Google has decided to expand their portfolio again. Instead of purchasing the competition like they usually do they are just completing directly. Rivals Skype with their online calling capabilities are facing competition from the newly launched Google Phone service.
From your google mail account you can now place phone calls. Some industry analysts have questioned Googles motives. It allows for calling from your email account whilst away from the computer. I guess then this means google have essentially made a mobile phone email client that can make phone calls. I am not sure there is a benefit from this other than competing directly with Skype. You wont be saving money on your phone plan as you’ll need to be connected to the phone network in the first place to access your email account.
Wired.com has also looked at this and they concluded that Google is aiming to attack Facebook instead of Skype. Given that consumers will be logged into their email accounts permanently allowing consumers to be tracked by Google. Whenever Google goes after something they do seem to manage to pull it off so perhaps they are going after both telecommunications and Facebook but perhaps not in the same go. For now, I shall presume that this is targeting Internet Calls more than Social Networking. Whatever google’s motives are free calls albeit in the US and Canada only but wiht plans to expand outwards can be a good thing.
