Google Voice

A lot of you guys have signed up for a Google Voice account, but I've heard a lot of people say they weren't entirely sure what the fuss was all about. If you're considering an account (or an invite) but aren't sure what you'd use it for, check out my favorite reasons for using Google Voice below.

1. A phone number you'll have forever, but other people won't — Your Google Voice number is one you'll keep forever (at least until we communicate mentally), but it's one you can give out freely without being leery about the person you're giving it to. Suggestions for this include using it for Craigslist transactions (because you don't always know who you're dealing with) and people you meet but aren't sure they're not total freaks. If they turn out to be weird, you can easily block them.
2. It's all online — You manage everything online with Google Voice, so you'll never go through some confusing automated menu. Manage all your settings, check out your visual voicemail and download messages as MP3s, and read voicemail transcripts, so you don't have to put a phone to your ear if you don't want to.
3. Ring more than one phone — If you have a bad habit of not hearing your cell phone or you don't want to pick up your cell for whatever reason, you can also set the number to ring your house line, your friend's phone, or the phone at the hotel you're staying at.
4. Best call screening ever — You can set up Voice to make callers say their first and last name before you answer; you can set it to identify all unknown callers or just blocked callers.
5. Custom greetings — Your outgoing voicemail greeting is rarely one-size-fits-all. You can set up custom voicemail greetings for groups if, for instance, you're applying for jobs and want a very formal greeting, but a casual one for everyone else.

People love the word "free," and cell phone addicts especially love the word "text." However, mobile phone services love to raise data service prices, and if you aren't careful about sticking to your service plan, you can find yourself outraged by the additional charges. Luckily, several companies have created ways to bypass the whole pay-for-texting situation. Here are six messaging services you must try.

• iMessage – All iOS 5 users can send unlimited text messages with Wi-Fi or 3G from the iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch to anyone else that also uses those devices. The service is already built into the messages app, and like iChat, you can even see when someone else is typing you back (if you are urgently awaiting their reply).
• BlackBerry Messenger – Send and receive messages using your BlackBerry; see when your messages are read; and know when your contacts are typing. Intended for BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry communication, you can still text your non-BB friends by adding the contacts to your BBM friends list.
• Viber – Text or call (also works internationally) to other Viber users over 3G or WiFi. Viber automatically shows which of your friends has the service; otherwise, simply notify your friends to download it, so you can communicate via Viber.
• Text Free – Download this app on the Android Market for free text and picture messaging as well as Facebook chat capability.
• Google Voice – Send and receive free text messages using the app, which is available for Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Nokia S60.
• ChatOn — This new Samsung-powered service allows you to send free messages, group messages, photos, videos, and audio messages to other ChatOn users. Currently, ChatOn is available on Android devices (2.2 and above), but will be rolling out to iOS and BlackBerry soon.

Sprint announced this morning that it would be the first wireless company to fully integrate Google Voice into its lineup of CDMA phones. Earlier this year, Google announced the ability to port your mobile number to Google Voice, and now Sprint is offering this service free of charge. Sprint customers can now use their mobile number on Google's service and reap all the benefits of Google Voice sans the $20 porting fee, and any service complications that come with porting a number outside of a wireless company.

Sprint says that you should be able to transfer your mobile number to Google Voice in just minutes, and it is available starting today.

This weekend was not pretty for me — I lost my iPhone. Now that the initial panic has subsided, and the pangs of withdrawal are gone, I'm doing OK. I'm getting a new iPhone next week, and unlike my landline- and voicemail-only days, not having a cell phone doesn't mean lugging a roll of quarters and an address book around. Besides email, here's how I'm staying connected:

• Gmail's "Call Phone" feature — Being able to make phone calls from my Gmail account is pretty amazing. The desktop VoIP client is free when calling any number in the United States and super easy to use. You just dial the number on a pop-up keypad and talk right into your computer. I've ordered food delivery, called a cab, and confirmed appointments using the Call Phone feature.
• Video chat — Whether it's Skype or Gmail, I've been all about using video chat this week to call my friends, which is something I've never really done on the regular. This is especially cool when I'm video chatting with a friend who only lives a few blocks away. In the past, I would have just texted and lost out on the face-to-face time that video chat provides.

