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Communications Businesses Google The Internet

Is VoIP Google's Next Frontier? 175

Posted by CmdrTaco from the rumor-mill-keeps-running-on-overdrive dept.
WindBourne writes "Apparently, Google is looking to some degree at VoIP. Of course, the question is whether they will support such items as Asterisk and FreeWorld or will they simply buy another company and tinker from that end."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Is VoIP Google's Next Frontier? More

Is VoIP Google's Next Frontier?

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  • Quality? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Sierpinski ( 266120 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:32AM (#11887596)
    A friend of mine has a VoIP service, and I think its horrible. He cuts in and out all the time, low volume (even though he says he's almost shouting) and there's constant static. I don't know who his carrier is, but if thats any indication of the general quality of VoIP, then I'll stick with my landline and cell phone.

    Anyone else have good or bad experience with VoIP quality?

    • Re:Quality? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by booyah ( 28487 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:36AM (#11887639)
      Using an Avaya VOIP system at my office and remote sites (over vpn) i have to say its good to great quality. cant tell that the user is on an IP or a normal digital set.

      having my parents and a sister on Vonage, I would say its at least as good as my cell.

      I would give a comparison compared to a land line but i never use one. sorry.

      • Re:Quality? (Score:4, Informative)

        by grasshoppa ( 657393 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @09:48AM (#11888277) Homepage
        Using an Avaya VOIP system at my office and remote sites (over vpn) i have to say its good to great quality. cant tell that the user is on an IP or a normal digital set.

        Side note, off topic: Avaya RAPES people when they want to go VoIP. I got a quote for ~100g for my office setup which prompted me to go with asterisk. At the end of the day, it was 15g, with redudant servers with good hardware. If a server dies, the voip services can be transfered in a few minutes. I'm working right now to learn how to switch them transparently.

    • Re:Quality? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dsginter ( 104154 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:37AM (#11887644)
      Anyone else have good or bad experience with VoIP quality?

      It is all in the codec [google.com] (and configuration thereof) that your provider uses. Most of the cheapie services will optimize for bandwidth rather than quality for the sake of saving money but Vonage does the opposite, in my experience. Their quality is better than that of a traditional landline.

      The thing is, you can get CD-quality out of VoIP if conditions allow (and they eventually will). So don't let this FUD up your view of the technology.

      • Re:Quality? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by johnjaydk ( 584895 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @09:15AM (#11887909)
        It is all in the codec (and configuration thereof) that your provider uses.

        Are you for real ?

        The codec determines the bandwith/voice quality tradeoff that's true but thats less than half the issue. The real deal is quality-of-service (QoS) in layer 2 (ethernet/atm etc) and layer 3 (IP). When you have QoS in hand and a reasonable bandwith ALL-THE-WAY through then you've got a real VoIP system.

        I happen to do this stuff for a living and QoS is rather hard. In particular when you don't have much control over your customers (crappy) networks.

        • Are you for real ?

          Sure thing.

          The real deal is quality-of-service (QoS) in layer 2 (ethernet/atm etc) and layer 3 (IP). When you have QoS in hand and a reasonable bandwith ALL-THE-WAY through then you've got a real VoIP system.

          But 99 percent of people will not have the luxury of end-to-end QoS through their home broadband connection (maybe if they get VoIP through their broadband provider but it is doubtful that a Comcast or SBC will send a tech to setup QoS on the router). The only thing that QoS ca
          • The only thing that QoS can help with is prioritization inside the gateway (so that little Joe's mp3 download doesn't interrupt Little Jane's VoIP call).

            I do this sort of thing for our enterprise customers that have lots of locations all connected through our backbone. In order to run telephony through that system system without complaints QoS is no laughing matter. Joe and Jane tend to be CTO and CEO they have very little sense of humour.

            And no QoS is not limited by gateways you just (easy to say) ha

            • I think we're seing two different definitions of QoS here -- the grandparent's being the actual quality of the network; routing times, dropped packets etc. The parent is talking about server QoS -- namely, packet prioritization. This is definitely nowhere near as important as the quality of the network service.

