What's Google up to now, and who or what could be affected? Well, the search giant has offered to pay $68.2 million for VoIP technology provider Global IP Solutions.
Along with Google
itself, Global IP's existing customers include "Yahoo, which licenses the technology to power voice chat on Yahoo Messenger, as well as Nortel, Samsung and AOL,"
Moco News reports.
What exactly does Google have in
store for the publicly-held company? It's not saying explicitly, but according to Moco News: "Last month, Global IP Solutions said it was introducing new technology that makes it simple for Android
developers to integrate video conferencing and chat into their apps."
Likewise, "The deal will enable the search giant to boost call and video quality on various services, and may see
it offer video chat through Android mobile phones and other devices," notes
NewTeeVee.
CNet's DeepTech blog called the move "an apparent effort to improve the services
[Google] can offer online."
Furthermore, "The deal means that Google will own the voice and video conferencing engine behind its competitors' instant messaging systems," writes ZDNet's Between The Lines blog.
Oh, and if the fact
isn't already clear, The Financial Times points out: "The deal would also mean that Google would own the technology
that underpins part of the instant messaging systems of rivals including Yahoo, AOL and Baidu."
If and when the deal goes through, this would mark just the latest VoIP-related
acquisition for Google. In November, it bought VOIP provider Gizmo5 for a reported $30 million in order to improve Google Voice.
"One area of strong acquisitions is in video and VoIP
fields," writes Fortune. Prior to Gizmo5, "Google picked up On2 last year and has
been building an open source video codec called VP8 around On2's technology ... The company also purchased Grand Central to become its Google Voice routing service."
Read the whole story at MocoNews »