>Did anyone notice the announcement of Google Voice came immediately after the end of eBay’s Analyst Day? This is corporate war fare at its best! Google Voice will be gunning for SKYPE hard! In many ways, I see a lot of paralells between Paypal <-> Google Checkout, and Skype <-> Google Voice. All of Google’s service take existing technology and make it better. eBay’s properties (Paypal & Skype) are conducting business in unknown territory.

In terms of VOIP, I think Google Voice is positioned much better than SKYPE. The reason is that the call quality with Google Voice is so much better. I’ve been a GrandCentral user for over two years and I rarely have voice call issues. With SKYPE, you utilize existing public networks which causes Quality of Service issues. My guess is that Google Voice will utilize private networks to guarantee quality and only use the public network for the “last mile”. This ensure a better experience, which will translate into millions of new users and many converts from Skype.

Google Voice Speaks of World Domination | Epicenter from Wired.com: “Google Voice is a free service that offers ‘one number for life,’ so that one incoming call to that number gets forwarded to all your other numbers — work, mobile, home or hotel room. Users get free calls across the United States and international rates cheaper than Skype. Landlines, computers and cellphones can all access its services.”