Looks like the big announcment that Apple made today was….. oh wait….. wrong memo. Sorry about that. THIS announcement is pretty great, too! The beloved app, Google Voice has just dropped with a thud in the App Store, and it’s waiting for you to go grab it!
Google Voice will offer iPhone and iOS 3.0 (or higher) users push notifications of text and voicemail messages. You will also have full access of Google Voice’s settings directly on your device.
Other features:
* Send FREE text messages to US numbers and make international calls at cheap rates;
* Listen to your voicemail, read transcripts and manage your Google Voice inbox;
* Display your Google Voice number as Caller ID when making calls
* Much more!
So, head on over to the App Store and pick this up! Let us know what you think!
Google Maps for Andriod has been bumped to version 4.7 which now includes Google’s Hotspot recommendation system. Hotspot allows you to discover new places based on findings and opinions from yourself and your friends. Below is how Hotspot will integrate into your Android device:
Rate places on the go — Now you can write and publish ratings and reviews from your mobile phone. We make it quick and easy with a new rating widget designed for rating places on the go. Install it from your homescreen by going to Menu > Add > Widgets > Rate Places. You can also post ratings and reviews directly from any Place page. So, when you polish off the crispiest carnitas taco you’ve ever eaten, you can pull out your Android phone to celebrate the event and give that taqueria the public love it deserves.
Get Google Maps 4.7 for Android 1.6 and above everywhere Maps is already available. Just search for Google Maps in Android Market (or tap here from your phone).
By the way, if you’re an iPhone user, good news: we’ll soon have a Places app that allows you to rate and get place recommendations as well. Alternatively, you can rate and get place recommendations from your phone browser (iPhone and Android) in the US. Just visit the Places tab at google.com as we roll out over the next day.
Google has wasted no time in bringing the Google Search app to the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace. I knew Google wouldn’t let Microsoft’s Bing bask in the glory for too long. It is a free download for all Windows Phone 7 devices and languages. All you have to do is download the app and pin to START. It doesn’t appear you can set Google Search as the default search app which may bother some of you out there. I do like the Google Search integration of GPS to localize search results across the web, images and for the latest news.
Google has just flipped the switch for it to go live. Give us a shout in the comments if you’re seeing it and how it’s working so far for you on your Windows Phone 7 device.
In the Wall Street Journal today, computer maker and now handset maker Dell is said to be dropping their BlackBerry smartphones in favor of their own line of phones. According to the CFO Brian Gladden, it could save them 25% on mobile communications cost since they won’t have a need for the BlackBerry Enterprise Servers. They are also talking about offering this service their corporate clients as well to promote cost savings and to push their own devices loaded with Microsoft‘s Windows Phone 7 and Google’sAndroid OS sometime soon. So should RIM be worried about this? Or is this a publicity stunt on Dell’s part as RIM is calling it? How do you guys feel about this? Should Dell be taking shots like this?
Stupendous news for you mobile smartphone users out there…Google Instant is now available for many devices! Woot! Instant Search enables instantaneous results as you type (not just predictive text). It’s available for most iOS and Android devices. More details from Google below:
The power of Google Instant, now in your pocket
Thursday, November 4, 2010 | 1:01 PM
(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog.)
Google Instant makes search faster by displaying not just predictions but actual search results as you type. This saves valuable time on a desktop browser, but wouldn’t it be great to have Google Instant on mobile devices, where each keystroke and page load is much slower and you frequently have just a moment to find the information you need?
In September we announced that we were working to bring Google Instant to mobile, and today we’re making a beta version available to most iPhone and Android devices in the U.S. To try it out, go to google.com in your phone’s browser and tap the Google Instant “Turn on” link beneath the search box (if you don’t see the “Turn on” link, try waiting a moment and then refresh the page).
Like the desktop version of Google Instant, when you type on your mobile device you’ll see predictions of what you might be searching for. If you type [anse], for example, you should see [ansel adams] along with other predictions. Results for the first prediction appear automatically, and tapping on the other predictions will display those results. Pressing the enter key or the search button skips the predictions and will display results for exactly what you’ve typed. Check out our demo video:
With Google Instant on mobile, we’re pushing the limits of mobile browsers and wireless networks. You will probably notice a big improvement in speed when you search thanks to a new AJAX and HTML5 implementation for mobile that dynamically updates the page with new results and eliminates the need to load a new page for each query.
