Lots of chatter today about Google's scheduled announcement tomorrow of "Google Talk". The previews indicate that it's a chat client with VOIP capability; in other words, it's a combination of Skype and IM.
Built on the open source Jabber platform, Google Talk could bring VOIP into the mainstream. Until now, Skype has mainly been used outside the mainstream. We used it at my previous company for communications between our NY headquarters and Israeli R&D facilities. But it still didn't match the convenience of a land line.
What will be interesting is to see what types of new applications are built around the Jabber framework, potentially making this more than just a tool for college kids to call home. Will Google use this as a community-building tool, similar to the way AOL leveraged AIM for the teenage set? Or, will this simply be a me-too product designed to match the talk capabilities of Yahoo and MSN? Either way, it's probably bad news for an independent like Skype who will have a tough challenge in breaking through in the shadows of the giants.
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