14 DAY TRIAL // Google is making a big play in the voice-communication market, though you wouldn't know it from what the company has been saying so far. Google Voice, now with a few million users, is still in a private beta of sorts, but it has the potential to greatly disrupt the entire market. For it to succeed, though, it still needs a couple of things, among which a way to bypass the voice carriers altogether and, to a lesser degree, a desktop client. With the acquisition of Gizmo5, Google can now do both and it looks like it is already testing a desktop Google Voice client internally.
According to TechCrunch, Google has developed a desktop client app for Voice that can send and receive calls, possibly based on Gizmo5 technology. Gizmo5 offers a VoIP service that can also connect to regular landlines and mobile phones. The Gizmo5 client already supported Google Talk, so adapting it for use with Google Voice should have been trivial.
The Google Voice desktop app, which is being tested internally, will enable users to make calls from their desktops and also receive them using their Voice number. This basically means that they can be reached with a single number regardless of where they are and what device they are using, namely a mobile phone, laptop, etc.
The report says that the app may be launched soon, but Google has been known to test products and features extensively before launching them. A counter-example is Google Buzz, but that's more the exception than the rule. When it does come out, though, Google Voice will become a full-blown voice-communication service, something that should have carriers really worried. Google Voice is available on a number of mobile platforms, both native or as a web app, most recently being launched for the iPhone and Palm's WebOS. It is also available as a Google Chrome extension.