Google Voice for Android and BlackBerry

Today, we're happy to announce Google Voice for mobile which brings voicemail transcriptions, the ability to call and text with your Voice number, and cheap international dialing to your mobile phone. David and I were inspired to build this app when we went skiing for a weekend in Tahoe. Like all good Google Mobile team members, we each had three or four phones with us. Of course, carrying three phones while skiing is pretty tough, so we both decided to take a different phone to the slopes each day to see which one worked best as a 'winter sport device'.

Normally, this would have been a nightmare because our friends wouldn't know which number they could reach us on. But since we use Google Voice, one number rings all of our phones. As we were skiing and sending pics to our friends, we had a thought - it's great that our friends and family only need to use one number to reach us. But it's weird that our outbound calls and messages are shown as coming from the phone's underlying number, rather than from the Google Voice number that they're used to, causing confusion.

So with that, we're excited to release the Google Voice app for Android and Blackberry. You can use the app to make outgoing SMS messages and calls from your Google Voice number. What's more, this app improves the mobile experience of Google Voice in a number of ways.

The Google Voice app integrates seamlessly with your phone's native address book, making it even easier to call or text with your Voice number. Voicemail transcriptions are now available, and the app will highlight individual words during playback just like your favorite karaoke song. It also lets you take advantage of Google Voice's low-priced international call rates, starting at only $0.02/minute.



To try Google Voice for mobile, go to m.google.com/voice on your BlackBerry or search for "Google Voice" on Android Market to download the app. Before you ask, yes, we are working on ways to make this service available to iPhone users. If you don't have an Android-powered device or BlackBerry, you can still use many Google Voice features via our mobile website at google.com/voice. Please note, in either case a Google Voice account is required. Check out more details in our Help Center and feel free to leave feedback and questions in our forum.


To download the app from Android Market, scan the QR code above

You can read more about Google Voice on the Official Google Blog

Posted by Marcus Foster, Product Manager, and David Singleton, Engineering Manager, Google MobileAny source