              • Re:Quality? (Score:3, Interesting)

                by Big_Al_B ( 743369 )
                Actually, I think they both were discussing the merits and realities of end-to-end QoS for VoIP. The difference in perspectives is that the great-grandparent is discussing consumer VoIP services running over consumer broadband, where end-to-end QoS is a remote possibility at best, while the grandparent is discussing a QoS-enabled and geographically diverse enterprise network running VoIP.

                Either way, IP QoS is not usually defined in the various terms you used. IP QoS commonly refers packet delivery delay

        • Re:Quality? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by swillden ( 191260 ) * <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @09:53AM (#11888334) Journal

          The real deal is quality-of-service (QoS) in layer 2 (ethernet/atm etc) and layer 3 (IP). When you have QoS in hand and a reasonable bandwith ALL-THE-WAY through then you've got a real VoIP system.

          Both the codec and the connection are important. The codec and the bit rate determine define the upper limit on the audio quality. If the codec can't reproduce the audio accurately at the specified bit rate, your call is going to sound lousy even if every packet arrives instantaneously.

          On the other hand, if your connection is lousy, either can't deliver the bandwidth required, has high (or highly variable) latency or frequently drops packets, you're going to have other problems.

          I use Vonage on a Comcast cable modem, and the quality is generally excellent, unless I'm overloading my cable connection. I use a Linux router configured to do traffic shaping/policing and to give precedence to the VOIP traffic and that *mostly* works, but people I speak with report the occasional garble or dropout when I'm transferring large files.

          My boss uses Vonage on a fairly low-bandwidth DSL connection and doesn't have a smart router to prioritize VOIP traffic, although he does put the Motorola VOIP box in front of his Linksys router/WAP, so the Motorola box should be able to do prioritization. In his case, his VOIP service gets really bad when he's sending large e-mails.

          Assuming the connection is good, my experience with Vonage is that Vonage-to-land-line calls are excellent and Vonage-to-Vonage calls are astoundingly good. I don't know if I'd say "CD quality", but the audio is far clearer and louder than any phone connection I've used.

          I do notice some latency, but I think that's only because I'm paying attention. After scrutinizing my VOIP connections for months, I now notice *massive* latency on my cellphone communications. My cell phone has almost twice the latency of my VOIP phone, but I never noticed it before I got VOIP and started obsessing over it.

          BTW, it's fun to call my cell phone from my VOIP phone and hold them next to each other and listen to the "feedback". The large total latency (Almost 250ms, I'd guess) leads to some really interesting "echoey" feedback effects.

      • Re:Quality? (Score:3, Informative)

        by Big_Al_B ( 743369 )
        Well, empirically, you can expect only about a 10% difference (0.5 points in a scale of 5) in predictive MOS scores between the lowest quality (G.728: ~3.6) and the highest quality (G.711: ~4.1) codecs commonly used for VoIP.

        Jitter and delay introduced by intermediate networks has much more potential impact on MOS scores for VoIP calls.

        Since Vonage, Packet8, et al. all ride across the public internet, starting with "Joe Bob's Broadband", VoIP packets generally get best effort delivery along with gramma's
        • > MOS scores between the lowest quality (G.728: ~3.6) and the highest
          >quality (G.711: ~4.1) codecs commonly used for VoIP.

          But iLBC is better on bad lines.
          • But iLBC is better on bad lines.

            Fair enough. I'll be more curious about it, though, when carrier-class equipment supports it.
      • Most of the cheapie services will optimize for bandwidth rather than quality for the sake of saving money but Vonage does the opposite, in my experience.

        Vonage sounds good, but it does sound no better than my cheapie VoIP provider. Haven't had a problem either ways. The only differece I ever was able to notice is price.