See what else I'm using after the break.

If you're on a budget, a data-heavy smartphone package may not be the best situation for your pocketbook (especially now that both Verizon and AT&T have changed their data and text messaging packages), but sacrificing efficiency for a dumbphone may not be an option either. Thankfully, you have a third option: an iPod Touch. If you think that an iPod Touch can't suffice for a cheap alternative to a full-fledged iPhone, you may be surprised. Check just two ways you can function on the fly with an iPod Touch as your cellphone.

• Apps and WiFi — Your iPod Touch may be WiFi-only, but that doesn't mean you can't make calls. Apps like Skype and Fring will allow you to make calls over a connection, while Google Voice will even let you get voicemail messages, send SMS text messages, and forward calls from your home line to your new (albeit slightly jimmy-rigged) cell.

Find out how else you could create an iPod Touch workaround after the break.

For a short period of time last night, Google released the ability to port your mobile number to Google Voice for a mere $20. While the option has been removed, and Google released a statement saying that it may not be available to everyone due to testing, the idea that it may be widely released in the future is very exciting.

If you've ever dealt with porting your number from one provider to another, you'll know what this process is all about. But with Google Voice? What's up with that? Find out what porting your number to Google Voice will mean for you (along with a potential downside) after the break.

Back in college I studied abroad for a year, and even now, I still keep in touch with my closest friends from my time overseas. But I love is how keeping in touch has evolved over the years: we started out with the occasional email, phone card call, or online chat (or surprise pen pal letter!), but now even people I haven't seen in person for a long time are just a mouse click away on Google Voice and it's easy to have daily conversations on chat.

I'm loving the (relatively) new Gmail voice feature that lets users call anyone's phone in the US and Canada for free. It's a nice surprise to hear from my faraway friends on my cell phone (a reward for actually answering an unknown number?) and not my laptop speakers, and even better knowing that I'm not costing them a dime. Google recently announced that calls to the US and Canada would remain free through 2011; I can't think of a better gift this holiday than talking to distant friends and family for free!

The official Google Voice for iPhone app hit the App Store in November, and now Google has added support for the iPod Touch and iPad, bringing both devices thisclose to standing in for your cell.

The new app allows users to send and receive free text messages and initiate calls by designating which phone they'd like to use; Google Voice then rings that phone and connects the call. So, while it's not a stand-in for a phone, it's very, very close.

Google included a few more features in the app update, including a new Do Not Disturb setting to send all calls to voicemail, faster and easier access to all of your contacts when dialing, and faster, more streamlined text messages. The app and update are available now for free in the App Store.

Among the many praises I have for Google Voice, there is also the new ability to make a child's (or a grown-up's) day with a call from Santa Claus, made from his very own Google Voice number. To do it, visit the Send a Call From Santa site and create a personalized phone call by choosing from hundreds of options.

After creating your call, you can send it to any phone number, send it via email, or post a link to the message via Facebook or Twitter. Or, leave a message for Santa on his Google Voice number: 855-34-SANTA.

The messages are adorable, and despite being composed of prerecorded audio, they sound clear — and completely believable to kids. I can't wait to surprise my nieces with calls from Santa!

A few Google Voice apps have managed to make their way into the iTunes Store, but until now there was no native iPhone app from Google (though there are for both Android and BlackBerry). Now, there is.

The just released Google Voice For iPhone app is built in HTML 5. It gives you easy access to all Google Voice's desirable features, like cheap international calling, free text messaging in the US, and voice mail transcription. It also offers push notification for new messages or voice mails. The app pulls from both your Gmail contacts and those on your phone, creating one comprehensive list of friends, family, and business contacts.

Find out more about the app, including a few problems I've already encountered when using it after the break.