Google plans to acquire VoIP codec developer Global IP Solutions (GIPS) for approximately 421 million Norwegian kronor (US$68.2 million).

GIPS develops codecs for encoding real-time video and voice signals into a digital format for transport over IP networks. Its portfolio of products includes software that can be integrated into voice and video apps for mobile phones, PCs and tablets. Its VideoEngine lets developers integrate video conferencing into apps running on Android. Motorola has signed a deal to use the company’s VoiceEngine software on Android phones.

When Google launched Google TV last week, it took the wraps off its plans for the VP8 video codec. Google’s big open video plan is called the WebM project. It will make the VP8 video codec, which it acquired when it bought On2 in Feb. for $133 million, open source. It will also use the open source Vorbis codec for audio.
Google announced the new open source project, partnering with Mozilla, Opera, Google Chrome, Adobe, and others to proliferate the standard across the web.

There’s a big name missing from the list: Apple. (OK, Microsoft, too, but it has thrown some support VP8’s way.)

Apple is missing because it put its full support behind another video codec, H.264. H.264 is not an open standard. H.264 is free to use for the next five years, but after that MPEG LA plans on charging a royalty for using it.

H.264 is a proprietary standard, owned by a consortium of tech companies called MPEG LA. Apple and Microsoft have both contributed patents to MPEG LA, so they are part of the consortium.

Apple doesn’t like VP8 because a new standard is only going to help Google. Google can monetize from this new format in a number of ways — from advertising to cloud services. It will also help Android, Google TV, and Google’s tablet efforts, they say.

But Apple gains nothing from it.

So, get ready for more battle between these tech giants. It’s the start of a messy codec-war.

Want to learn about GoogTV?  Go to:  http://www.google.com/tv/