That amateur shitstorm of gossip started by 9to5google is nutzo -- it's like one big circle-jerk of techie blogs copying each other until "it must be true", regardless of what the actual manager at Google says. It's like "pizzagate". Users love to hate on large corporations, and have been complaining for years about Google's fragmented messaging strategy. It you look at what's available now, vs. in the future, the changes that have been made all year to ramp up VoIP support should be a good indicator that Google is investing heavily in the VoIP space.
Since the phase-out of Google Chat/Talk, Hangouts has been the VoIP calling client, capable of making outbound calls and receiving inbound calls wherever in the world it's supported, optionally using the account-holder's Google Voice number.
This year, Google introduced a public beta test of WiFi/4G VoIP calling built into Google Voice. The beta is closed, but the function is working fine, with some remaining occasional bugs. It will eventually be open to use by every Google Voice user, either on a web browser or on the Android or iOS apps.
This built-in VoIP function means that Hangouts will no longer be necessary for telephone calling, as it is already unnecessary for MMS, support for which has been added to Google Voice.
None of this impacts OBiTALK devices whatsoever. Google's new platform for VoIP was purpose-built for support of OBiTALK devices, and so they have a bright future.