At last week’s Google I/O event, Google Voice news was noticeably absent from the stage, overshadowed by the new Hangouts service, which doesn’t yet support Voice. Hold tight, says Google, it’s coming. Read more »
The new Google Hangouts brings together all of Google’s messaging services and will soon see SMS integration. So where does this leave Google Voice in the big picture? Read more »
Facebook jumped into an already crowded VoIP market with the update of its Messenger app last week. Robert Gaal, of Karma, says the company’s scale ultimately will allow it to kill off the phone. Read more »
Consumers are gravitating to an ever expanding array of OTT services – much to the chagrin of telecom operators. Andreas Bernström, CEO of Rebtel, argues that not partnering up means missing out on big revenues and the control of their market. Read more »
Google Voice gained new calling features giving users more control over incoming calls. While you could always customize ringtones or actions, you could only do so for known callers. Google Voice can now handle custom actions for people in your address book and for anonymous callers. Read more »
Google Voice on Android 4.0 devices gained a software update on Thursday, allowing users to listen to their Google voicemail directly in the native phone app. This type of integration is unlikely to appear on competing platforms, giving Android a potential differentiator. Read more »
Viber. WhatsApp. Google Voice. These services are alternative ways to send IMs or speak across mobile platforms and are challenging the mobile carriers at their own game. In the last year, these apps and more familiar services helped cut $13.9 billion in operator revenue. Read more »
It was only a matter of time before a major operator abandoned its territorial notions about mobile voice and adopted a true ‘softphone’ service, and that operator appears to be Rogers Communications. It’s severing the bond between the mobile phone number and the mobile phone. Read more »
Previously, we told you how you can use your iPad as a telephone. Using a Bluetooth headset with your iPad makes that idea even more practical. The Jawbone ERA is the one I happen to use, but others should work just as well. Read more »
Samsung’s Galaxy Note straddles the line between smartphone and tablet, thanks to the 5.3-inch display. As voice calling has become a secondary feature for some smartphone owners, is the next growth market one filled with these devices that double as both smartphone and tablet? Read more »
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has worked its way into the center of the mobile industry with its Android OS, many mobile services and potentially even… Read more at paidContent »
The decision by British Telecom to buy internet telephony service Ribbit for $105m in 2008 drew out plenty of questions. Three years later the criticisms have come full circle, with news that the most visible part of the business is being shut down. Read more »
Knowing who’s calling your mobile phone before you take the call is great, right up until you get a call from someone not in your contact list. T-Mobile phones can get old-school caller ID functionality with Name ID, a new monthly subscription service engineered by Cequint. Read more »
Google hasn’t made nearly as many native apps for the iPad as it has for the iPhone, so you can probably count Google among those who think a web-based, cross-platform solution is just as good as an app for tablets. Luckily, third-party developers don’t agree. Read more »
Out of the box, Apple has you covered on your iPad 2 with FaceTime for video chat. But if all you want to do is replicate a phone connection, Google Voice and two native iOS apps may be just what you’re looking for. Read more »
While there’s probably no single provider that provides an exact like-for-like replacement for all of Skype’s features, there are plenty of companies offering great VoIP and video calling services; some of which are even better than Skype’s. Here is a list of my favorites: Read more »
There may be many questions about Microsoft’s decision to buy Skype, but one thing is for sure: It can take video conferencing video calling to a whole different level, thanks to Kinect. If you watch these videos, you can easily imagine the future of video calls. Read more »
If you have a one-person office and are looking for an affordable telecommunications package, provider 8×8′s new Virtual Office Solo may be worth a look. Calls may be sent and received through most web browsers. When you’re away, calls can be forwarded. Read more »
netTALK has introduced the Duo, a hardware-plus-service option that’s about as simple to set up as anything I’ve seen. Plug it into an Ethernet connection, power and a phone, activate it, and you’ve got unlimited calling to the U.S. and Canada, and cheap rates elsewhere. Read more »
Carriers no longer dominate the mobile world thanks to the emergence of Apple, Google and the rise of third-party app stores. But they can retain — or even increase — their relevance by leveraging a few important things. Read more »
Sprint today becomes the first U.S. carrier to integrate Google Voice across its entire handset lineup, including feature phones. Customers who opt-in can use their current Sprint number for Google Voice or get a new Google number to be used for their Sprint service. Read more »
