Gizmo5
Encyclopedia
Gizmo5 was a Voice over Internet Protocol communications network
and a proprietary
freeware
soft phone for that network. On November 12, 2009, Google
announced that it had acquired Gizmo5. On March 4, 2011, Google announced that the service would be discontinued as of April 3, 2011.
The Gizmo5 network used open standards for call management, Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP) and Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
(XMPP). However, the Gizmo5 client application was proprietary software and used several proprietary codec
s, including GIPS and Internet Speech Audio Codec (iSAC).
On November 12, 2009, Google
announced that it had acquired Gizmo5 for a reported $30 million in cash. Prior to this acquisition, Gizmo5 had a working relationship with GrandCentral (now Google Voice
) for years. Upon announcement, Gizmo5 suspended new signups until a Google relaunch. Google was also dogfooding a Google Voice desktop client based on Gizmo5, branded as Gizmo5 by Google.
On April 3 2011 Google shut down Gizmo5 and recommended users to use Google Talk as an alternative.
. The latter requires the Gizmo5 service features CallOut and CallIn. CallOut was available at a fee, whereas CallIn and calls to other VoIP users were generally free of cost. Gizmo5 also used encryption (Secure Real-time Transport Protocol
) for network calls and worked well with Phil Zimmermann
's Zfone
security features.
Gizmo5 supported the following Codecs:
Version 4.0 of the Gizmo5 softphone offered video calls. Gizmo5 also offered smartphone version.
As of July 20, 2009, Gizmo5 was the only SIP service that may be used with Google Voice
directly (without requiring a U.S. based phone number).
The text chat function of Gizmo5 utilized the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
(XMPP) protocol. Users were addressed by an identification string in the format of username@chat.gizmoproject.com.
An earlier incarnation of the service was PhoneGaim, a free software
VoIP system based on the Pidgin
instant messaging software and the SIP
protocol handling of the Linphone
VoIP software, but restricted to using (only) the SIPphone service. It is available under the GNU General Public License
and sponsored by Linspire
.
Gizmo5 provided a free voicemail service.
Gizmo5 allowed paying subscribers of LiveJournal
to place voiceposts if they are unable to use the voicepost telephone lines provided by the website.
) I-P-Tel GmbH wrote and licensed under the GPL. Shortly afterward, I-P-Tel GmbH blocked access to Gizmo5 via I-P-Tel GmbH's pbxes.com service; the block was lifted when Gizmo later provided a link to the source.
There was no indication made if the service would be revived in another form, or if there would be similar functionality added to any of Google's current telephony offerings. On April 4th, around midnight for most users, service was finally cut. Subsequently, there is now no current way to place calls via Google Voice with simple SIP client software or phone converter hardware.
Telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
and a proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
soft phone for that network. On November 12, 2009, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
announced that it had acquired Gizmo5. On March 4, 2011, Google announced that the service would be discontinued as of April 3, 2011.
The Gizmo5 network used open standards for call management, Session Initiation Protocol
Session Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
(SIP) and Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol is an open-standard communications protocol for message-oriented middleware based on XML . The protocol was originally named Jabber, and was developed by the Jabber open-source community in 1999 for near-real-time, extensible instant messaging , presence...
(XMPP). However, the Gizmo5 client application was proprietary software and used several proprietary codec
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
s, including GIPS and Internet Speech Audio Codec (iSAC).
History
Gizmo Project was founded by Michael Robertson and his company SIPphone.On November 12, 2009, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
announced that it had acquired Gizmo5 for a reported $30 million in cash. Prior to this acquisition, Gizmo5 had a working relationship with GrandCentral (now Google Voice
Google voice
Search by voice is a branded name for a technology to "search by voice on your [digital device]", such as a mobile phone or PC, i.e. have the device search for data upon entering information on what to search into the device by speaking....
) for years. Upon announcement, Gizmo5 suspended new signups until a Google relaunch. Google was also dogfooding a Google Voice desktop client based on Gizmo5, branded as Gizmo5 by Google.
