GV Mobile+ for iOS has been updated with a new user interface, push notifications and more. GV Mobile+ is a third-party mobile app that allows you to use Google Voice on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to make phone calls, check your voice mail, and send text messages.

In addition to push notifications, the update adds push notifications, picture messaging, group messaging, and other features including:

• Updated User Interface
• Send text to up to 5 multiple recipients
• Google Voice folders are now supported
• Search
• Older data can now be pulled to load
• Make calls via iPhone number in app or using other customizable dialers
• Non-standard Gmail only GV accounts support
• New welcome/setup wizard
• Spell check
• Call methods can be accessed via keypad
• Highlight voicemail transcription during playback
• Google Voice related call actions now supported

GV Mobile+ is available for download from the iTunes App Store for $2.99. Take note, Google Voice is currently available only in the U.S., so you might want to hold off getting this iOS app if Google Voice is not yet available in your region.

via [Gadgetell]

Sprint and Google have just announced that all Sprint customers can now use Google Voice for free, with or without changing their mobile number. In other words, you can:

• Continue using your Sprint number, but now when people call you can get automated transcripts of messages forwarded to your email inbox and you can configure Google Voice to ring your home and office lines whenever someone calls your cellphone.
• Existing Google Voice users can replace their Sprint number with their Google Voice number when making calls or sending text messages from Sprint.

All in all, this means that Sprint customers can use Google Voice without installing any sort of app. That means Google Voice isn’t limited to Google Android phones or other devices which offer Google Voice apps.

The feature will roll out soon to Sprint customers in the US. You can sign up to switch to Google Voice at google.voice.com/sprint.

This is the first time Google has partnered directly with a carrier — and it seems like a good indication that Google and Sprint hope to maintain a good relationship moving forward. In the past, Google’s flagship phones have launched first on the T-Mobile network. That includes the first Android phone, the G1, and the Google Nexus One and Nexus S developer handsets. Now that AT&T is acquiring T-Mobile, maybe Sprint will be the carrier that gets first crack at Google Nexus phones?

Google has announced that a new Google Nexus S 4G will be available from Sprint soon. The phone will run Google Android 2.3 and feature a 1 GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor and 16GB of storage. It will be similar to the Samsung Nexus S which is currently available from T-Mobile, but it will support Sprint’s 4G wireless network. The phone will be available this spring for $199.99 with a 2-year contract.

Read the rest of this entry »

Update: Google Android engineer Romain Guy says that the reports are wrong,  and that Android 2.3.3 will only allow system apps will be able to take screenshots. That may mean that Google will release a screenshot app that could work without root, but it’s unlikely that third party screenshot apps will work.

Update 2: Having installed Android 2.3.3 on my Nexus One running Stock Android, I can confirm that ShootMe and other screenshot apps do not currently work without root access.

Google began rolling out Android 2.3.3 over the air updates for Nexus One and Nexus S smartphone users last week. The update brings Gingerbread’s key features including a tweaked user interface, improved keyboard, and better power management to the Nexus One, while removing Facebook sync from the Nexus S. But it looks like there are also a few hidden gems (and bugs) in the software update.

The good news is that users are reporting the Android 2.3.3 finally allows users to take screenshots of their device without first rooting their phones or installing the SDK. While iPhone users have always been able to snap a picture of their screen by pressing the Home and Power buttons simultaneously, Android users either had to connect their device to computer with a USB cable, install the Android SDK kit, and run a desktop app — or root their Android device and install a third party app such as ShootMe.

It’s always seemed a little crazy that you had to either install developer tools or hack your phone to take screenshots. Android Central reports that a change in the SurfaceFlinger display driver seems to be responsible for the change.

But it looks like Android 2.3.3 isn’t all hugs and puppies. Engadget reports that after applying the update, Google Voice may stop working. Right now it looks like you can install an older version of the Google Voice app to get around the problem, but you wouldn’t really expect a Google OS update to break support for a Google app, would you?

Another problem some users are running into is that it’s difficult to root the Nexus One after updating to Android 2.3.3 since SuperOneClick, Universal Androot, and other easy-to-use software doesn’t seem to work at the moment. I have no doubt someone will come up with a new method soon, but to be honest half the reason I rooted my phone in the first place was to make it easier to take screenshots. If I can do that without rooting Gingerbread, I may not bother pulling my hair out looking for new root tools.

If you don’t feel like waiting for Google to push the Gingerbread update to your phone, you can download and install the update manually as well.

After rolling out a limited test last week, Google has officially launched the ability for Google Voice users to port existing phone numbers. Google Voice is a service that lets you give out a single number to your contacts which will ring all of your phones so you won’t miss a call if you’re at home, at the office, or even on Skype. You can also set rules for incoming calls such as quiet hours, or select certain numbers that should always go straight to voicemail.