        Vonage is just as expensive as my old lanline, which was already way too much (my main reason to switch to something else). My cheapie provider cost me between 1/3 and 1/2 of what vonage w

    • Re:Quality? (Score:5, Informative)

      by andy1307 ( 656570 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:42AM (#11887677)
      I have some issues with my internet service(Adelphia), not with my VoIP provider(Vonage). There's a two second delay before the conversation starts but other than that, I am generally happy with my service. I have the 15$/month plan and I never run out of minutes. I use a cell phone for long distance calls. You can set it up so that if your internet connection is down, the calls to your VoIP line get forwarded to your cell phone(or office phone if you prefer). I had a problem using a VPN connection when I had the VoIP box in front of my linksys router. You can open up the right port to fix that but i've been too lazy. I have the VoIP box behind the linksys router and it works fine.

      I DO have a problem with using multiple lines. You have to plug in your phones to the VoIP box. You can fix that by cutting off the power supply coming from your LEC line.

      • I've tried Vonage, Lingo and now AT&T CallVantage.

        Vonage has good sound quality, a very nice web site for managing your account and phone features, and poor support. However, they were unable to transfer my landline phone number after 8 months, so I started looking around.

        Lingo had not-so-great sound quality, never really played with the web site, and the support was pretty nice when I cancelled the account within the 30-day trial period. They seemed all ready to transfer my phone number.

        CallVantage

    • I have VOIP at work and its great...i've never once experienced any kind of break up, and calls sound as clear or clearer then normal. You also get lots of neat digital features on the phone itself that make VOIP even more useful.

    • Re:Quality? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by vvhitekid2 ( 462500 )
      Some voip isn't really for everybody yet. The people who are going to see the best results, and will consequently love it, are not the same people who are gonna stick it on their wide-open 802.11b router and call it good, all while maxing out their bandwidth with P2P stuff.

      You will generally* get the most out of it if you know a little bit about firewalls, networking, and traffic shaping. After some tweaking with my Avaya set-up and my FreeBSD firewall I now have just about perfect quality.

      * The commercia

    • Re:Quality? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Jim_Maryland ( 718224 )
      Anyone else have good or bad experience with VoIP quality?

      VoIP has been working well for me so far. My VoIP provider is SunRocket [sunrocket.com] and my broadband is Comcast [comcast.com]. I haven't experienced any of the static or dropped calls that you mention, but I've only been with them for about one month so far. The annual plan offered by SunRocket runs $199/year (USD) or roughly $16.58/month, which is much lower than my Verizon bill (about $34/month) without long distance service (I used my cell phone for long distance).
    • I use Vonage for my home office and the experience has been positive enough that the rest of my consulting group is converting to save on calling card costs. A couple of things to consider.

      * Latency - If you're an online gamer and can consistently find several servers with low ping, then you should be good for VoIP. I dumped cable broadband due to the network latency going to hell in the late afternoon when all the kids returned home from school. With DSL this has never been a problem.

      * Get a good rout

    • Re:Quality? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Big_Al_B ( 743369 )
      If you've ever called anyone using a LD calling card, or if someone has called you with one, you've probably used VoIP and not even realized it. Most LD calling cards use VoIP carriers to cut costs.

      My parents call us all the time, and it sounds just fine.

      (Also, I my work desk phone is IP, and it sounds great. Of course, I'm a network engineer for a IXC/CLEC/ISP/VoIP provider. So I may be biased about our service :) .)
    • Your cell phone gets better service than VOIP can offer. Jesus man tell me who your carrier is, I want to sign up!

      He cuts in and out all the time, low volume (even though he says he's almost shouting) and there's constant static.

      Maybe he's talking to you on his cell phone?

    • Re:Quality? (Score:2, Informative)

      by pathos49 ( 838882 )
      I have used various VoIP providers for the last two years. Have settled on Packet8. The quality can vary markedly from provider to provider but also from pipe to pipe. DSL is usually worse than cable. BTW, I only have VoIP in my house and use about 1200 minutes a month. While Skype is really sort of neat, it is the worse froma quality perspective. Sounds like talking in a tin can.
    • VoIP Quality can be really good, it depends on the compression and the client being used, as well as the server. One thing I found was you have to disable any big bandwidths uses before-hand(bittorrent, downloads, etc).