On April 3 2011 Google shut down Gizmo5 and recommended users to use Google Talk as an alternative.
Technology
Gizmo5 was based on the Session Initiation Protocol and can interoperate with other SIP-based networks directly, including the public switched telephone networkPublic switched telephone network
The public switched telephone network is the network of the world's public circuit-switched telephone networks. It consists of telephone lines, fiber optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, communications satellites, and undersea telephone cables, all inter-connected by...
. The latter requires the Gizmo5 service features CallOut and CallIn. CallOut was available at a fee, whereas CallIn and calls to other VoIP users were generally free of cost. Gizmo5 also used encryption (Secure Real-time Transport Protocol
Secure Real-time Transport Protocol
The Secure Real-time Transport Protocol defines a profile of RTP , intended to provide encryption, message authentication and integrity, and replay protection to the RTP data in both unicast and multicast applications...
) for network calls and worked well with Phil Zimmermann
Phil Zimmermann
Philip R. "Phil" Zimmermann Jr. is the creator of Pretty Good Privacy , the most widely used email encryption software in the world. He is also known for his work in VoIP encryption protocols, notably ZRTP and Zfone....
's Zfone
Zfone
Zfone is software for secure voice communication over the Internet , using the ZRTP protocol. It is created by Phil Zimmermann, the creator of the PGP encryption software. Zfone works on top of existing SIP- and RTP-programs, but should work with any SIP- and RTP-compliant VoIP-program.Zfone turns...
security features.
Gizmo5 supported the following Codecs:
- GSM — fixed bit rate, not loss tolerant, narrow band (8khz sampling rate)
- PCMA — fixed bit rate (8 kHz sampling rate)
- PCMU — fixed bit rate (8 kHz sampling rate, high band width)
- EG711 (Enhanced G.711G.711G.711 is an ITU-T standard for audio companding. It is primarily used in telephony. The standard was released for usage in 1972. Its formal name is Pulse code modulation of voice frequencies. It is required standard in many technologies, for example in H.320 and H.323 specifications. It can also...
) — fixed bit rate, loss tolerant, narrowband - iSAC — variable bit rate, loss tolerant, narrow and wideband (8 to 16khz)
- iLBCILBCInternet Low Bitrate Codec is an open source royalty-free narrowband speech codec, developed by Global IP Solutions formerly Global IP Sound . It was formerly licensed as a freeware with limited commercial use, but since 2011 it is available under an open source license as a part of the open...
— variable bit rate, loss tolerant, narrow - iPCMwb — 16 kHz sampling rate
- iPCM — fixed bit rate, loss tolerant, wideband
Version 4.0 of the Gizmo5 softphone offered video calls. Gizmo5 also offered smartphone version.
As of July 20, 2009, Gizmo5 was the only SIP service that may be used with Google Voice
Google voice
Search by voice is a branded name for a technology to "search by voice on your [digital device]", such as a mobile phone or PC, i.e. have the device search for data upon entering information on what to search into the device by speaking....
directly (without requiring a U.S. based phone number).
The text chat function of Gizmo5 utilized the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol is an open-standard communications protocol for message-oriented middleware based on XML . The protocol was originally named Jabber, and was developed by the Jabber open-source community in 1999 for near-real-time, extensible instant messaging , presence...
(XMPP) protocol. Users were addressed by an identification string in the format of username@chat.gizmoproject.com.
An earlier incarnation of the service was PhoneGaim, a free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
VoIP system based on the Pidgin
Pidgin (software)
Pidgin is an open-source multi-platform instant messaging client, based on a library named libpurple. Libpurple has support for many commonly used instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to log into various services from one application.The number of Pidgin users was estimated to be over 3...
instant messaging software and the SIP
Session Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
protocol handling of the Linphone
Linphone
Linphone is a VoIP application available on PCs running Linux or Windows, Apple computers running Mac OS X, and Android and iPhone mobile phones. It uses the Session Initiation Protocol for communication and is licensed under the GNU General Public License. Linphone uses GTK+ for GUI and on Linux...
