February 06, 2007
Google Goes Hardware?
Up until recently, Google hasn't had much of a strategy regarding VoIP. In fact, their Google Talk client only has VoIM features - no calling out to real phone numbers. Then they introduced their click-to-call service from Google maps, whereby you could find a participating business and click on their phone number to initiate a call (I believe through Skype, though I never tried it).
I'm wondering what The Google is cooking, and VoIP News has some comments on a possible disruptive Google VoIP strategy. They don't even have Google Talk for Mac and Linux yet, though because it is based on open standards, it can talk to any IM client running on XMPP/Jabber, including Gaim and Trillian.
Among the possibilities, as discussed in the VoIP News post, is the possibility of hardcore competition with the telcos, and adding enormously significant features such as audio search of conversations. Imagine, every (Google Talk) conversation on the Internet is searchable, sort of like the former program to scan all emails sent to/from email servers in England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.
Whatever Google is up to, they first have to get around the fact that a tiny, tiny percentage of people even use Google Talk. I'm not sure that a Google Talk VoIP headset is enough. They need real VoIP features for starters.
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