LTE and WiMAX are the current “4G” networks in the United States. But they are data networks. There’s no voice. 4G phones like Verizon Thunderbolt (LTE) or Sprint EVO 4G (WiMAX) need two networks; a 3G network (for voice) and 4G network (for data).
Integrating voice and data on one network makes sense. Voice is just data, after all. Infrastructure could be used more efficiently with a single, integrated network.
Wireless voice and data can be integrated using a variety of approaches:
Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA). This approach uses voice over WiFi. T-Mobile has used it for home or office based hubs. Phone calls can be automatically switched from cellular service to a Wi-Fi access point if UMA software is used the WiFi hotspot and phone. The WiFi access point connects to the Internet. Kineto Wireless supports this approach. Kineto says its smart Wi-Fi application has been deployed on more than one million Android handsets worldwide. It lets you use a dual mode (WiFi/cellular) cell phone inside a home or office without racking up a lot of minutes.
Voice over LTE via GAN (VoLGA). GAN (Generic Access Network) is just a synonym for a UMA-like WiFi connection). Volga is different from UMA in that it replaces the Wi-Fi layer of UMA with LTE. Kinto also offers a VoLGA solution for Android phones. It is a pragmatic approach for voice over LTE and provides a smooth migration to IMS telephony.
VoLTE (Voice over LTE). Voice is sent over licensed LTE bands (not Wi-Fi). LTE services are data only. No voice. LTE phones currently require a 2nd (3G) network for voice conversations. Any Voice over LTE implementation must be standardized over the entire LTE industry, however. That takes time.
IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). An architectural framework for delivering Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia services (voice, video and data). “Integrated services” can be more easily switched and managed.
Terrestrial “4G” networks that integrate voice and data may make sense, but the approach must be standardized. Otherwise it won’t work.
If you’ve never heard of SayNow…you’re not alone. You may, however, remember that a lot of celebrities went through phases where they would blast a phone number on Twitter, Facebook, a commercial, or at a concert and say “Call me.” When you called that number, it gave you some pre-recorded message. You know you all called one of them, at least once…heck, I did. But this service has now been acquired by Google, and they have made it clear that they intend to incorporate it into Google Voice, although at this point it has not been stated exactly how they intend to do that or what service they will add.
SayNow also provided a service that aimed to make business conference calls easier. This service was apparently created by an intern in about a week, but in our (admittedly brief) searching for information about it, it seems to have been a very solid offering. So perhaps Google wants talent? They didn’t really say.
Regardless, it’s very likely that we’ll be seeing some new additions coming to Google Voice soon, beyond the number porting service that they just announced. We’re eager to see what they come up, so stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted.
Just noticed over on Engadget that Google is now offering the ability to port your existing phone number to Google Voice. It looks like Twitter user @QQforU is the one to thank for catching it. There will be a $20 charge, payable through Google Checkout and, of course, ETFs still apply. So, don’t jump the gun and inadvertently cancel your contract!
I just checked on my own account, and it is indeed available. Just hit up this page, follow the steps, and you’re ready to break the ties that bind!
Update: Aaaaand it’s gone. Apparently Google is just testing the feature. Google passed this note on to Engadget to explain what’s up:
“We’re continually testing new features to enhance the user experience. For a limited amount of time, we’re making the Google Voice number porting process available to users. We don’t have any additional details to share at this time, but plan to offer this feature to all users in the near future.”
Ford has just announced that their SYNC App-Link technology will be available in Ford Mustang 2012 models. App-Link extends the current abilities of SYNC, such as hands-free calling and music search, by allowing users to control third-party apps on their mobile device using SYNC’s voice recognition. Currently, the service works only with Pandora with Stitcher compatibility coming in early 2011.
We first told you about StartTalking back in October, where its primary focus was as a completely hands-free app for texting. You can use your voice to start and compose text messages and the app can read incoming messages to you. The latest version adds improved voice recognition in noisy environments, as well as more voice commands to control your Android phone.
