Google’s new voice client is already a success after just having launched earlier this week. A mere 24 hours after it’s debut, Google reported via Twitter that over 1 million calls have already been placed by Gmail users in the U.S. and Canada. While Google stated that the feature would only be available in North America for now, reports are coming in that users in several other countries have received their invitations to chat and have made calls successfully.
The large number of users so early is no surprise; Google boasts hundreds of millions of Gmail users around the world and many of them already take advantage of the video chat feature. The mere installation of a new plugin to use the VoIP feature is not deterring Googlers and numbers are expected to grow exponentially as the application becomes available in other countires. As of right now calls placed to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada are free (and are expected to stay that way until at least the end of the year) and international rates are as low as $0.02 and are said to be pretty clear.
It appears as though Skype has their first real competitor on their hands.
