Google to Offer Video Conferencing

Amidst announcing its first quarter earnings that surpassed analyst expectations with $1 billion in profit on revenues of $3.7 billion, Google quietly noted on its blog that it had acquired video conferencing software maker Marratech - placing Cisco's WebEx right in its sights.

Marratech, based in Sweden, provides online meeting software that includes a whiteboard, video and IM chat, along with built in VoIP capabilities. Google has not said how it plans to integrate the functionality into its own offerings, but the company recently rolled out a suite of Web applications for businesses. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.