      The ideal situation would be for these programs to receiver an event handler when a call is being placed or received, and pause their downloads automatically.

      But sometimes your provider can just be horrible, and then it's time to switch.

    • Re:Quality? (Score:3, Informative)

      by grasshoppa ( 657393 )
      I have my own setup here ( asterisk + connect.voicepulse.com ), with a polycom 500IP phone ( sip ), and I use the ulaw codecs.

      It's better than a landline, and it's lightyears beyond a cell.

      There are a few issues: 1) No 911. I haven't set it up yet. This is specific to my situation, vonage and similar companies have this taken care of 2) I am not entirely dependant on my inet connection.

    • Re:Quality? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 )
      I have broadvoice and it works flawlessly, espically compared to the regular Land Line. I have had a 60hz HUM on my regular Telco line for 6 months, the technicians said "we cant trace it, it must be at the switching station" and left it at that.

      i switched to broadvoice (9.95 a month unlimited in state calls can not be beat) am saving over $35.00 a month on comparable land line service and have no cutouts, and everyone thinks I'm shouting so I have turned down the amplification on my cordless from it's M
    • Mine is fine.. if he's cutting in and out it's his ISP *NOT* his voip provider.
    • He cuts in and out all the time

      Is he using Skype by any chance? (Skype has these problems)
      Of course, all VoIP services will suffer problems if you have a crappy ISP.

      low volume

      That's a problem with his (soft)phone or microphone - if he's using a softphone then turn the sound card volume up.

      there's constant static

      Never had that problem - I use SIP and it's as clear as a bell (even using a low bandwidth codec like GSM).

  • Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:33AM (#11887603)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • And for my next trick... (Score:5, Funny)

    by DisprinDirect ( 755967 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:34AM (#11887613)
    I'm feeling lucky, connect me to a random phone number...
    • Now that you mention it, if Google brings VoIP, would they somehow tie searching into it? It would be nice to say Google for the nearest Italian restaurant and then click a link to have Google dial it for you.
      • They have your webpages. They have your email. Soon they will have your voice.

        We get signal!
    • That's only until the SEO/Scammers get wind of it. Then it's "I wanna get lucky. Connect me to a random 1-900 number."
  • You mean "of course" only in the sense that Slashdotters will all ask about Asterisk, right? Not that any consumers, business people, analysts, or journalists will ask that question....

    • Re:Of course? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by John_Renne ( 176151 )
      I'm not sure wether business people, analysts of journalists will ignore asterisk. I worked at a bank for a couple of years and just as I left I hearded they were considering asterisk for their callcentre.

    • Heck, even the majority of Slashdotters might not care either.

      I love it when someone makes a comment like that in their submission. As if the question that is on their mind is "of course" what everyone else is thinking.

      • Heck, even the majority of Slashdotters might not care either.

        I don't think anyone will care whether they're using Asterisk or not so long as they support the standard protocols (i.e. don't become another Skype). Bothing about what they run internally would be like saying "I don't use the Google search engine because it doesn't run on Apache" - Google speaks HTTP so who cares what's running on the back end?

  • Is Google Looking Into OSTG? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by datastalker ( 775227 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:35AM (#11887625) Homepage
    After all, it would be a prime target for a geek company... and it would explain all these Google stories!

  • Another Google rumour? (Score:5, Funny)

    by CleverNickedName ( 644160 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:35AM (#11887628) Journal
    Any sign that they may be developing Duke Nuke 'em Forever?

  • AOL is getting into the VoIP market too (Score:5, Informative)

    by andy1307 ( 656570 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:35AM (#11887630)
    AOL: You've got VoIP [zdnet.com]

  • How about improving... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by should_be_linear ( 779431 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:36AM (#11887631)
    Googe Search engine? Here in Czech Rep. user base of Google dropped to 10-20% because local engine jyxo.cz wipes floor with google. And they will expand to other (so far central) european countries too.