StartTalking now has the ability to initiate voice dialing, voice navigation, and post to Twitter & Facebook. Another fun feature is the ability to name your phone, and change the greeting it responds with. So instead of saying “start talking” and hearing “yes” as your reply – you can change it so you say “Nexus One” and have your phone reply, “Yes Master Steve”. Pretty cool stuff.
StartTalking is free for Android devices running version 2.1 and higher. Grab it from their site here, or grab it from the market link on your phone or QR code below.
Voice search, a relatively new idea of two years, has made major strides. The newest version works with Android 2.2, better known as Froyo. Google’s desires were beyond their capabilities until this moment. Using speech models, Google hopes to identify with its customers on a personal level by accommodating Android enthusiasts around the world regardless of their limitations – whether it be age, race, gender, or even as specific as variations in pitch and pace.
I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I haven’t used much of the voice recognitions options built into my device because it doesn’t ever understand me. Drives me absolutely crazy. It is expected that this latest software addition, over time, will start to adapt to your speech patterns and become more accurate the more you use it. All the data the application collects is directly stored in your Google account. It will continuously build your personal collection of data to make your voice interactions truly built for you.
Click or Scan the QRCode below to find out more information about the newest Google Voice Search update.
Summary and Downloads:
Application: Google Voice Search
Developer: Google Inc
Cost: FREE
According to Google, one in four searches on Android devices are now done by voice, and the search volume on Android phones climbed by 50 percent in the first six months of 2010.
“A lot of the world’s information is spoken, and if Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information, it needs to include the world’s spoken information,” said Mike Cohen, who heads the company’s speech efforts.
Before joining Google, Cohen cofounded Nuance Communications, a Menlo Park speech technology company, in 1994. A person’s accent, Cohen said, is one of the most difficult challenges for speech-recognition services, and is one problem that the new personal voice-recognition service should help overcome.
Starting today, users of the latest Android-powered smartphones can allow Google to recognize the unique pattern of their speech by downloading a new app from the Android Market. The service gradually learns the patterns of a person’s speech and eventually will more accurately understand their voice commands.
Google’s Dec. 3 announcement of the Phonetic Arts acquisition is “complementary to what Google is doing in social networking, video and mobile, where it should be possible for people on the go to talk to their mobile devices, search engines or social networks as an alternative mechanism of interaction,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst with the research firm IDC.
Microsoft purchased Mountain View-based Tellme Networks in 2007 to bulk up its speech services, and which also offers voice search through its Bing search engine.
For those of you without automatic updates, it may be time to head to the Market to check for updates to YouTube, Voice Search and Google Voice.
What happened? Nothing major, one would venture to say. YouTube got commenting enabled and subscription viewing along with some tweaks. Voice Search had some improvements in its…voice searching (ya srs). And Google Voice just had some connection issues addressed.
What better way to start the week off than to talk about some Android tablets? To kick this Monday off, we’ve learned that the Pandigital Novel – a 9-inch eReader – is now shipping from TV-centric retailer QVC for $213.80. That’s $13.81 more than what Pandigital offers this thing for (and that doesn’t even include the price of shipping!) Get it from QVC, if you want, but we don’t see a reason to unless you can’t find it anywhere else.
Next up, the Samsung Galaxy Tabs on AT&T, Rogers, and Bell have all gotten hacked to make voice calls. It doesn’t surprise us that these groups of tablets show up in the same hackery report considering they have identical radios. Instructions and disclaimer can be found at XDA. Just remember that anything you do to your Tab is your own business and that no one is responsible for it but you.
Finally, Notion Ink is still showing signs of life as they’ve let out a new promotional video to let folks know that their Adam tablet is still around. The publishing of these official marketing tools seem to indicate that we’re getting close to a launch in time for the holidays, but I’m just jumping ahead of myself by assuming that much. For now, just enjoy the video embedded below.
Remember last week, when some clever hackers at xda-developers got voice calling functional on the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Tab? Well, they’re back with more. It would seem that, with the release of the Tab on AT&T comes the voice call hack for the very same tablet, and xda has the inside scoop on how to get it done for yourself.
