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 Read more

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 Read more

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" Read more

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 Read more

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 Read more

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 Read more

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 Read more

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, Read more

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 Read more