Comments on: HOT! Google Voice BlackBerry App Download Link!

By: BuckiBerry

BuckiBerry — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:47:17 +0000

I got my google voice invitation on the 15th and immediately picked out my number and got rolling. Whats great is I have a lot of family in Dallas (I’m in OH) so I picked a Dallas area code because I’m planning on moving there soon anyway. Now I have a FREE local Dallas number that works seamlessly with my phone. Its like having a dual sim card phone. Plus its an easy number to remember. GV gives you the choice of any combination of numbers that are available. You can also look for an alphabetic combination [like (214) jim-jake] from ANY area code in the US. Oh, and your not tied to the number. You can change your GV number at anytime! GV is already awesome and I really haven’t gotten into the nuts and bolts yet. I downloaded the blackberry app to my phone (8900) and its so easy to use. You can make GV calls by going to contacts and if you press the blackberry button you get a “call using google voice” options or you can call directly from the GV app. I tested this with my daughter’s cell and there’s really no lag time and the caller id comes up as my GV number. If I want to call using my T-Mobile number I just dial normally. So far I cant speak about the other features since I haven’t gotten any calls on the line (except for testing) yet but I did use the ‘text from PC feature’ which works great. Again I cant say how great this is just as a free second line. I know the telcoms are crapping their pants. I wouldn’t be surprised if Google ends up embedding this in android to the point you don’t even need a cell carrier (didn’t google buy bandwidth). If you get a chance try it.

By: GBerry

GBerry — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:39:29 +0000

Has anyone tried adding the google voice number to your t-mobile fav 5? I would think adding +13472345001 would enable free out going calls if you have fav 5.

By: MH

MH — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:38:45 +0000

When you reach the character limit, GV will say “field full”. But you really want to see the count as you’re typing so you can rearrange your messages to fit.

Speaking of character limits, the whole concept of text messages will be merged with e-mail in the near future. GV is a big step in that direction by taking away SMS from the grip of carriers who are raking in tons of revenue from what is essentially the poorest form of e-mail!
GV now forces us to think of phone numbers more like e-mail addresses where you only pay your ISP for the connection, not for the e-mail address. My vision, and prediction, is that at some point cellular carriers will offer cellular phone subscriptions, but with no phone number! It remains to be seen if phone numbers will at all exist in the future, or whether your e-mail address will serve also as your phone number. (Or maybe your phone number will replace your e-mail address…).

By: MH

MH — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:51:58 +0000

*replay [not reply]

By: ShvartzBerry

ShvartzBerry — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:51:57 +0000

That brings up an interesting point. Presumably, even if you eclipse 160, they will split it up for you. So that might be the best solution for the CDMA issue documented here before where a message over 160 characters simply won't go. If the SMS is coming from Google, you shouldn't have that problem.

By: MH

MH — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:36:10 +0000

Another shortcoming: Voice mail messages are not saved locally, so if I want to reply a message I have already downloaded and listen to before I will need to wait for them to download again.

By: MH

MH — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:26:24 +0000

GV really needs to fix the dialing screen to work like the BlackBerry’s dialer, where you begin typing a name and quickly pull up their number. The way it’s currently set up is very indirect.

By: MH

MH — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:22:06 +0000

Another one: No character counter when composing SMS.

By: MH

MH — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:08:54 +0000

True!!

By: ShvartzBerry

ShvartzBerry — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:54:52 +0000

I just noticed that if you go into an SMS conversation to view the whole conversation, there is simply a list of all SMSs with no indication as to who sent which ones. That’s just plain silly.

By: crevis24

crevis24 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:52:08 +0000

Has anyone been able to get this to work? Mine says invite only……………..if you did get it working, did you get an invite?

Thanks

By: Will

Will — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:38:19 +0000

Any details on when this will be released out side of America?

By: mh

mh — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:53:32 +0000

I have to say I’m very impressed with how lightweight the app is (about 200k), and how quickly it installed on my Blackberry Curve!

By: mh

mh — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:34:25 +0000

One drawback to the GV app is its inability to queue messages offline to be sent when you return to an area with coverage. In other words, you need to have a network signal at the time you hit send. This is in
contrast to the gmail app which let’s me write emails in the subway and then sends them automatically when I get out at my stop (sometimes even erroneously sending three copies!).

Second, Autotext does not work for sending txt messages – also a function not absent in the gmail app.

By: ilabelu

ilabelu — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:40:44 +0000

didn’t realize it was still by invite. hope the bouncer doesn’t kick me to the curb

By: ShvartzBerry

ShvartzBerry — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:38:58 +0000

Well, as I’ve posted somewhere before, Google Sync doesn’t work for me because it hijacks your contacts. Anything you had before is gone. And while I like to combine my work and personal contacts on my phone, I like to keep my work contacts out of my GMail and my personal contacts out of my Outlook. But yes, let’s give some pause to applaud Google’s release of this app and hope for many quick enhancements in the future!

By: duck383

duck383 — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:32:56 +0000

nice im liking the new google voice dialer, just started using the gvdialer this past friday an now this , also if you notice when you get a new sms or voicemail the little phone icon gets a notification star on it

By: AdamG

AdamG — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:22:13 +0000

LOL! Don’t think I would label myself as “Super-organized”, but nevertheless, I do have them mirrored. The simple answer, which everyone already prob knows is to sign in to Goog Sync for BB with the same acct. However, if you’re living off your Google Apps Acct, like me, and no GV love for Apps, there’s a pretty efficient way to keep them auto-synced, assuming you have Outlook.
gSyncit http://www.daveswebsite.com/software/gsync/ is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It does everything Google Cal sync for Outlook/desktop could or should be. For one time fee of $9.99 you can sync as many mult calendars and contact lists to Outlook as you want, which in turn, you can sync with as many diff Gmail and Goog Apps Accts as you need to. Runs auto when computer is on. Set up once and forget. The devpr constantly updates too.
Anyway, regarding Google Voice App for BB, I think we’re all missing the big picture here. There is an app and it has been released, which is the biggest deal as tedious as Google can be. This is v1, but if its like Goog Sync for BB, it will likely be updated pretty frequently, as Sync was in the early days of it.

By: ShvartzBerry

ShvartzBerry — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:23:37 +0000

By golly, you’re right. Thanks. I missed that. That is pretty flexible. One other annoyance, though, is that when you go to Address Book in the GV app, it goes to your BB address book. It does not access your Google Contacts. The super-organized individual might make sure to have those mirrored but alas, that is not me.

By: AdamG

AdamG — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:08:04 +0000

It is. Go to Inbox, click BB Options button, choose Labels. They’re all there

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:46:14 +0000

I think your info is a bit outdated. The google voice login page has said “Google Voice is currently available by invite only. Get an Invite” for a while now.

By: ShvartzBerry

ShvartzBerry — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:00:55 +0000

Also, the inbox should be filterable: See only SMS or see only Voicemail, etc

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:29:23 +0000

The only problem I have with it so far is lack of notifications. It changes the icon when you have something new in your inbox, but no audible or vibration options.

By: MH

MH — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:16:21 +0000

Did you read that in a magazine?

By: Danny

Danny — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:09:05 +0000

Google Voice is currently available for GrandCentral users only, but will be open to new users soon.