gTalk To Get Video Boost?

lotusleaf writes "According to an article at PCWorld, "Google Inc. has bought video conferencing software from Marratech AB", "The client software runs on Windows 2000 or XP, Mac OS X 10.4, or versions of Linux". Could this provide a cross-platform video conferencing boost to gTalk?"

Comments

Skype

[bcmm]

Hopefully this will let Skype start quietly dieing the way it should have when it started providing video support for Windows clients only...

Re:Skype

[laffer1]

I doubt google will support all platforms. At best, maybe windows, mac os and linux. People forget about PDAs, BSDs, Solaris, ecomstation, cell phones, game consoles, etc. There are a lot of platforms in this world.

Windows, Mac OS and Linux are not the only platforms. Its really funny to hear people complain about software support on their platform. Windows users complain if it does work on every version of windows, or at least the one they like. Mac users complain about windows only software but tout their platform as superior if they happen to get a Mac only product. Linux users try to say Windows and Linux or Windows, Mac, Linux without remembering they are an open source platform. I remember when we were all in this together. Now that linux has commercial support from IBM and other firms its now OK to ignore every other open source OS on the planet. From my perspective, the only thing Linux is missing is games. You already have the video drivers to play them.

If google were smart, they'd take the approach Netscape did years ago and port to everything possible. Remember Netscape shipped for linux, solaris, irix, hp-ux, windows, mac os, and a slew of other platforms. There was even an OS/2 version. I can't think of a single company that is not open source that ships on that many platforms today.

Re:Skype

[It'sYerMam]

What were you just using to type your gTalk message with, if not the keyboard?

Google must be doing something right

[porkThreeWays]

I was thinking the other day... in the past 2 years google has bought A LOT of companies, technologies, and created new ones. I thought there's no way they could be a profitable company right now. Well I checked google's Q1 profits and they are actually up 68% to 1 billion a quarter. I know there will be a lot of posts that google is becoming a one hit wonder. Perhaps... but I think if they've got their financials in such good order they've really separated themselves from the dot bomb's of the 2000's. Just a thought...

Re:Google must be doing something right

[RGRistroph]

Google has always hyped itself, and been hyped, as an incredibly productive and creative organization. All this talk of 20% of time on independent projects, etc.

However, a lot of Google's recent history consists of buying other businesses, not of developing cool stuff themselves. They bought youtube, blogger, jotspot, writely, measure map, and now Marratech and of course Doubleclick.

This is not reminiscent of a "skunkworks" full of geniuses producing cutting edge technology. Rather, it is more reminiscent of Microsoft from the early 90s onward. Microsoft likes to wait until it realizes that a certain niche of technological innovation (like the internet) is actually going to pan out, then buy some relatively cheap player in the area and re-brand it's technology and re-sell it quickly to get a foot in the door with some crap backed by marketing muscle, and then re-work that purchased technology through a few versions until it is passable.

It seems to me that this is what google is doing. It is only a matter of time before the executive suite and associated beancounters beggin to look at buying startups and hiring cheap "commoditity" programmers from overseas as the most reliable way to make money, and begin to look with suspicion on the high salaries and benefits of the Googleplex genius set.

Of course, when I first saw the iPod, I thought to myself "They're going to try to be the Gucci or Ferrari of friggin' mp3 players ? Apple is finally dead." So take my predictions with a grain of salt . . .

Re:Google must be doing something right

[suv4x4]

Otherwise Google is a one trick pony which peculiarly spends most of its R&D budget outside of its core revenue market !

Wait a minute.. We're on to something. So Google has one single core business which makes it profits, and keeps spending R&D on other initiatives, and entering late in markets by buying other companies which are already there.

Where the heck is this familiar from.. Anyone help?

SIP/H.264

[good soldier svejk]

A cursory reading of the product FAQ reveals it is SIP based and supports H.264. Hopefully means that Mac users will be able to use iChat as a gTalk client, since it uses the same protocols and codec. Better yet, this could mean real standardization.

Re:SIP/H.264

[222]

Agreed. This is something often overlooked when there is a discussion about Google, but its willingness to develop on open standards for multiple platforms should serve as a model for the tech industry.

While a number of scenarios have dinged their "Do no evil" approach, I'll take Google over any day.

Misleading Summary

[mpapet]

The entire summary is filled with misconceptions.

1. SIP client protocol has been implemented for every desktop. Windows/Mac/Gnome-ekiga/kde-twinkle and kphone.
2. Multiple SIP servers are open, and Free AND integrate with Google's IM platform. (openser being generally excellent, there are a number of others)
3. Conference bridges are open and Free and work nicely through most clients.
4. Nortel-style phone systems are still absurdly priced.

The SIP protocol should revolutionize communication. The thing holding everyone back in the U.S. is the telco patent portfolio. The message waiting indicator has been litigated, the claims AT&T successfully made against Vonage are ridiculous.

I predict Google will be in court with AT&T over VOIP-related patents in very short order.