All the fuss about tweeting, texting, Facebook pokes and various other cutting-edge forms of communication can obscure the fact that old-fashioned telephone calls are still a pretty effective way of conveying information, dpa reported. But the 560 million people who are registered users of internet phone pioneer Skype have never forgotten the value of talk, and now it seems that Google is realizing it, too. The web search company, which has already carved out a formidable presence in the smartphone market with its Android operating system, is now launching a calling service directly into its popular Gmail service. After announcing the service on Wednesday, Google is gradually rolling it out to users this week across the United States. Initially limited to the US, the service is called Voice Calls from Gmail and allows users to call any landline or mobile phone in the country for free via their computer. Google said Thursday that even the limited number of users who had access to the new feature managed to place 1 million calls in the service's first 24 hours. The company is not saying how long the free lunch will continue - but for now it guarantees the no-cost calling until the end of the year. Calls to international landlines are as cheap as 2 cents per minute to the United Kingdom, France and Germany, though rates increase sharply for calls placed to mobile phones in those countries. The new service might have traditional telephone companies and Skype quaking in their boots, but according to Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell, they are not the primary target of Google's innovation. "We assume Google's ulterior motive is less about disrupting the telecommunications and more about driving engagement within Gmail and its social-networking activities, to better compete with social networks such as Facebook," Mitchell wrote in a note to investors. Still, with Skype planning a 100-million-dollar initial public stock offer later this year, the entrance of Google into the fray cannot be encouraging.