  • Hype? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by offensiveweapon ( 761301 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:36AM (#11887633) Journal
    Don't get me wrong, I love Google. I think they're a great company that clearly has a lot of success ahead of them. However, it just seems like there's a lot of hype and speculation about them just because they're Google. There's all this buzz everytime Google seems to be moving in a new direction. But isn't it possible they're just doing what any up and coming company would do by exploring their options for growth and diversification into new areas? Put it this way: company X could be doing the same thing, but there are no news stories about them...

  • Slashdot (Score:4, Funny)

    by imipak ( 254310 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:38AM (#11887656) Journal
    Perhaps Google are trying to corner the market in pointless "Maybe Company X is going to launch Product Y!" speculation stories on Slashdot. Tough market, if so.

  • "Slashdot: News for nerds about Google. Stuff that matters about Google. Rumors about what Google might do next. Google, Google. Google."

  • VOIP is as the future... just like dial-up (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Total_Wimp ( 564548 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:40AM (#11887668)
    I use my cell phone for everything. I get "free" use of long distance all the time and "free" minutes on nights and weekends which means I can stay on the phone for hours without needing to tie up my network connection.

    People who operate like me are growing and land-line use is shrinking. We don't care about long distance charges. VOIP is a niche and will always be a niche and Google suddenly "getting into it" will mean nothing more than a modest new revenue stream until VOIP moves from mostly irrelevant to totally irrelevant.

    Sorry, I just calls 'em as I sees 'em.

    TW

    • Re:VOIP is as the future... just like dial-up (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Skye16 ( 685048 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:47AM (#11887711)
      Yeah, I guess you're right. I mean, why would anyone pay 25$ for unlimited useage at any time in the US and Canada when they can pay 60$ a month for 500 or 600 minutes daytime and free nights and weekends?

      I use my cell phone for emergencies or when I'm in the car; smallest plan I can get. When i'm out doing something, I'm out doing something, not talking on the #%*!ing phone. And I'll be damned if I wait until 9pm just to hold a relatively decent conversation with someone.

      I know there are a lot of people out there like me. I disagree with your "niche" assessment; it will never take over the whole market, no, but it will have more than 1 or 2% of the market share.
      • *I use my cell phone for emergencies or when I'm in the car; smallest plan I can get. When i'm out doing something, I'm out doing something, not talking on the #%*!ing phone. And I'll be damned if I wait until 9pm just to hold a relatively decent conversation with someone.*

        and i'll be damned if i have to wait untill i get home to have that phone call.

        (with my usage anyways the bills have never been an issue here in finland..)

        voip is still very landline-like experience. and the truth is that very few peop
        • I guess that fits your lifestyle. Me, when I'm out and about and need to make a phone call, it's more along the lines of "where are you?", "where am I?", "do we need milk?", "how much beer should I get?", "I'm on fire, what do I do?", etc, etc. It's a 1 minute conversation, tops. When I want to have an actual conversation, well, I want to be home to do it. I know I'm not the only one.

          Like I said before, I'm sure that VoIP isn't going to be a "niche", but I'm also sure it's not going to take over fro
          • Okay, look.... heavily networked cell phones are DEFINITELY IN OUR FUTURE. VoIP will be one benefit, but there are many others, and this is NOT a niche thing.

            Back in the 80's, when PCs went from being separate little boxes to being part of the global network, we found all sorts of new uses for computers. Computers became an order of magnitude more useful.

            When cell phones have really responsive, always-on data network connections, there will similarly be a profusion of new ways to use your cell phone.

      • Actually, they have some great rates such as $15 or $20 a month for VoIP, but my cel is $130/mo.

        Damn, I got unlimited GPRS, we need a VoIP client for Symbian. Then my life'd be free. =)

      • I mean, why would anyone pay 25$ for unlimited useage at any time in the US and Canada when they can pay 60$ a month for 500 or 600 minutes daytime and free nights and weekends?

        Uh, they wouldn't. They'd pay to get portable access. They'd pay to have one phone number that works all over the country, and to be able to make and receive phone calls at any time.