Of course, just like last time, this isn’t a one-click trick. But, if you’re ready to don your geek hats and bust out with the nerd voice, hit the break for the official instructions. As always, you can hit the source link for the official thread over at xda, and TalkAndroid cannot be held liable to any damage to your device.
Ah, the power of the XDA-Developers modding community never ceases to amaze me.
XDA-Developers forum member ClubTech has released a method that will allow AT&T, Bell and Rogers Galaxy Tab users to enable voice calling! The method, however, doesn’t work on T-Mobile’s Galaxy Tab due to T-Mobile’s IMEI blocking. Of course, there’s already a method for that.
Have your AT&T, Bell or Rogers Galaxy Tab handy? Want to make and receive calls on it? Well, make sure to hit up the source link below and get to working!
With push notifications, the app will alert you instantly when you receive a new voicemail or text message
Most of your calls will be placed via Direct Access Numbers, making them connect just as quickly as regular phone calls
Google Voice for iPhone is available to download from the Apple App Store today. You’ll need an iPhone with iOS 3.1 or later and a valid Google Voice account to use the app. At this time, Google Voice is available in the U.S. only.
Interested in a voice changing application for your iPhone? Voice Changer by Hurryforward Ltd. is a plausible option for just .99. Featuring 18 different sound effects including helium, robot, megaphone, and reverse, Voice Changer utilizes a basic recording function and then lets users apply any of the different sound settings to the recording.
Voice Changer also features the ability to edit sounds by adjusting pitch, rate, tempo and gain, as well as apply and adjust echo and chorus effects. Sound effects applied to the recordings can be saved and shared by email as a sound file or ringtone. Beyond this meager bit of entertainment that might be amusing to a point, it is pretty difficult to figure out any other uses for Voice Changer as creating a voice mail message or using it with the phone function appears unlikely. (…) Read the rest of Find Your Voice with Voice Changer
It looks as though Google Voice suffered another outage earlier today for approximately 45 minutes. Many Google Voice users as a result were unable to make calls, send or receive texts, or check their accounts online. Attempts to access the Google Voice accounts page via web showed a “502” error preventing access as well as issues connecting from desktop clients.
Google Voice is working now, but there hasn’t been any real statement from Google explaining what the issue was to begin with. We hope that Google can issue something, as we don’t know which mobile networks were affected, or if it was a total GV outage.
An easy-to-access button on the front of the new T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide and the myTouch 4G allows the use of voice commands to control the phone. Users can say an entire command in just one shot, making it faster and easier to use their favorite applications and services. Messaging command, contact name, and message text can all be specified in a single command.
For example, just say:
“Call Alex Jones at Home.”
“Send Text to John Smith. I’ve got tickets to the Dodgers game tonight, you in?”
“Search for Recipes for Chocolate Cake.”
“Find Sushi Restaurants near me”
“Get Directions to 1 Wayside Drive, Burlington, Massachusetts.”
“Show me the Calendar” And much more!
So I’m sure now you wanna know how to use this puppy right? Well check out how below.
Launching the Genius button is super easy to do, just follow the steps below.
Press the Genius Button on the front of the phone and wait for the “beep”
Speak your command clearly and naturally
Genius Button will immediately process and complete your request
Now that was easy wasn’t it? Let’s find out below what some of the sample functions are and how to use them.
Call <Name or #> – E.g., “Call John Smith Mobile”
Send Text <Name> <Msg Body> – E.g., “Send Text to John Smith” “Send Text John Smith John comma do you want to play a round of golf”
Send Email <Name> <Msg Body> – E.g., “Send Email to John Smith” “Send Email John Smith, subject Dinner Body Where do you want to eat tonight?”