The reason I’ve been a loyal Google Voice user for the last few years is because it automatically provides text transcripts of voicemail messages and emails them to me. Sure, the transcripts are usually pretty lousy, but they’re usually good enough to let me know whether to bother listening to the full message.

Now that users can port existing numbers, you don’t have to give out a new number to all of your contacts. That’s the good news. The bad news is that when you port your number to Google Voice, it will automatically cancel your phone contract. That means in order to continue receiving calls you’re going to need to contact your carrier and set up a new contract and then link your new number to your Google Voice account — and you may have to pay an early termination fee even if you aren’t planning on changing carriers.

It sounds like the best time for most users to to port a number is probably when your contract is already up anyway.

Google will also charge a $20 fee to port your number. The process can take up to 24 hours to complete.

Google Voice is a service that lets you do a number of interesting things with a phone number. You can link multiple lines to one number, so that when you receive a call your cellphone, work line, and home line will all ring, for instance. You can also have Google Voice automatically transcribe your voicemail messages (poorly) and shoot you emails each time a new message comes in, set quiet hours when your phone won’t ring at all, screen your phone calls, and send and receive free text messages. If you have an Android phone, you may also be able to the default voicemail service with Google Voice.

But there’s one major problem with Google Voice: When you sign up you get a new phone number that you have to actually give to people. You can’t just port your existing phone number… yet. But it looks like that feature is coming soon.

Last night a number of users noticed a new option to port an existing phone number for $20. It’s since been removed, but Google tells Engadget that the company was testing the new number porting service with a limited set of users and plans to “offer this feature to all users in the near future.”

There’s one major problem that you may have if you do manage to port your number: it will effectively cancel your existing phone contract and your current carrier may charge you an early termination fee. Having one number ring all your phones might not be quite as exciting if you no longer have a cellphone or land line contract since the phone you ported might just not ring anymore.

I’ve been using the same phone number for my mobile phone for the past five years and a different number for Google Voice for the past three or so. When I give out my number to most new contacts, I simply give the Google Voice number, so in the long run I probably won’t bother porting. Some people call my Google Voice number while others call my cellphone number and I honestly don’t know or care which is which. Either way I get a phone call. But it’s likely that if Google can work out the kinks in number porting, it could make it a lot easier for new users to join the service.

Good news everyone! Google has launched a new version of Google Voice for iOS that adds support for the iPad and iPod touch. Now for the bad news: You can’t use it to turn your device into a phone, because it won’t make calls over WiFi or 3G.

The mobile app does let Google Voice users view your voicemail messages and  send and receive free text messages.

Google has also added a feature called Click2Call which lets you initiate a phone call from an iPad or iPod touch. Basically, it’s just like making a call using the iPhone app, except instead of dialing your phone, the app asks you which of the phone numbers linked to your account you want to use to make a call — and then Google Voice will ring your phone and connect you to the person you want to call.

Google Voice 1.1 also has a few other updates, including a Do Not Disturb option, some bug fixes, and a few other tweaks, inclduing the removal of an “annoying OK dialog every time you send an SMS.”

Google Voice 1.1 is available as a free download from the App Store.

Google has released a Google Voice app for iPhone. This comes after apple eased its restrictions on third party apps earlier this year and we started to see third party apps for Google Voice pop up in the App Store.

The official Google Voice app is availabel as a free download and it supports key Google Voice features including the ability to make inexpensive phone calls to international numbers, send free text messages to US numbers, and receive automated (and pretty bad) transcriptions of voicemail messages.

The new app also supports push notifications, so you get a message letting you know when a new text or voice message is waiting for you.

Google Voice supports iOS 3.1 and up, but it does not support the iPod touch or iPad. The software is iPhone-only, at least for now. It’s also US only, since Google Voice is only available in the US.

Google has just pushed out an updated version of Google Voice for Android phones with a feature that’s been missing for far too long: search.

Scan to download

Google Voice is a service that lets you make and receive phone calls over the internet. The two key features of the Android app are that it also lets you send and receive text messages and it can replace your phone’s default voicemail service with an app that provides automated transcripts of your messages. Now you can search through those transcripts.

Of course, the Google Voice transcripts are notoriously shoddy. Often you can get at least a vague idea of what the caller was trying to say. Sometimes you can’t. So a search for a common word might yield no results — but once you know that Google Voice likes to refer to your friend Brad as “bread,” you should be able to search for messages by umm… looking for a loaf of bread in your inbox.

Google voice is available as a free download from the Android Market.

via Droid Life