Planet Gadgets Gadget Blog

Google Voice Could Challenge Skype

by Administrator

Google is not one to shy away from competition, even when they’re late to the market. Google Voice will give users a way to make cheap international phone calls, just like the leading service from Skype. Plus it offers a speech-to-text option.

“This could be big. Google is seen as disruptive,” said analyst Jon Arnoldo of J Arnold & Associates. “They are a wild card in telecoms and wireless but this is Google and they are very smart at what they do.”

The new features were part of phone firm GrandCentral, which Google purchased. When the search giant took over GrandCentral, analysts weren’t clear in which direction Google would go. Now their grand vision is becoming a bit clearer.

“The core of Google’s business is search and for a long time the industry was concerned about the GrandCentral acquisition. What was the fit? What was the motivation? It will be interesting to see where they ultimately go with this,” Arnold stated.

Users are bound to like the new features, such as unified voice mail. All of the customer’s disparate phone services can now be combined into one. Mobile, and home, and IP phones could share one number, making Google Voice even easier to manage.

Google Voice will allow for free domestic phone calls and will charge for international calls beginning at the rate of 2 cents per minute, which will be charged to a Google Checkout account.

This new offering is bad news for EBay, the owner of the Skype service. Google Voice offers much of what Skype does, but goes a step further.

All messages that come into Google Voice can be translated into text, allowing for easier search and sorting. For people who need a copy of their voicemails, this could represent a giant step forward.