Show Me <Application> – E.g., “Show Me Calendar”
Lookup <Name> – E.g., “Lookup John Smith”
Change Mode to <Mode> – E.g., “Change Mode to Work”
Help me with <help topic> – E.g., “Help me with my account”
Get Driving Directions <Location> – E.g., “Get Driving directions to 1 wayside Road Burlington MA”
Find <Business> – E.g., “Find Dunkin’ Donuts”
Turn WiFi/GPS/Bluetooth <on/off> – E.g., “Turn Bluetooth On”
How many of you out there like the functionality of the Genius button? Do you use it on a daily basis, or just occasionally? Let us know in the comments below.
I have been on the Google Kool-Aid since they first released Gmail Beta. I still use nearly all Google products for my work, my family, anything I can. When Google Voice came to Android, I was more than excited. I bought my wife a Cliq, took text messaging off my G1 and her phone, and never looked back. I never use MMS, so I never even noticed it was missing. What I did notice, however, was how tightly integrated Voice was with Android. It didn’t seem to affect my daily use at all, until cool stuff started coming out for text messaging for Android, but did not include support for Google Voice. It was more than frustrating, and it’s only gotten worse. Google Voice needs to integrate deeper then just the platform, Voice needs to be included in the party as well.
rel="attachment wp-att-35272" href="http://androidspin.com/2010/11/04/its-time-for-some-real-google-voice-support/5_184158_1/">
class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-35272" title="5_184158_1" src="http://androidspin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/5_184158_1-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />Take a look at ChompSMS, or Handcent, or any of the others out there. No Google Voice support at all. Voice systems like Vlingo, where you can speak “Text Alex ‘What will you do without power?’” and as long as you have normal SMS, it goes. It’s awesome, I WANT IT! What’s probably the most frustrating is the way this just gets ignored! Is MMS really more important than this, when 99% of the phones in the US are capable of sending that same message as an email? At least with MMS there is a way around it, and you aren’t forced to deal with this horrible combination of fluid integration but zero third party support. Where are the app developers in this? Every time I bring up Voice integration at trade shows, I get looked at like some sort of sad child who wants his ice cream off the street. Why isn’t this something more developers care about? You do realize that Voice users are increasing every minute, and we CANT USE YOUR PRODUCTS, right?
For the moment, this is unresolved. It’s a small soapbox, but one I will continue to stand on in the hopes that developers and Google will get together and enhance this product to be as amazing as it really could be. In the mean time, however, I am either stuck using Google Voice, or stuck using a different number for my text messages. Either way, I feel like we lose, and hope that someone steps up to the challenge.
If you haven’t checked out Google’s new Demo Slam site, here is enough reason than ever (if you count the few days the site has been life as ‘ever’). The new site that pits Google tech demo videos against each other has featured quite a few showing off Android functionality, specifically Voice Search.
Check out the Droid X doing the honors in a couple of fun videos that are slamming it out right now.
I know I’ve impressed a few friends with the voice search feature on my Android phone. Whenever I did such a feat, I always thought to myself “Man, if only my Russian, Polish, Czech and Turkish friends could use this feature in their native language.” I know you probably thought the same thing.
Well thankfully, the big G (No, not the omnipresent being… wait they both are everywhere, know everything. Wait, did I just figure out that Google is God? Maybe God is Google? That’s definitely a topic for another article, lol.) Anyway, Google announced today that they are bringing voice search support for Russian, Polish, Czech and Turkish languages.
It’s important to note that you can’t just go speaking whatever language you want and expect it to automatically figure it out. You’ll have to change the setting on the phone first, but still, seeing Android adopt more languages is great to see.
Google’s Voice application has just been updated to version 0.4.2.8 and brings with it the ability to search your voicemail transcripts and text messages. Searching text messages is nothing too exciting, but searching transcripts should do well to make a lot of people happy. (That’s if you can even get Google Voice to accurately transcribe voicemails to begin with.) Head on over to the Android market to download the update now.
Now here is a sort of bizarre though still very troubling security flaw surfacing for the Motorola Droid 2: With the phone in its locked state and resting at the passcode entry screen, holding the search softkey (or keyboard key) for four seconds and then following with a voice command will still respond by proceeding to complete the action requested. The phone will not respond with any sort of prompt indicating that it is listening for Voice Actions, but lo and behold asking the phone to ring a number will indeed pull up the dialer and place the call.
