Google Voice Opens To All 185
An anonymous reader writes "Google Voice is now open to anyone in the US, removing the need to search for an invite. At the Google Voice site, anyone with a US IP address and a US phone number can sign up for an account. Non-US IPs are blocked, and non-US-based phone numbers are prevented from attaching to Google Voice (with the single odd exception of the 403 area code of southern Alberta)." Good timing on the part of Frontier Communications Corp., which just filed a lawsuit claiming that the Google Voice feature connecting a user's home, work, and cell phone numbers to another number infringes one of their patents.
Re:really? (Score:2, Informative)
Here I thought the word "all" was defined as everyone, and not the important 4.5% of the world's population.
FTFY. :P
Re:WTF (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Still rather laggy. (Score:3, Informative)
I started out using my number as a throwaway. Gave it to companies who I didn't trust with my real number in cases where I needed to have them contact me quickly. The blacklist feature was what really sold me on it. The SMS was just a nice bonus.
Then I started using the number more and more, and eventually it just became my default number. I gave it out to all my friends and never looked back.
I've noticed the lag, too. It manifests, in practice, by both parties trying to start talking at once, stopping, restarting, repeating. Occasionally, I'll also have choppy conversations--where the other side thinks I'm cutting out--but that could just as easily be my carrier.
Re:Still rather laggy. (Score:3, Informative)
You can call Google Voice to initiate a call. You can also (with most cell phones) program your address book with delays between digits. Between these two, you should be able to call from your GV number.
Re:WTF (Score:5, Informative)
/. FAQ: http://slashdot.org/faq/editorial.shtml#ed850 [slashdot.org]
Slashdot seems to be very U.S.-centric. Do you have any plans to be more international in your scope?
Slashdot is U.S.-centric. We readily admit this, and really don't see it as a problem. Slashdot is run by Americans, after all, and the vast majority of our readership is in the U.S. We're certainly not opposed to doing more international stories, but we don't have any formal plans for making that happen. All we can really tell you is that if you're outside the U.S. and you have news, submit it, and if it looks interesting, we'll post it.
It is worth noting that there is a Japanese Slashdot run by VA Japan. While we helped them a little in their early days, they essentially run their own content without any real involvement from us... none of us can read Kanji! There are currently no plans to do other language or nation specific Slashdot sites.
To anybody interested: (Score:3, Informative)
which unless I'm HIGHLY mistaken was filed on 09/01/2009, well AFTER google voice was developed and released into beta. PRIOR ART MUCH?
GV is great-- here are two ideas (Score:3, Informative)
I love Google Voice. I use it for my company.
Two tips:
Re:WTF (Score:3, Informative)
I would give a +1 funny if I had one
Re:It's good but it could be great (Score:4, Informative)
(office conferencing, home banking, etc)
2. A HUGE delay in SMS.
messages may arrive instantly, or take up to 12hours.
(using the google voice app on the nexus one. can't get more compliant than this)
3. Broken SIP support
(can be worked around if you happen to have a Gizmo account from last century. no way to get one now)
4. Call recording is only if you receive the call.
(both ways are legal/ilegal in most country. but they decided to do evil and predict the law anyway)
5. Still broken as hell for domains.
(you just get a broken gwt ui. no content. no way to get a number now for your domain account. great way to recompensate for loyalty)