Consumers and small business looking for Google Voice-type service in Canada may want to dial up TellFi, a small virtual phone service startup. The company just announced free calls for Canadians and the service includes intelligent phone routing, voicemail transcription and even virtual phone extensions. Read more »
Google Voice has been a great tool for people to manage their communications. But it did not allow porting of existing mobile numbers, which limited its adoption. Now, Google has quietly enabled number porting for Google Voice though it comes with some hurdles. Read more »
Google Voice has long been tied to Android devices, but now a free iOS app I’m testing on my iPod touch brings voice calling to contacts over Wi-Fi or 3G. Talktatone is also a multitasking Google Talk chat client and allows location sharing with your friends. Read more »
One of the fun things about writing here is that I get to experiment with a bunch of apps and devices. Here’s a list of the products I tried in 2010 that have made their way into my everyday work life. Read more »
If you are one of Skype’s many users who use the service to make a living or talking to your remote users, then you are straight out of luck. The service this morning is down and the outage is impacting millions of users. Read more »
Google Voice, which offers voice calling from mobile devices and from Gmail’s web interface, has announced that it will continue to offer free calls in the U.S. and Canada through 2011. Google had previously said that free calling would only be available through December 2010. Read more »
The official Google Voice App for iPhone is now available in the App Store, following the arrival of a number of third-party solutions. The app was originally submitted sometime in mid-2009, and pulled from sale by Apple, but was never officially accepted or rejected. Read more »
Today, Fortune writer Seth Weintraub saw that his Google Voice account linked to his Apps account and surmised the service would soon be available to all, turning Google Voice into corporate VoIP. But there’s a problem. Corporate voicemails may soon be lost in transcription. Read more »
Apple iPhone users are still waiting for an official Google Voice app, but they don’t have to wait for transcribed voicemails because Yap does that today. The free application makes it easy to read voicemails and respond to them by return call, email or text message. Read more »
After over a year in limbo, Apple has reportedly approved Google’s Voice application for the iTunes App Store, indicating that the iPhone may finally see the software. Sure you iPhone owners have lived without it forever, but Google Voice is a masterful method to manage communications. Read more »
After over a year in limbo, Apple has reportedly approved Google’s Voice application for the iTunes App Store, indicating that the iPhone may finally see the software. Sure you iPhone owners have lived without it forever, but Google Voice is a masterful method to manage communications. Read more »
In some ways, GV Connect’s re-appearance was somewhat anticlimactic. After what felt like months of “he said, she said,” along with an FCC inquiry, I heard this news via a retweet. I had to try it out, after so much hype and conflicting opinion. Read more »
Craig Walker — co-founder of GrandCentral, the San Francisco-based startup that eventually became the underpinning of Google Voice — is leaving the company. Vincent Paquet, the other GrandCentral co-founder, will take over from Walker, who’s joining Google Ventures as an entrepreneur-in-residence. Read more »
When the new “make phone calls from Gmail” service was announced, I wasn’t expecting to see it any time soon in Google Apps. However, when I logged into one of my Google Apps accounts last night, the new option to “Call Phone” appeared under Chat. Read more »
It’s now possible to make and receive phone calls to the U.S. and Canada at no charge directly from Gmail’s web interface. I’ve been testing the new service, and so far, I’m very happy with it. As always, Google is rolling out the new service gradually. Read more »
Google today launched a new feature that allows Gmail users to use the Google Voice service. With IM, Chat, SMS and now Voice, Google is turning Gmail into a collaboration hub. And that is only the start for Gmail as a platform. Read more »
Combine App Engine with Google Voice and you’d have a powerful — and extensible — communication platform that supports both a basic set of features for ordinary users, plus the ability to build custom softswitch applications using App Engine to control them. Read more »
Now that Google’s free telephone forwarding, screening and voicemail service Google Voice is open to anyone in the U.S., web workers are finding many creative ways to use it. Google Voice has an extensive list of features; here’re a few ideas on how to use them: Read more »
Google, nearly three years after it bought the service that is the underpinning of Google Voice, is finally opening it up to U.S. residents, though no such luck for international users. With Google Voice, the search giant can push phone companies into the background. Read more »