VoIP software, but restricted to using (only) the SIPphone service. It is available under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
and sponsored by Linspire
Linspire
Linspire, previously known as LindowsOS, was a commercial operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux and later Ubuntu. Linspire was published by Linspire, Inc. and focused on ease-of-use, targeting home PC users...
.
Service features
Gizmo5 supported outbound caller line identification in the United States.Gizmo5 provided a free voicemail service.
Gizmo5 allowed paying subscribers of LiveJournal
LiveJournal
LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
to place voiceposts if they are unable to use the voicepost telephone lines provided by the website.
Mobile phone support
The Gizmo5 mobile phone application used the phone's carrier voice network for all calls. The service called the phone numbers of both parties and bridged the call. On mobile phones that support SIP applications, calls may be placed over WiFi or 3G. In the case of WiFi, calls to Gizmo5 users were free, and calls to the public switched telephone network were charged Gizmo5 Call Out credit. On 3G, additional costs would apply depending on the user's data plan.Gmail
On August 26, 2010 Gmail accounts with Google voice were given a function to make and receive calls. Google Voice product manager, Vincent Paquet, confirmed that this function was added through the help of the technology received after the Gizmo5 acquisition.Controversy
In July 2009, I-P-Tel GmbH, a provider of various VoIP related products, accused Gizmo5 of violating the GPL with regards to a SIP client for Android phones (SipdroidSipdroid
Sipdroid is a voice over IP application for the Android operating system using the Session Initiation Protocol.Sipdroid is open source free software released under the GNU General Public License.-Features:...
) I-P-Tel GmbH wrote and licensed under the GPL. Shortly afterward, I-P-Tel GmbH blocked access to Gizmo5 via I-P-Tel GmbH's pbxes.com service; the block was lifted when Gizmo later provided a link to the source.
Service Terminated
On Fri, Mar 4, 2011, subscribers received the following message from Gizmo5, indicating that the service would be terminated.- "Gizmo5 is writing to let you know that we will no longer be providing service starting on April 3, 2011. A week from today, March 11, 2011, you will no longer be able to add credit to your account.
- Although the standalone Gizmo5 client will no longer be available, we have since launched the ability to call phones from within Gmail at even more affordable rates.
- If you purchased calling credit and have a balance remaining in your account, you can request a refund by logging in to http://my.gizmo5.com. If you are in the United States, you can instead choose to transfer your credit to a Google Voice account, so it can be used for calling from Google Voice or Gmail. If you don’t have a Google Voice account, please create one so that we can transfer your credit.
- Please request a call credit transfer or refund by April 3, 2011. If you don't request a call credit transfer or refund by this date, we will automatically refund your remaining call credit via the payment method you originally used to purchase the credit...."
There was no indication made if the service would be revived in another form, or if there would be similar functionality added to any of Google's current telephony offerings. On April 4th, around midnight for most users, service was finally cut. Subsequently, there is now no current way to place calls via Google Voice with simple SIP client software or phone converter hardware.
See also
- Comparison of VoIP softwareComparison of VoIP softwareVoIP software is used to conduct telephone-like voice conversations across Internet Protocol based networks. VoIP stands for "Voice over IP". For residential markets, VoIP phone service is often cheaper than traditional public switched telephone network service and can remove geographic...
- List of XMPP client software
- EkigaEkigaEkiga /i k ai g a/ is a VoIP and video conferencing application for GNOME and Windows. It is distributed as free software under the terms of the GNU General Public License. It was the default VoIP client in Ubuntu until October 2009, when it was replaced by Empathy...
- QuteCom
- Google VoiceGoogle voiceSearch by voice is a branded name for a technology to "search by voice on your [digital device]", such as a mobile phone or PC, i.e. have the device search for data upon entering information on what to search into the device by speaking....