Today we are releasing version 1.2.5 of the App Engine SDK for both Python and Java, our first simultaneous release across both runtimes. We're excited about the great new functionality in this release ... including XMPP!

XMPP (or Jabber as it is sometimes known) is an open standard for communicating in real-time (instant messaging). One of the most popular API requests in the App Engine issue tracker has been support for XMPP, so today we are excited to mark that issue closed with the release of our new XMPP API for both Python and Java SDKs!

Like the other APIs that App Engine provides for developers, XMPP is built on the same powerful infrastructure that serves other Google products. In this case, we take advantage of the servers that run Google Talk. This new API allows your app to exchange messages with users on any XMPP-based network, including (but not limited to!) Google Talk. If you're currently participating in the Google Wave developer preview, you can also use the XM