Google makes bold move to battle Skype 
 
 Google has added a "Call phone" function to Gmail that will put Google in closer competition with Internet phone service Skype.  NEW YORK | 
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc said users of Gmail will now be able to call telephones directly from their email, putting it in direct competition with Web calling service Skype and more traditional operators such as AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications. Google said making a call through its service works like a normal phone in that a user could click on the "call phone" option in their chat buddy list in Gmail and type in the number or enter a contact's name. Google promised free calls to U.S. and Canadian phones from Gmail for the rest of this year and said it would charge low rates for calls made to other countries. Calls to other countries from the U.S. will be billed at Skype-like rates: Calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan, for instance, will be offered for 2 cents per minute. Google also said it plans on making the service available for international users to initiate calls, but it didn't offer a timeline for when the service would be introduced abroad. Customers who use Google Voice, Google's free telephone service, will be able to make calls in Gmail using their Google Voice numbers. Skype, which owned by private equity firms and eBay Inc and planning a $100 million initial public offering, has long allowed consumers to make calls from computers to phones. While Google had already offered computer-to-computer voice and video chat services, it said that starting on Wednesday it will now allow calls to home phones and mobile phones directly from Gmail for the first time. Google shares closed up $3.23, or 0.72 percent, at $454.62 on the Nasdaq, while the shares of eBay rose 29 cents, or 1.27 percent, to $23.16, also on the Nasdaq.
– Google took a bold stride onto Skype's turf yesterday, announcing that Gmail users will now be able to call landline and cell phones directly from their email. The company says Gmail users will be allowed to call phones in the US and Canada free for at least the rest of this year, Reuters reports. Calls to other countries will be billed at low, Skype-like rates. The service will be rolled out over the next few days. Analysts say that while the service probably won't be a major earner for Google, Skype's marketshare is likely to suffer. "Google Voice in Gmail will gain some traction, simply because it's there—some people live in Gmail," a communications analyst at Frost & Sullivan tells CNN. "It will steal some share from Skype, but Skype has been in this space for a while, so it will be a long time before Google's share becomes significant."