Google Instant for mobile works best on 3G and WiFi networks, but since the quality of any wireless connection can fluctuate, we’ve made it easy to enable or disable Google Instant without ever leaving the page. Just tap the “Turn on” or “Turn off” link.
We hope you’ll enjoy using Google Instant for mobile as much as we enjoyed making it. It’s currently available for Android 2.2 (“Froyo”) devices and iPhones and iPods running iOS 4 in the U.S. in English. We’re working to support additional countries and languages and more devices in the coming months, so stay tuned.
Check out the video of Google Instant in action below and let us know if you’ve fired it up and enjoying it.
Looks like Google has updated their mobile interface to include app searches for both iPhone and Android. Pretty nifty, eh? This will be great in allowing users to take a detour around the somewhat slow searching times encountered in the App Store and Android Market.
Give it a go and let us know how you like it. Have a great Wednesday from everyone here at The Sauce Report.
I recently had the pleasure of attending a Mobile Monday event at the Google offices in Boston. There were local app developers in attendance presenting their upcoming apps to the audience, and Zazu was one of them! Instantly I fell in love with this concept and what it can offer people. It is finally out of beta testing and can be found in the Android Market.
The BEST DAMN ALARM CLOCK? How so? Well…..
Not only will this app wake you up, but if you wish, it will read you some RSS feeds, tell you what you have on your schedule for the day, tell you what to wear and if you should bring an umbrella, and it will cook you breakfast…. wait…. no, it won’t. Not yet anyway. But leave it up to these brains at Zazu, they’ll figure that part out soon enough!
Pick up this app in the Android Market, and get your morning started RIGHT!
I came across a pretty feature-rich Android application called DroidIris. You’ll dig this application especially if you’re a fan of the image browser, Cooliris. Let’s check out the inner workings of DroidIris.
DroidIris displays your Google Images search in full screen and is controlled by gestures. Pinch your fingers together to zoom in, double tap to enlarge an individual image to full screen, and pan through the bank of search results with your finger. As long as more results are available the scrolling continues.
When you’re zoomed all the way in and viewing a single image you can save it to your SD card, set as your wallpaper, share the link, or visit the source web site in your phone’s browser.
DroidIris is free and works wherever Android does. You can download it by searching for “DroidIris” in the Android Marketplace or by scanning the QR code below. Have a favorite image browser for Android phones? Let’s hear about it in the comments.
T-Mobile has launched a splash page hinting at the arrival of the new G2 with Google Android device. It’s the first smartphone specifically designed for T-Mobile’s super-fast HSPA+ network. HSPA+ is available in nearly 50 major metropolitan areas across the United States offering coverage to 85 million people.
Via an email sent to me today, here’s the statement by T-Mobile regarding the arrival of the G2:
"T-Mobile is proud to have launched the world’s first Android-powered phone, the T-Mobile G1, which captured the imagination of developers and consumers alike nearly two years ago. Now, we are readying its successor – the T-Mobile G2 with Google. Delivering tight integration with Google services, the G2 will break new ground as the first smartphone sepcifically designed for our advanced HSPA+ network, which delivers today’s available 4G speeds. In the coming weeks we’ll share more details about the G2, including information on how current T-Mobile customers can get exclusive first access. Visit http://g2.t-mobile.com to register for updates."
As you can see, T-Mobile is pretty psyched to get the word out on this new handset, and I am eager to hear how you all feel about this new device. Anyone on TMO planning on picking up this new G2? Let us know in the comments below.
Google is kicking off a new service called Google App Inventor. Google today made available a new service called Google App Inventor. Google App Inventor is a simple set of developer tools that allows most anyone to create basic applications for Android handsets. The web-based software uses blocks of code that are represented by icons and images, which users can then piece together to build applications. The blocks of code are associated with different functions and/or features of the Android phone, such as the camera, accelerometer, or GPS modules. Google intends for the software to be used by students and younger users, though the idea behind Google App Inventor is to provide anyone interested in creating applications for Android the toolset that matches their skill level. In order to use App Inventor, users must have a registered Gmail account. The development tool itself is web-based, but there is a small software download required to allow for USB syncing of the software to user Android handsets.
Check this link for much more information and give us some feedback in the comments on your reaction.
