Google Prediction... Skype got to be on the horizon

The G1, while rough around the edges, is the forebare of what's on the horizon from Google. Within days of getting his first G1 my brother had his unlocked and in use as a tethered wireless connection for his laptop in Australia. Within days I had written my first app (a web based to do management system) and am in the process of making it webkit and Goolge Gears aware meaning that it will look and behave like a native app even though I coded it for the web... this is all really cool stuff. But the biggest stuff is still to come in my opinion.

In the weeks since the G1 release, Google has added video and audio to gchat... all they need to do is add calling to land lines and they will have THE KILLER smart phone app of this century. But will it happen soon? Here is my theory.

Google has to wait for all the phone makers to at least make a few Android capable models and then they have to wait until at least 60% of the big cell telco's around the world offer at least one android phone to ensure they get the credibility with the masses (a la Moore's principle of the adoption "chasm")...  Cthen the time is ripe for Google to buy Skype from Ebay... Currently Skypes home at Ebay is a bit of mystery... the things that you thought would happen with Ebay and voice integration never happenned... the symbiosis never eventuated... but at Google, Skype would become a real Cellco alternative.

Imagine:

• address book integration with Skype for worldwide Skypeout calling at 2 cents per minute.
• Caller ID with Skype In calling to your cell phone.
• Add visual voice mail via the Skype call management app then you are really cooking... and then the Pièce de résistance...
• Skype video... on your cell... free!
  

 Sure, I am no Cringley but the roads to convergence for this to happen sure are leading in the right direction.