Google takes on Skype

GOOGLE IS EXCITEDLY announcing its latest mission to gain a bigger user count for its Gmail service – a new voice and video chat plug-in.

So far Google has been slowly creeping alongside the likes of other email giants including Microsoft Live which has 283 million users and Yahoo mail which is just slightly behind with 274 million.

Gmail was seemingly stuck in third place with just 113 million users, which is why it has come up with this new video and voice chat service which will come free as part of the Gmail package.

Although both of Google’s main competitors also offer a video and chat service, it is not integrated into the mail section like Gmail’s is – which makes it marginally different.

This integration will certainly make communications easier to handle, as everything will be in the same place – the instant messaging, email, chat and video.

Skype is another major competitor in this arena, as its popular video calling application comes alongside voice and instant messaging services.

However, Skype is unique here as it supports Linux in its video and voice package whereas Gmail’s new service doesn’t.

Both Skype and Gmail are proprietary rather than Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standards compliant.

Some are speculating whether or not this new all-in-one service will help Google climb to the top of the messaging ladder – yet this subtle difference may not drag too many over from what they’re used to. µ

L'Inq
Washington Post