Google buys videoconferencing firm

Google has acquired the videoconferencing software company Marratech.

The web giant announced the move on Friday on its official blog. Details are scarce at the moment, but the blog indicates that the acquisition will "enable from-the-desktop participation for Googlers in videoconference meetings wherever there's an internet connection".

"We look forward to learning from the extraordinary ingenuity of Marratech's engineers as they focus on desktop conferencing research and development in Sweden, where they will continue to be located," the blog post says.

It is not yet clear whether the Marratech acquisition will feed into the Google Talk application, or whether it will form a separate offering.

Google declined to give further details at the time of writing, although reports have suggested that Sweden-based Marratech was bought by the serach giant for over $14.5m (£7.25m) from its previous owner, a pension fund and a venture capital firm. The reports also indicate that Google will be taking over responsibility for Marratech's "dozen or so" employees.

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