No it's not that the name Google Babel appears in the latest Google Voice update. If this were the case, we could almost take it for granted that it is something official. However, the truth is that the latest update for Google Voice does include a code that could be used to export the service configuration to the new one. Google Babel.
You already know what happens every time a Google service update appears. Some unzip the .APK file to see the application's source code. Why? Because all the functions of the applications, normally, are included before in the code of the same, although they are not functional. In this way, seeing the code of the application itself, it is possible to know future launches of the company itself. This procedure is carried out regularly with the Google Play Store, since any modification in the store is usually reflected in the code before it is applied. In this case, Google Voice has been the protagonist, the voice call service of the Mountain View, and a fraction of the code could reveal the future existence of Google Babel.
Google Babel It is the communication system that, supposedly, aims to unify all the company's messaging services, such as Gtalk, Google+ chat, Hangouts, etc. Google Voice could be another of the services that would be unified, something logical if we consider that it is very similar to these. What has been detected in the code is a fragment that would allow the Google Voice configuration to be exported to another application. Some speculations consider the possibility that Google Babel it would import the Google Voice configuration, to unify it in your system without the need for any kind of new adjustment. In this way, Google would ensure that the use of Google Babel it would not pose any problem for users, since its integration with the rest of the applications would be carried out practically automatically.
In any case, they are still rumors. The Mountain Viewers have not even made official the existence of Google Babel, so it may never even get launched. However, if it does, it is likely that the launch will take place at Google I / O 2013 next May.
The rumors thing is not so exact, Eric Smith, director of Google, announced last year that in 2013 they would be integrated into a single program.