VOIP and the clash of the titans
As VOIP (Internet telephony) becomes a big deal and as it threatens to rejigger the competition matrix in telecommunications and computers, small innovative companies are being bought out and the little pioneers will be soon swept away.
First, Yahoo allied itself with Verizon, in an attempt to push its VOIP/instant messaging service to the phone company's DSL customers.
Next, Google announced a new VOIP feature in its release its instant messaging application Google Talk. It's a first iteration, so rather flawed, but Google has the money for R & D and acquisitions to grow it,
Then VOIP pioneer Skype announced that its instant messaging and VOIP features have been rewritten to allow them to be added as modules to other programs, notably online gaming.
Finally, a Microsoft has announced it will buy software develop Teleo, a company that has created VOIP software. The software will allow calls to land lines and cell phones, something Microsoft's current MSN Messenger offering (computer-to-computer) does not. Teleo is a two-year old private company. The price was not disclosed.
Skype is rumored to be very vulnerable to a takeover, especially now that such well-funded rivals are competing.
One thing that will be interesting s too see if Google, as it has with search engines, can even further wrestle away Microsoft's dominance of almost every aspect of software. What is interesting to see is VOIP as an extension of IM, rather than as a direct replacement for phones, at least at the first level.