The issue cannot be replicated in other devices carrying Android 2.2, so it seems to be relegated to specifically the Droid 2 and its specific iteration of MotoBlur. Check out the following video to see the exploit in action.
[UPDATE]: DroidLife is reporting that the Motorola Droid X is also susceptible to the same issue. Looks like no Android 2.2 device with the latest iteration of [not] MotoBlur is safe from lockscreen voice dialing.
T-Mobile says Wi-Fi Calling will be availabile with Android-powered smartphones using their built-in Wi-Fi. Those phones include the recently announced new T-Mobile myTouch and Motorola DEFY with MOTOBLUR. Currently, T-Mobile offers Wi-Fi Calling on numerous devices including the Nokia E73 Mode™, BlackBerry® Curve™ 8520, BlackBerry® Bold™ 9700 and the new BlackBerry® Curve™ 3G
Powered by Kineto’s Smart Wi-Fi Application, T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi Calling for Android smartphones will be ready to use out-of-the-box, providing the ability to make voice calls and send SMS from accessible Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) access points across the globe in addition to the connectivity available through T-Mobile’s mobile network.
Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) handsets can make and receive calls from anywhere your phone can connect to a WiFi network and saves on roaming charges. According to Wikipedia, when a Voice over WiFi handset detects a wireless LAN, it can establish a secure IP connection through a gateway to a server on the carrier’s network. It presents the mobile core network as a standard cellular base station and the handset communicates over a secure connection using existing GSM/UMTS protocols. When a mobile moves from a GSM to an 802.11 network, it appears to the core network as if it is simply on a different base station.
Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) capabilities can be valuable to subscribers, explains Monica Paolini. I you happen to live or work in a place where cellular coverage is not available or reliable, you can use a local WiFi hotspot – your own or others.
I use Google Voice primarily for the voicemail features, but I know there are a few of you who may use Google Voice as your primary phone number instead of the one your carrier gave you. Aside from being able to make cheap calls, the ability to organize and filter incoming calls makes Google Voice great. But what if you wanted to “filter” outgoing calls?
While you can already change between using your carrier number or Google Voice number when you make outgoing calls, it’s kind of a hassle to toggle between the two every time you go to make a call. Voice Plus works with Google Voice and allows you to choose which groups in your contact list are called with which number. It’s also useful if you are like Ludacris (pictured above) and have “hoes in different area codes” since you can filter by uh, area codes. With a little phone book management, you can now always display the correct number and/or save money when dialing up those booty calls…errr I mean, business contacts.
We’ve seen it before, but perhaps this one is here to stay. Apple has allowed a Google Voice app called GV Connect to be published to their App Store, which brings all the features of Google Voice to iOS for $2.99.
Apple has a pretty tumultuous history with Google Voice apps, having approved several in the past, only to pull them later for doing things the iPhone already does, such as SMS. GV Connect is not the only Google Voice app submitted to Apple in recent days, and several more may soon pop up in the App Store.
A small victory for Google? Perhaps. However, we certainly will not be surprised if these apps mysteriously disappear from the App Store.
Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA). This approach uses voice over WiFi. T-Mobile has used it for home or office based hubs. Phone calls can be automatically switched from cellular service to a Wi-Fi access point if UMA software is used the WiFi hotspot and phone. The WiFi access point connects to the Internet. Kineto Wireless supports this approach. Kineto says its smart Wi-Fi application has been deployed on more than one million Android handsets worldwide. It lets you use a dual mode (WiFi/cellular) cell phone inside a home or office without racking up a lot of minutes.
For those of you without automatic updates, it may be time to head to the Market to check for updates to YouTube, Voice Search and Google Voice.
Interested in a voice changing application for your iPhone? Voice Changer by Hurryforward Ltd. is a plausible option for just .99. Featuring 18 different sound effects including helium, robot, megaphone, and reverse, 
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