        When I'm out doing something, I typically find it extremely useful to have a cellphone. Sooner or later everyone will have a mobile phone and be

    • I couldn't disagree any more strongly. I have a wife and kids at home. There is a great deal of phone use during "peak" hours when using a cell phone would cause one to go broke. I already use an enormous number of minutes on my cell for work, and have no desire to use more than I do. For $25 a month, I, my wife and kids can talk all they want, when they want to whomever they want. That makes working phone costs into the family budget a WHOLE lot easier. Cell phones are great, and they fill an importa

      • Re:VOIP is as the future... just like dial-up (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Total_Wimp ( 564548 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @09:13AM (#11887888)
        Cell phones are great, and they fill an important gap, but they do not (in most demographics) compete with landline.

        For now. But this article [gwhatchet.com] speaks of the future. A whole generation of college students is now seeing the landline as mostly irrelevant. They'll continue to see it that way as they enter the workforce, have kids, and buy those kids their own cell phones.

        Landlines, as you point out, are not irrelevant _now_. But their the trend is definately moving in that direction.

        Put another way, would you have invested much money in a buggy whip company if you could go back in time to 1900? Or typwriters if you stepped in the time machine to 1980? Or consumer landlines if you stepped in the time machine to.. well, no need to step. You'd take your short term profit, not invest for the long haul.

        TW
          1. Landlines, as you point out, are not irrelevant _now_. But their the trend is definately moving in that direction.

          Just like traditional cell phones are moving toward extinction. Seriously. If you have an IP phone and an open connection, why bother with paying monthly fees?

          The only other thing that needs to be dropped is the concept of a 'phone number' that you have to rent from a telcom company so people can find you. DNS routes, so why not use that? IP:spoing.jones@myserver.home.voip

          Unfortunat

        • The trend is not moving in the direction of having only cell phones. The trend is moving into being easier to contact, having your own number, and not paying extra for long distance.

          In any large enough WiFi area (say, the proposal in Philadelphia), VOIP becomes cellular. Cellular still has problems of dropped calls, bad signals, bad quality, high expense, and many other things. If you live anywhere outside of the Eastern corridor or major metropolitan areas you find out that no service is 100% reliable nat
        • Once you move out and have to pay for the stuff yourself, 1p/min and free VOIP->VOIP calls starts to become attractive.
      • VoIP will probably push cellular companies toward a model that does not involve using a cellphone during the day driving people into the poorhouse. It still only takes so much bandwidth to make a cellphone call, so as new networks that have more bandwidth available are implemented, the cost of providing a phone call goes down and they will be trying to sell people other services like streaming audio and video. Those customers who pay for that stuff will subsidise phone use for the others.

        Cell phones direc

    • Unless, of course, you live somewhere with chronically crappy cell phone reception.

  • Speculation (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mr_tommy ( 619972 ) * <tgrahamNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:43AM (#11887687) Journal
    Speculation on Google's intentions is almost as pointless as it is trying to guess when you'll die. The problem with basing stories on things like this (Google meeting with industry players) is that they could be doing so many other things; The Times run a similarly factually weak story early this year about how the company had plans to launch a VoIP service imminently. They based it of a story that Slashdot covered a month prior about how the company was buying dark fibre; now yes- it could be used for VoIP, but could be used for thousands of other things.

    My point : Google != Microsoft. They haven't got a history of "leaking" stuff prior to product launch, and I doubt they'd do it this time.
  • Great.

    Now it'll take four to eight weeks for my phone number to appear in the directory.

  • Just once. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jwcorder ( 776512 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:48AM (#11887720)
    I would love to come to slashdot just one day out of the week and not see an article about what google MIGHT be doing or COULD be doing tomorrow. This is not news. Let me know when they ACTUALLY do something. And then only when it's something cool.

