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Both Google and GrandCentral have announced this morning that Google has acquired the voice communications service. Rumors of the deal [surfaced last week][2] but neither company would comment. Techcrunch, who broke the initial rumors now [reports][3] that Google may have dropped as much as $50 million on Grand Central.
For more on GrandCentral and how the service works, check out [our review][1] from earlier this year.
The Google Blog [announcement][4] says that current GrandCentral customers will "continue to have uninterrupted access to the service." So far Google has not announced any plans for GrandCentral but has said that "GrandCentral's technology fits well into Google's efforts to provide services that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between our users."
When the rumors surfaced last week a number of pundits speculated that Google may want to integrate GrandCentral with GoogleChat to create a Skype-like service, but thus far that remains speculation.
While GrandCentral will continue to function as-is for existing users, the site will be shutting down slightly for those that haven't signed up. GrandCentral [claims][5] that "a limited number of users will be able to sign up for an invitation to participate in continued beta-testing of the service."
The only other change is that GrandCentral users can no longer upload custom sound files for their ring back tones, but given the copyright infringing potential there, that's hardly surprising.
[1]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/03/grandcentral.html "GrandCentral Delivers"
[2]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/06/google-moving-i.html "Google Moving Into The Phone Market With GrandCentral Acquisition?"
[3]: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/07/02/deal-is-confirmed-google-acquired-grandcentral/
[4]: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/all-aboard.html
[5]: http://www.grandcentral.com/about/google
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