Google allegedly acquires VoIP
provider Gizmo5 for $30 million
A strategic acquisition could turn Google into a full VoIP
provider. Gizmo5 might integrate with Gtalk and Google Voice,
allowing you to call landlines from Gmail and place and receive VoIP
calls to your Google Voice number on your computer or smartphone.
Hours after
Google confirmed it has acquired the mobile advertising firm
AdMob for a cool $750 million, the search monster has become the
subject of an interesting rumor. The story goes that Google acquired
the SIP VoIP provider Gizmo5 for $30 million in a bid to combine
Gizmo5′s VoIP solution with its Gtalk software and Google Voice
telephony service. As a result, a Skype killer would be born.
We wouldn’t normally publish such a rumor if it wasn’t for
TechCrunch’s Michael Arlington who put his credibility behind the
deal that is, as he wrote, “done.” TechCrunch’s founder cited
“multiple sources with knowledge of the deal” claiming that the
Mountain View-based search giant will announce the deal shortly.
Gizmo5,
founded in 2003, provides desktop and mobile clients for IM, free
computer-to-computer VoIP calls, and cheap VoIP calls to mobile and
landlines. |