Voice - 4/5 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jun

Google Voice Now Lets You Have Multiple Numbers On One Account - For A Fee

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News

As a Google Voice user, one thing that has always peeved me is that if I were to change my GV number, I would lose the old one after 90 days. Past that, if anyone tries to call or text the old number, it's lost into oblivion, never to be seen again (until someone else gets it). Google has taken note of this vexing problem and addressed it accordingly.

Now, when you choose to change or port your number, you can keep your existing number for a one-time fee of $20. This means that calls or texts that are sent to the old number will still come through.

May

Qik Releases Video Chat/Mail App Optimized For Samsung Devices

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News, Samsung

While browsing some new arrivals this afternoon, I noticed that Qik, one of the large players in the mobile video chat business, today released an app called Qik for Samsung, clearly targeted at users of Samsung Android devices. Qik has been releasing apps customized to certain classes of devices, or even individual ones, for as long as I can remember, starting with the EVO 4G last year, so seeing yet another variant doesn't surprise me (see Qik for Sprint, Qik for T-Mobile, and Qik for Atrix).

What is not clear is exactly what is optimized for Samsung devices compared to the regular Qik app and whether higher resolution video is available, so I'm going to leave it to you, Samsung device owners, to figure out and report back.

May

[I/O 2011] From The Horse's Mouth: The Situation With Google Talk And Its Support For Voice/Video Chat And Multiple Accounts On Various Devices

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Gingerbread 2.3, Google, News

While roaming around Google I/O and looking for answers to numerous questions you guys posed, I ran into Wei Huang, the tech lead on Google Talk for Android. Yup, the same guy who announced video chat two weeks ago on the Google Mobile blog. Here are some questions I had for Wei, echoing many of you guys:

Is video chat coming to other devices than the Nexus S and if so, when?
It's understandable why the Nexus One has no video chat (although 1-way video chat would still be better than none), but why did it receive no voice chat with the Android 2.3.4 upgrade?

May

Sprint + Google Voice Integration Officially Goes Live For The Masses

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Judging by the comments in the post where Brad described his experiences with the Sprint + Google Voice integration after receiving his beta invite a few weeks ago, many peoples interest was piqued. Luckily, the wait is over for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to get an early invite to the program - they've now opened the doors for the rest of us.

The announcement comes courtesy of a post on the Google Voice blog, and outlines the 2 options available:

Option 1: Keep your Sprint number: Your Sprint number becomes your Google Voice number so that when people call your Sprint mobile number, it rings all the phones you want.

Apr

[In Response To Your Concerns] Google Voice + Sprint Integration Questions and Answers

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Editorials, Sprint, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: May 13th, 2011

A few days ago I posted about my experience with the Google Voice integration with Sprint and outlined exactly how I did it. In the comments section, you guys responded with a lot of good thoughts and, in some cases, some serious bugs and questions. I have done a little bit of research, some testing, and some drinking (just kidding. Kind of), and I have some answers and responses for you upstanding, early-adopting citizens.

The Questions

1.How will this affect my MMS?

This was actually the main reason I chose to integrate my Sprint and Google Voice accounts. The short answer is this: If you want to use your Google Voice number in place of your Sprint number, you'll have to have people send MMS messages to your Sprint number.

Apr

[Story Time] Sprint + Google Voice Integration: I Did It, And Here's How It Went

Posted by Brad Ganley in Carriers, Editorials, News, Sprint, Tips & Tutorials

Back in March, when we first heard about Sprint getting the Nexus S, we also heard about their fancy new Google Voice integration plan. The idea was simple: Let Sprint users do one of two things:

Use their current Sprint phone number as a Google Voice number, enabling all of Voice's awesome features to be utilized without having to create a group on Facebook to give out your new number.
Allow current Google Voice users to use their Voice number for their Sprint line without having to port the number to Sprint, because, a while ago, they went through the trouble of creating a Facebook group and gave everyone they know their Google Voice number so now nobody has their Sprint number.

Apr

[Review] Taskos Is A Simple Way To Suck Less At Doing Things

Posted by Brad Ganley in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, News, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

As a person, I'm generally less reliable than a software update schedule from Samsung. That's why I must rely on my phone to tell me to do things. My current weapon of choice for this responsibility-shifting device dependency is Taskos because it's simple and, if I'm going through the trouble of not remembering things for myself, I sure don't want to waste time while (not?) doing it. Yeah...

Taskos is, in my humble opinion, the best to-do list app yet. While it isn't perfect quite yet, it's got a whole lot going for it. I'm adding "Take a closer look at Taskos" to my list right now.

Feb

[Video Review] The Jawbone ERA Puts All Your Other Bluetooth Headsets To Shame

Posted by Brad Ganley in Devices By Manufacturer, Jawbone, News, Other Reviews, Reviews, Videos

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

I recently broke down and picked up a Bluetooth headset. I needed something to talk on while driving a stick-shift or working with both my hands. I wanted to get something awesome because, honestly, it's go big or go home when it comes to Bluetooth headsets, and you get what you pay for. I paid for a Jawbone ERA, and I got the best Bluetooth experience I've ever had (and I've had every iteration of the Jawbone at one time or another). I shot a quick video to show you all the features, but I couldn't show you everything using my camera, so there will be screenshots and explanations after that.

Jan

Google Voice Now Supports Mobile Number Porting

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Oh, Google, always so sneaky and humble. This go-round, they've quietly implemented support for mobile number porting into Google Voice, making the service even more convenient.

The process is fairly direct. After entering your mobile number, you agree to the various terms and conditions (it's nice that they list just 6 points that must be checked, rather than a 17-page agreement), and then enter in your account information. Once you've got everything all set, you simply check out, and they take over.

Anyone who's ever ported a number before knows that it's generally a pretty painless process; personally, when I ported my number from Verizon to Sprint, it literally took all of 5 minutes.

Oct

BuzzVoice Receives Update, Gets New Features, Goes Free

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Remember BuzzVoice? No, we don't have another giveaway up our sleeves, but we don't need one: the service has just received an update that, among other things, has made the app completely free!

That's right - you can now have your favorite tech blogs (Android Police, anyone?) read out loud to you for no cost whatsoever! What's more, MediaQuake (the BuzzVoice developer) has decided to include three new features in the update, namely:

Background audio streaming for iPhone - nothing of interest to us Android users, but hey - Apple fans deserve some multitasking love too, right?
The ability to control BuzzVoice with your earphone button - again, nothing of interest to us Android users, especially since those nice earbuds that ship with pause, skip, and rewind buttons are all "Made for iPhone"
The ability to add your own RSS feeds - finally something we Android fans can enjoy too; the functionality should be self-explanatory

You can download the app completely free of charge by clicking or scanning the barcode below: