Posts Tagged ‘Google Voice’
Macworld’s Google Voice Primer · Macworld's Chris Pepper explains what the heck Google Voice is and does. Even though it's at times unreliable, I still love the service because it makes me hate the phone less. I've got three Voice invites to give away--first three people to ask for them in the comments on this post get 'em. Go! · December 11th, 2009, 18 comments
The information you keep in Google apps like Gmail, GCal, Reader, and Voice doesn't just live in one place. There are a few easy but non-obvious ways to plug different Google apps together and share their data and features.
Thanks to things like Labs and gadgets, you can get your Calendar in Gmail (and vice versa), Docs in Calendar and Gmail, Profile info in Google Reader, Google Voice SMS in your Gmail, and just about everything on iGoogle. Here's how.
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In the hallowed tradition of unread item counts on your Gmail and Google Reader favicons in Firefox, user script developer Peter Wooley offers the same for Google Voice users. If you've got the Greasemonkey add-on installed, grab the GVoice Favicon Alerts script to hook this up. You can also faviconize and permatab your Voice tab with this script enabled as detailed here. (Yes, faviconize and permatab are now verbs.) I haven't put together a Better Google Voice add-on (yet?), but if I ever do, this will be the first script in it. Do you use any other Greasemonkey scripts to make Google Voice's web interface better? Post 'em up in the comments. If there are enough quality scripts, I'll start asking the authors for permission to include them in a compiled Better GVoice add-on.
Apple Blocks Official Google Voice App, Pulls GV Mobile from App Store · TechCrunch got this headline just right: Apple Is Growing Rotten To The Core: Official Google Voice App Blocked From App Store. The second half was originally "and It's Likely AT&T's Fault." Apple's withheld approval of the official Google Voice application and pulled the unofficial GV Mobile app on the grounds that they "duplicate iPhone functionality." If TechCrunch is right, once the AT&T exclusive deal is done, this will likely change. Until then, as more Google Voice invites go out, Android, BlackBerry, and even Palm and Windows Mobile are looking like much more useful (read: open) mobile platforms. · July 27th, 2009, 7 comments
Just because you don't have an Android phone or BlackBerry doesn't mean you can't text from your cellphone using your Google Voice number. If you've gotten an invite to Google Voice and you're an iPhone or non-smartphone user, you might be disappointed about not having clear access to the texting feature. However, you CAN use Google Voice SMS capabilities on any phone. Even if you do have an Android phone or BlackBerry, you can use this method to use the native SMS app on it. It's an inconvenient kluge, but it works.
First, log into Google Voice and configure it to forward text messages to your cell phone. When someone sends a text message to your Google Voice number, you'll receive the text on your phone--but not from the recipient's phone number. Instead, it will be a 406 number you've never seen before, with the person's name preceding the message (as pictured here). Add that number to your recipient's address book entry as "Other" or a custom label (like "GV SMS"). Each one of your text recipients will have a different 406 number.
From there on in, if you SMS that 406 number, your recipient will receive text messages from you--and it will look like they're coming from your Google Voice number. Their replies to any messages you send to that number will go back to your Google Voice number and come to you via the 406--meaning, your recipient never sees the 406 number. Like I said, it's a kluge, but it works.
For an solution built by an independent developer without an API, GV did a great job of putting Google Voice on Android. But today GOOG finally got around to releasing their official Google Voice app, and it includes a few more features than GV, even if it's not totally polished yet. I'm still getting my feet wet with the new app, and GV developer Evan Charlton is still deciding on his application's fate. But all indicators point to the official app becoming my main Google Voice interface on Android. (Huge thanks to Evan for all his hard and fast-to-market work on GV.)
At first glance the two things I like most about the official Google Voice application is label access and voicemail playback (which highlights words in the text transcription as it plays). It also feels snappier.
Over at Lifehacker, Kevin runs down what you get with the Google Voice apps on both Android and BlackBerry. Here's Google's official announcement video.
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Android users who are switching over to their Google Voice phone number full-time like I am need a handy little app called GV. GV provides calling and SMS support via your Google Voice number in Android that isn't perfect, but is getting there.
GV's About dialog says that GOOG hasn't released an official, supported API for the product, so it'll only work as long as Google Voice's mobile interface doesn't change. No doubt the Android developers at Google are busy at work building default hooks to Google Voice into a future release of the mobile phone operating system. But until Google Voice support comes out of the box, GV's the way to go.
Install GV from the Android Market (it's free), and hit up the settings to enter your Google Voice username, password, and phone number. From there, any time you make a call or send an SMS, you have the choice to use your Google Voice number or your cell phone number.
Here's what that looks like.
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If you hate listening to voicemail or getting interrupted by an unknown number ringing your phone during dinner, then you will love Google Voice. Google's new phone product (which re-brands Google-acquired GrandCentral) makes dealing with voice communication less than awful.
I've been a GrandCentral user for well over a year now, but Google Voice adds two key components that complete the must-have feature puzzle: voicemail transcription and SMS. Now that I can read (read!!) my voicemail and you can text message my Google Voice number, I'm making it my primary phone number. Alongside its awesome filters, Google Voice is essentially the Gmail of voicemail and phonecalls.
Here's what my Google Voice box looks like right now, and how I'm using it specifically.
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The information you keep in Google apps like Gmail, GCal, Reader, and Voice doesn't just live in one place. There are a few easy but non-obvious ways to plug different Google apps together and share their data and features. 
I'm 