  • They got the technology (Score:4, Funny)

    by LupeSpywalper ( 713932 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:50AM (#11887733) Journal
    Maybe Google have found a way to search phone conversations. Maybe even in real time. So I can find an interesting conversation going on and just drop in.
    And of course they will tie it to their map service. And no more dialling wrong numbers with their "did you mean" functionality. And maybe they could do a javascript "suggest topic" for those dull conversations ?

  • Hotsheet. (Score:3, Funny)

    by hot_Karls_bad_cavern ( 759797 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:52AM (#11887750) Journal
    ::ring::ring::
    -------------
    "Dick."
    "Bush. Say listen, we got uh ... thingy goin' on over here with them googuhl folk."
    "wtf?"
    "Naw, sersly, they got some new Very onerous Intercontinental Puhbombs."
    "P bombs ... what?"
    "Yeah, yeah and that's them folks that help those, uh, whatchacall'em ... poor people find all that informations on how blowed'in' things up and steal musics. Listen, can i get 'em?"
    *sigh* "I'll get my coat. See you in a few."
  • Heh, imagine being able to Google every phone call ever. Kind of an open source society.

  • Are Mousepads in Google's future? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dan East ( 318230 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:56AM (#11887776) Journal
    Apparently, Google may begin manufacturing Mouse pads. According to an anonymous source, Google submitted an order for 150 pads. "Why would Google require so many mouse pads at once? Obviously they wish to study and analyze these pads so they can begin manufacturing themselves".

    Another source said that some Google employees have had medical X-Rays as part of their health care screening. No word yet on when Google will begin manufacturing their own X-Ray equipment, but giving the combination of ivy-league graduates, the company-sponsored free-time employees are allowed, and the fact that they run a successful search engine, it is obviously only a matter of time. Look out General Electric!

    Dan East
    • I think you're imagining things. Several Google honcho's were discovered wolfing burgers at an undisclosed restaurant location. Obviously, they wish to study and analyze these burgers so they can enter the bustling fast food industry.

      But another source says that Google is really entering the fast food consumption industry. "Burger consumption is the growth industry of the 21st Century. With Google's extensive infrastructure, massive capital funds, educated employees, and agressive appetites, they have th

  • Makes Sense to Me (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Rollsbot ( 859293 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @08:57AM (#11887782) Homepage
    It makes perfect sense to me. Everyone keeps saying that VoIP will be the end of the traditional phone system. So, what's everyone waiting on? Probably, a big company like Google get behind it and ensure that it's reliable, easy to use, and accessible.

    What's more, imagine how valuable a Google ad would be if that ad resulted not only in a visit to your website but also a call to your business. Advertising has always been about getting calls; this makes it that much easier.
    • So, what's everyone waiting on? Probably, a big company like Google get behind it and ensure that it's reliable, easy to use, and accessible.
      No, we're waiting on broadband availability and reliability like most of the other top industrialized nations enjoy. I anticipate huge response if/when BPL becomes more prevalent, as this is the best solution for a large land mass like the USA.
  • Google is to the information-age as Microsoft is to the computer-age.

    As the web grows, their (or anybody else's) index will take longer to update, introducing a lag as to the relevancy of their links. They must know this as they are apparantly moving into new areas to grow their revenue. I wonder if they will be as profitable in things other than pay-per-click advertising...this move into VOIP seems like a move out of desperation.

    [As far as those who contend the Microsoft analogy, then I would have to a

  • Google shouldn't follow Microsoft's approach... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anita Coney ( 648748 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @09:04AM (#11887832) Homepage
    ... and jump on every trend that comes and goes. It should stick with its core business: Helping people find porn.

  • Suggestion: New Slashdot Section. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Chatmag ( 646500 ) <editor@chatmag.com> on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @09:06AM (#11887843) Homepage Journal
    Create a section for Google related articles.

    Use "The Brain" from "Pinky and the Brain" for the icon.

  • Another Beta? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by lbmouse ( 473316 )
    Why don't they just focus on getting the shit-load of other projects they have in Beta out to production?

  • In related news... (Score:3, Funny)

    by A.K.A_Magnet ( 860822 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @09:09AM (#11887862) Homepage
    Google launches Google Monitor !

    Google Executives introduced today the latest of Google services, based on Google VoIP.

    Google Monitor will record every VoIP conversation Google and its partners route, and will allow you to search for vocal patterns to match a particular conversation you had you would like to listen again.

    Sadly, the day turned awkward when it was reported on Slashdot, the (in)famous technologist blog, that searching for "Google and dominance of the world, we 0wn j00 n00b haha and BillG sux dickz" (sic!) in the Google Monitor Search Engine and clicking the "I'm lucking" button directed to a private conversation Larry Page and Sergey Brin had about this very service.

    "We were simply high, man", declared the Google founders when we asked them for further explanations.

    Well, it definitely explains many moves the company from Montain View had these last few years.



    (I don't endorse this comment, I'm testing a beta quantum computer at my local university and it seems the Quantum Leap put some text from the future in my paste buffer ;) Or it seems I share something with the Larry/Sergey from the future :p)

  • Google's REAL next frontier (Score:5, Funny)

    by ca1v1n ( 135902 ) <snook.guanotronic@com> on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @09:10AM (#11887871)
    Google Pony (beta):

    By combining advanced cloning, genetic engineering and nanotechnology, Google will provide a pony, free, to every boy or girl in the world that wants one. The ponies are photosynthetic, so they require no food, and they are infused with nanobots that recycle their own waste, so there's really no reason your parents can't let you have one.

  • More Google VoIP speculation from 6 weeks ago (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Rescate ( 688702 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @09:46AM (#11888254)
    Google Plans Free VoIP In the UK [slashdot.org]

    Posted by timothy on Mon Jan 24, '05 01:49 AM
    from the thinking-ahead dept.

    jarich writes "According to this news article, Google may be preparing to offer free Voice Over IP [timesonline.co.uk] telephone service in the UK. This sounds related to a previous Slashdot article about Google starting to buy dark fiber. [slashdot.org] So what are they planning? A free service like Skype (computer to computer only) or more along the lines of Lingo or Vonage?"
  • Sources tell me that Google will be unvieling a PDA/GPS/Cell Phone/Newspaper/Shopping Cart that will combine it's email, mapping, VoIP, news, and pricing services. It's a secret! Ssssssh! So I'm told it will also integrate seemlessly with iPods and most pants. In addition they'll be translating their page into several new languages including Ancient Canadian Hieroglyphics, Brazilian Cuneiform, and American Kanji (Simplified). Look, we've got to stop jumping everytime they make a twitch. I'm pretty sur
  • All they have to do is buy Skype and *BAM*, they become their own telecom overnight.

    MCI, Verizon, The Bells, Google. Why dosen't that sound right?

  • Google 'Talk Sense' (Score:4, Funny)

    by DieByWire ( 744043 ) on Wednesday March 09, 2005 @10:51AM (#11888996)
    The VOIP will be free, but, a little voice will whisper into your ear sales pitches that will be relevant to your conversation.

    He'll clearly identify himself as a sponsered part of your conversation, though. No confusing him with a real, unbiased friend.

  • Recommendations?

    I'm going to be making a *lot* of phonecalls in the near future and would like to keep my costs down.

  • The recent hire of plumber Ed Kowalsky has the Internet abuzz with rumors that Google (GOOG) may offer a toilet service in the coming months. While Google has not released any official statement, technology insiders believe that the popular search engine may see a huge opportunity for profit in the lucrative home fixtures market, currently dominated by American Standard and Kohler.

    gtoilet.jpgSpeculation about the gtoilet has focused on its anticipated feature set. "The possibilities are limitless," said In
    • Ya I'm starting to get tired of everything Google.
      How about Google continue to focus on improving its search engine?

      Search engine technology still has much room for improvement IMHO.
      It's frustrating when you can't find what you're looking for and Google is working on some other service to offer.

      My fear is that they will grow into a massive consuming organism with little symbiotic intentions bent on monopolizing everything.

      No thanks, we have enough of those types of companies already.

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