...from:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=627&tag=nl.e622

July 2nd, 2007

Grand Central acquired by Google for $50 million? Posted by Garett Rogers @ 2:28 pm

Michael Arrington was right when he heard GrandCentral was either in talks, or has already been acquired by Google. Today Google announced the acquisition on their official blog, though the terms have not yet been disclosed. If Arrington was correct, it’s safe to presume it was around the $50 million dollar mark. What does this mean? Well, we can only speculate, but it could have a huge impact in several areas for Google. First, imagine having a single, always-on, always-ready, forever available, telephone number that is tied to every phone number you currently have. By signing up, you will have simplified your life and that of anybody else who tries to contact you.

Now imagine having that single phone number tied to your Google Talk instant messenger and Gmail. You can receive phone calls directly on your computer from anyone and listen to voicemail right in Gmail — the latter of which, interestingly enough, can already be used today.

The service is currently now in private beta — you will need an invitation to set up a new account now. You will also find that it only works for American phone numbers so far. There is no word on upcoming features or plans to expand to other countries at this time.

What is GRAND CENTRAL? (from: http://www.grandcentral.com/support/ howitworks/)

Screen Callers Know who's calling and screen unknown callers

ListenIn Hear why someone is calling before taking the call

Call Record Record calls on the fly and access recordings online

Block Callers Unwanted callers won't be able to reach you anymore

Notifications Receive voicemail notifications via email or SMS

Ring Different Phones One number that rings different phones based on who's calling

Greetings Personalize your voicemail greetings by caller or group

RingShare Go beyond the ring and choose ringback tones for your callers

WebCall Button Let people call you from a web page without showing your number

CallSwitch Switch phones in the middle of a call

Click2Call Call from your addressbook and save your typing

Mobile Access Visual voicemail for your mobile phone

What does GRAND CENTRAL look like? (from: http://www.grandcentral.com/ howitworks/mobile_inbx)

Wayne

I wonder what it will look like on an iPhone? ::-)