Posted by Alec Saunders
It's been a busy day [Ed. note: yesterday] in the blogging world as folks have chimed in on the Google acquisition of Global IP Sound. Many have noted that GIPS supplies Google’s competitors in the voice world as well as Google, and wonder how long that relationship will continue. Over on the Voyces blog, I wrote that this acquisition is a strategic response to Skype, while Tom Howe rightly observed the subtlety that this acquisition is all about the migration of voice to the edge of the network. And in a far ranging post on his blog, Rich Tehrani finishes by saying:
If I had to bet, I would say Google execs are walking around their campus with Android-powered tablets with built-in videoconferencing 24×7. Moreover, they are thrilled with what they see and they feel productivity is skyrocketing. As a result they realize the value of companies making codecs to supply these devices will skyrocket. This acquisition not only allows the company to pick up an asset which will increase in value, it can be used to help defend hardware platforms which use Android and run the risk of being sued by Nokia, Apple and others.
And perhaps the most interesting story of them all is fellow Voyces blogger and VoIP Godfather Andy Abramson’s (pictured) seemingly miraculous ability to pick clients who become acquisition targets. GIPS is the eighteenth he’s worked with that has exited. Clearly, the man has the Midas touch.