Voice - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

Outgoing Calls Coming 'Soon' To Hangouts, Better Voice Integration Is Also On Its Way

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Everyone expected Google's new Hangouts feature – the long-rumored Babel service – to put an end to multiple messenger applications. We hoped it would combine GTalk, Google+ Messenger, and Google Voice at the very least. Unfortunately, that's not exactly what we got... yet, anyway.

According to a recent Google+ post by Nikhyl Singhal, manager of real-time communication products (like Hangouts) for Google, that could start to change very soon. Firstly, Singhal addressed the removal of outgoing calls for Google voice, stating that "they're working hard to support both [inbound and outbound] calls," and they should both be available soon. Good new for Voice junkies, no doubt.

Apr

Google I/O 2013: Google's To-Do List This Year

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Android OS, News

Last Updated: May 3rd, 2013

Google I/O is coming! We'll know about all of Google's new projects in just 2 ~~short~~ agonizingly long weeks. While we desperately count the days until May 15th, we thought it would be a great idea to take stock all of the things we've caught wind of lately.

Calling this an "I/O Preview," sounds a little too certain. I'm not predicting everything here will come out at I/O, this is just a list of everything we know Google is working on - their "To-Do" list. Just like any to-do list, Google could cross something off and release it, or endlessly procrastinate, or completely cancel something.

Apr

SendHub Arrives On Android, Provides Cheap Calling And Texting For Businesses In U.S. And Canada

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Google Voice is a great service for replacing your carrier's voicemail and texting options. If you need something that's a bit more robust, however, SendHub has launched on Android and allows business-class users to set up a phone number (or set of numbers) and get texting and calling for free or cheap, depending on what class of service you need.

Free users can get 60 voice minutes, 500 messages, and 3 groups of 50 contacts for their first line. That probably won't be enough to convince the average user to ditch their current phone number, but for a new business line (or a throwaway), it can be great.

Mar

[Update: Evernote Too!] Catch Notes Follows Google Keep's Example, Commandeers 'Note To Self' Voice Action—Wait, They Can Do That?!

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

When Google announced Keep last week, one of the coolest features we learned about is the ability to accept the "note to self" command that has been part of Google's Voice Actions since the Froyo days. Previously, this would send an email to your own account with the transcribed text and the original audio file. Keep allowed users to send that data to a proper note-taking app instead. Well, as it turns out, Catch wants in on that voice action, so in a recent update, it's added the ability as well.

You know that scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Mar

AT&T Offering Free Nexus 7, Kindle Fire, Sonos Play:3, Or Xbox 360 To Customers Packaging U-Verse Internet With TV Or Voice

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, AT&T, Deals, Kindle Fire, Nexus 7

If you're a new AT&T U-Verse internet customer (or considering becoming one), listen up – the service provider announced yesterday that it is now offering a selection of devices free when new customers package internet service with either U-Verse TV or Voice. Customers can choose between a Nexus 7, Kindle Fire, Sonos Play:3 (with WiFi bridge), or an Xbox 360. What's more, customers will get access to AT&T's WiFi network free of charge.

While a free Android tablet (or Play:3 or Xbox 360) may not be your primary reason in signing up for brand new lines of service, those in the market for new internet, TV, or voice service who also happen to want a new gadget (Android-powered or otherwise) may find this deal appealing, and would be well-advised to mention the offer when ordering.

Feb

Utter! Claims To Be The First Non-IME App To Utilize Offline Voice Recognition In Jelly Bean

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Development, News

Did you know that, since the last update to Google Search, developers have been able to utilize offline voice recognition? Previously, any non-system app that wasn't an IME (Input Method Editor) that hoped to recognize your voice without a web connection needed a rather kludgy typing overlay. Since the update though, apps can hear and interpret not just your words, but essentially any command that doesn't explicitly require web access.

Utter!, taking advantage of the new possibility, claims to have become the first app with working offline voice recognition for Android Jelly Bean. After reaching out to Ben Randall, the app's developer, we've got a clearer picture of what it used to take to recognize speech offline, and what has changed.

Jan

Facebook App Updated To v.2.1, Brings Voice Messaging, Better Sharing, And Faster Photos

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

It's nice to finally have Facebook pay at least a little attention to its mobile apps for a change. Today, the social networking giant is rolling out an incremental update that brings a couple of new features. Of course, there's the big one: remember that new voice messaging thing that Messenger got? Now the regular app has it, too.

Here's the full changelog:

What's in this version:

• Open and view photos faster
• Share your friends' stories to timelines, pages and groups
• Send voice messages when you have more to say

The bulk of the new changes will likely be of little consequence, but if you've ever been mildly frustrated by your inability to share a friend's posts to different pages or groups, your life will get just a smidge easier.

Jan

[Update: It's Live, Hands-On] Facebook Preparing To Roll Out 'Push-To-Talk' Voice Messaging, Is Testing Free VoIP Calling In Canada

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Alright, Google. It's time to stop leaving your VoIP service to languish on the vine. Facebook has released a double-whammy of big news bits. For starters, today the social network is rolling out an update to its Messenger app that will allow users to send each other short, recorded audio clips. It's voicemail for the 21st century, if such a thing can even exist without being horrible. And, really, this sounds like it's not.

Perhaps more interestingly, though, is that Facebook is also testing free VoIP calling in Canada right now. This is a huge deal, as it competes directly with Google Talk.

Dec

Snubbed By NORAD, Google Builds Its Own Santa Tracker, Personalized Message Builder, And Other Awesome Christmas Stuff

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

You've gotta hand it to the folks in Mountain View. When NORAD decides to pass Google over for Santa tracking data, the company isn't one to sit on its hands and let someone else handle Christmas. This isn't the first year that the data giant has kept you up to date on the comings and goings of everyone's favorite fat bearded man in a red suit, but this Santa tracker may just be the best yet.

The desktop interface is alive and kicking, as it has been in Christmases past. This new iteration brings new and familiar features like Reindeer games for the kids to play, customized voice messages from Santa and, when the clock strikes 2AM PST on Christmas Eve, kids and parents alike will be able to follow His Jollyness around the world.

Dec

Google Updates Translate, Authenticator, Voice, And 5 Other Apps

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, News

In addition to Google Search, the Google Translate, Authenticator, and Voice apps - along with five others - have been updated today as well, though these revisions aren't quite as exciting as new Google Now cards.

First, the Translate app received a bump to 2.5.3, adding text recognition via the camera translate function for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Handwriting recognition has been added for a number of new languages, as well, including: Afrikaans, Croatian, Czech, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Slovak, Slovenian, Ukrainian, and Welsh.

Google Translate

QR code for https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.translate

Google Voice is now at 0.4.2.75 (which just made me realize, Google still considers this a pre-1.0 app after over 2 years, yikes), and adds a much-needed fix for a bug that caused duplicate notifications to appear until cleared on each device with the Google Voice app installed (Update: as far as I can tell, the inbox syncing issue across devices remains unfixed - bummer).