Image via CrunchBase
Clint Boulton
Google was very cagey when asked what its Google Voice team would do with the Gizmo5 startup it acquired last week.
Gizmo5 makes Web-based calling software for mobile phones and computers. Specifically, it provides a Web-based VOIP client that lets users make phone calls over the Internet, similar to programs such as Skype.
Google's secrecy matters little, at least in Andy Abramson's mind. The VOIP consultant, who long lobbied for Google to buy Gizmo5, said Google could take the Gizmo5 assets, bolster the Google Talk Web chat client and bundle them with Google Voice, the phone management application that rings calls to home, work and cell phones through one number.
That's how Google would take on Skype, but there is potential for a broader play here.
Combine the Google Talk (with Gizmo5 endpoint support) and Google Voice applications with Google's Android mobile operating system and users have one control point for all of their Web-based calling needs.
Google will have the opportunity to offer PC-to-PC and PC-to-phone calling services, supported by Android devices with Android applications without racking up minutes on carriers' cell phone data plans. People have done this!
What the Google Voice Team Will Do with Gizmo5
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