Are we looking at an early piece of evidence that Google is working on a unified messaging client?
A developer and serial crawler of the Chrome OS tracker named François Beaufort has posted a screenshot of the rich notification system set to hit Chrome OS, complete with Google Now-esque cards that display messages, Google+ notifications and missed calls.
The other thing that grabbed our attention was an icon in the launch bar which could very well represent a long-awaited unification of Google’s many messaging services (Google Talk, Google+ Messenger, Google+ Hangouts and Google Voice – only available in the United States).
This would fit in with the company’s plan to produce a more unified desktop and mobile experience, and we saw early signs of this integration in the middle of last year, with Google Talk Video being replaced with Google+ Hangouts.
The mystery messenger icon, re-imagined by Ooglicons
Obviously the ideal outcome would be a cross-platform client that seamlessly brings together the current mess of Google messaging services with full Chrome/desktop integration and a release date no later than Google I/O in May, but that’s probably asking for too much.
What do you think? Is this Google’s long-awaited answer to BBM and iMessage? Or is it just the reincarnation of Google Buzz? Let us know in the comments below!
