Google offers free voice calls via Gmail
Google is taking on internet telephone companies like Skype by allowing users to call from its free web-based email service. The service allows users to make calls to land lines and mobiles from inside their Gmail account. Phoning anywhere in the US and Canada will be free until the end of the year, while calls to the UK, France, China and Germany will cost 2 cents a minute. Until now Google offered computer-to-computer voice and video chat services. "This is a real big deal because now hundreds of millions of Gmail users can make phone calls right from their Gmail page," Craig Walker, product manager for real-time communications told BBC News. "They don't need to download an additional application or anything to start making really high-quality low-cost calls. For the user it means much more efficient and low-cost communications." The product will initially be rolled out in the US, the firm said. However, for a brief time, international users were also
