After Google's acquisition of Gizmo5 back in November, people could not help but wonder if and when it would be fully integrated with Google Voice. Ever since the announcement, speculation has flooded the Internet. Rumors about Google's upcoming phone being VoIP only began circulating, and excitement has continued to build.
Today, those rumors are all beginning to come together. In a post on eWeek, Google executive, Bradley Horowitz, has openly admitted that Google plans to implement VoIP into their Google Voice service sometime in 2010. This will allow users to make phone calls via any data connection, regardless of a voice plan.
"What we're trying to do with telephony is give people a seamless experience that frees up their telephony communication from the silos where it's lived for the last decade. Voicemail, my contacts, all of those things have been segregated from the rest of my Web experience. We have big plans to do a better job.
Voicemail transcription, inbox integration and threaded SMS are fantastic features, but we're really just scratching the surface. Gizmo5 gives us talent and talent technology. They have specific tech and skills in further integrating telephony with devices and desktop and Web-based computing. We want to make sure you're communication is available to you irrespective of where you are at, what device you have in your pocket, etc."
This could change the entire telephony landscape. Soon, a user will be able to take any phone with Wi-Fi capabilities (and Google Voice support) and use it on their home's wireless network as a free, unlimited calling, house phone. Not only that, but this confirmation by Horowitz may actually justify the $530 price tag that the unlocked Nexus One is rumored to carry. If Google Voice will do VoIP straight from an Android phone, users would need nothing more than a pre-paid, data-only, SIM card to have a truly unlimited cell phone. Perhaps Google's January 5th announcement will discuss the future of full Android/Google Voice integration. This would completely cut out wireless carriers from being able to charge for voice services. The world of cell phones as we know it, will cease to exist. There's no mention of a specific date in 2010, but rest assured, Google VoIP will arrive soon, and when it does, it's sure to shake things up.
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