Google announced that it has added voice and video to its Gmail chat service.

Google webmail differs from Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s product with its integrated instant messaging services.

With video and audio chat built-in into Gmail together with regular text chat, it transforms Google’s webmail platform into a central point of communications where users don’t have to open various windows and applications simulataneously. Gmail video chat is almost universal, working with most browsers on both PCs and Macs.

Gmail’s new video and audio calling feature definitely sets Google’s webmail service apart from the competition. Now a one-stop communications hub, Gmail will certainly become ever more popular among both email and avid chat users. While other upcoming (or delayed) features such as SMS Chat in Gmail will again raise the bar against competition, Google’s Android-based mobile phones could also help increase Gmail’s popularity.