, but so far I haven't really seen anything come from the idle speculation. And, more importantly, that's not what this post is about anyway. At least not yet.

I'm considering writing an eMail jabber component that would allow you to check, view, read, reply, and write email. The first step to doing that is to write an XMPP protocol for email. Think about all of the features of IMAP, with the ability to receive real-time updates and send mail. There are many benefits to doing this: