First Google Voice App Hits the App Store 95
silverpig writes "The first Google Voice app has hit the app store, and it's called GV Connect. Providing a front end to the Google Voice service, GV Connect allows users of devices running Apple iOS platform to have a native app with which to interact with Google Voice. What will be interesting to note is the order that these apps are approved in. I know Sean Kovacs was first out with GV Mobile back before Apple banned Google Voice, and while he is in the approval pipeline, this other app has some first mover advantage. I wonder what it means when Google gets their app officially approved, as surely it'll be free."
Fail (Score:5, Insightful)
No Push Notifications = Fail
Basically just a front-end for the web interface. Not worth the money.
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translation: my shift key is broken and i can't afford an iphone
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What? On US keyboards, = doesn't require a shift key.
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None of which were in the guy's message. He meant = and he is a moron...
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Yes it is. Type alt-+
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Where are you from?
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plus its for the iphone = fail
translation: my shift key is broken and i can't afford an iphone
translation: my apostrophe key is broken and i can't afford an iphone FTFY
Re:Fail (Score:4, Interesting)
The iOS versus Android argument to me comes down to that I prefer open source but what is the point of having the source to crap. Not that Android is really crap but the UI is poorly designed and the lack of control of end devices by Google results in a wide, and confusing, user experience. I get frustrated at the number of people new to open source or not even developers that like to rant about the evil that is Apple and the good that is Google. Obviously they haven't a lot of experience with the nice way Google makes it difficult to hack around on other devices they sell such as the Google Search Appliances (which I have). I think both Apple and Google are leading technology companies and both make some great products.
If I was going to make my own device I'd start with Android to build from but I'd copy a lot of iOS design decisions at the UI level and iDevice design decisions. I'd also keep a lot more control than Google has done as I think Android gets a lot of the negative light coming off of the devices it runs on. And many devices are difficult to even run an unlocked copy of Android on which defeats the entire benefit of having the source. And comparable Android devices are no cheaper, and often are even more expensive, than an iDevice. I'm looking for a good Android tablet to develop on but there Google seems to be unsure if they want to push Android or Chrome OS.
Apple's biggest short coming is lack of third party devices. If I was Google, along with fixing the UI and ecosystem issues, I'd be all over that as a way to really be better than Apple. I'm not talking supporting USB and SD, which are anti-features IMO, but defining good interfaces for mobile devices, licensing it for free, and really pushing it.
Since nobody is paying me to make my own device I'm going to choose to own iDevices. At least until I see an equal Android device and see the Android ecosystem become equal.
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And many devices are difficult to even run an unlocked copy of Android
Even with a locked Android phone, I can still do things that an iPhone user couldn't possibly dream of doing because his phone is so locked down. And besides, not all Android phones are like that, some get rooted right away.
on which defeats the entire benefit of having the source.
Not if you're a developer, if you're doing anything complex, having access to the source can significantly cut down your development time.
And comparable Android devices are no cheaper, and often are even more expensive, than an iDevice.
And for good reason, superior hardware is expensive. For instance, Steve Jobs was given the chance to make the iPhone 4 with a Super-AMOLED screen, a
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Care to elucidate?
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A few things off the top of my head:
Install an alternate input method (eg: Swype), run an emulator that lets you run downloaded software (eg: Ftodo 64 or NESoid), automatically adjust volume settings based on criteria like location, time or phone orientation (eg: Locale, Off the hook or Volume timer), automatically upload photos/videos to sharing services (eg: Pic push).
Don't forget that it wasn't too long ago that you couldn't even play Pandora in the background on the iPhone, and even now the multitasking
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"And for good reason, superior hardware is expensive. For instance, Steve Jobs was given the chance to make the iPhone 4 with a Super-AMOLED screen, a bigger screen, and with a GPU three times faster."
You know, I can understand if you complain about one of the actual disadvantages in an iPhone 4, but you're making shit up at this point. Super-AMOLED is fail, and even Samsung is moving away from it now. As for a bigger screen, how big do you want? I think some of the 5" devices are a little bit big. I'd
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which phone has a 3x better GPU? I'm genuinely curious. What benchmarks?
The GPU of the iPhone 4 can render 28 million triangles per second. [educatedsquirrel.com] The GPU of the Samsung Galaxy S can do 90 million triangles per second. [intomobile.com] Both those phones are using the same Samsung processor, the Hummingbird (even if Apple is calling it something else), so don't get any idea about the iPhone 4 having a faster processor in this case (but an inferior GPU), you couldn't even make that point if you wanted to.
As for a bigger screen, how big do you want? I think some of the 5" devices are a little bit big. I'd rather not go back to wearing a beltclip from 1996 for my phone, thanks.
Give it to me as big as the iPhone 4, except without the large ridiculous border around it. Go into
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"I'd copy a lot of iOS design decisions at the UI level "
please god no. have you actually used an Android device? The UI is much more powerful and well designed. prettier, no. able to do more, with less effort on my part, absolutely.
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Seriously, just stop. Don't start a flamewar yet again, fanboy.
How the hell did this get modded up???
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The carriers certainly agree, and they love the fact that Android is open, because it allows them to maintain control of the device and lock users to their own services!
Yay for open source: maintaining the "wireless carriers fuck over their customers" status quo. What a triumph of the noble ideals of FOSS.
If all you can say is "Android is open," as an improvement over iOS, then it's not an improvement, because for the vast majority of pe
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If all you can say is "Android is open," as an improvement over iOS, then it's not an improvement, because for the vast majority of people, it's just as locked down as an iPhone. For about .001% of the phone-buying market, it's "open". For the rest, it's simply a tool the carriers will use to control the customers.
Not everyone lives in the USA, well actually most people don't! I mean, lockdown by carriers seems to be pretty bad in the US if it's true what people say here on slashdot. But this doesn't apply to most other countries (our telco market over here is regulated, once you own a phone you really own that phone).
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Your argument would hold more weight if it weren't for the fact that AT&T has had many negative effects on iOS despite the fact that iOS isn't open. (recent example: tethering) So yes, carriers can exploit the openness of Android to screw their customers, but they also can, and have, make Apple do their bidding. So it appears that the issue of whether your carrier will screw up your phone is orthogonal to whether the OS is "open". In that case, I'll take open.
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Sean has said he wants to implement push notifications ASAP... Look for it in the future I'm sure.
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Google's mobile version of GV is so elegant I'd rather use it. This app however does 1 thing the web app can't: using your GV phone device & not only your cell.
The only way I've found to work around this is load the desktop version on Safari via the older interface, & initiate the call that way.
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Are you sure you want push notifications? The way the IPhone interrupts you, lately the less notifications I get, the better. :)
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Considering how long it took Apple to approve this app, push notifications won't come via an update any time soon. At least this settles the FCC inquiry. I was worried when Apple reviewed my app for three days, I couldn't imagine the anxiety of waiting on Apple to finish a year long "In Review" status update.
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Should have read at least the /. summary before posting. I got excited and thought Apple was trying to play nice with Google again. Well, nothing to see here. Everyone back to work and/or batin'
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Re:A Better Google Story (Score:5, Insightful)
wtf is going on with people pretending slashdot comments are twitter now?
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I'm waiting for /. to crash and a whale to show up.
Re:A Better Google Story (Score:4, Funny)
RT @wmbetts: I'm waiting for /. to crash and a whale to show up.
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#Worsttwitterimitationever
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wow, grandad, calm down. It's not your mothers internets now
*Apple App Store (Score:2, Informative)
Re:*Apple App Store (Score:5, Insightful)
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Just because it isn't official doesn't mean it isn't worth mentioning. I got my google voice app from Cydia a long time ago.
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Yeah, and from now on, in articles about eBay, can everybody be sure to mention Bidz.com ? It is an auction site too, you know.
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Why would it be worth mentioning? The story is about the first Google Voice app to hit the App Store, not about "the first time a Google Voice app is available!"
The Cydia version of the GV app wasn't the first time GV was available, either, was it? So why does Cydia deserve special mention?
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Right. If the article stated that for the first time ever you could purchase widgets online at Ebay, when in fact I got a widget online from Bidz about a year ago, wouldn't it be worth mentioning?
Ummm no? I once bought a burrito at Taco Bell, but it still would be worth mentioning if Subway started selling them.
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Like the man said... "There is no other app store worth mentioning."
Re:*Apple App Store (Score:5, Insightful)
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Notice that "App Store" is capitalized?
So is "First", "Google", "Voice", "App", and "Hits".
This is kind of a nitpicky who-gives-a-crap thing, but I agree. I initially thought they were talking about the Android Market too and was like..uh, yeah, we've had that for like a year an a half...
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Not useful to you therefore its not useful to anyone.
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Uh... who spent $500 on an iPhone?
On ATT's website, an iPhone 4 cost you $199 for a 16GB version, vs. $199 for a comparable Samsung Android model: Samsung Captivate, 16GB.
On Verizon, a Droid X is $199. HTC Droid Incredible is $199. Samsung Fascinate - $199. Motorola Droid 2 - $199.
Pray tell, where are the iPhones that cost 2.5x as much as these Android phones sold?
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I know someone who did. A week after she got her 3G it was snatched right out of her hands by a thief in Rome. You only get the discount from AT&T once every 18 months, so to replace it she had to fork out around $700. This was before "Find My iPhone" was available.
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Not an option with her carrier, and neither third-party nor homeowners' insurance would cover it out of the country.
But, thanks for the insult. It's that sort of helpfulness that makes all geeks look bad.
Retard.
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those are most likely subsidised prices with a mandatory 18-24 month contract depending on your carrier.
a factory unlocked available in many countries but not the US iPhone with no contract costs around $500-$700 depending on which model you want. almost every other smart phone will cost around that much with no contract.
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Sure it's subsidized - all the android phone prices are, too.
If you want comparable features, you will be paying about the same amount for an android phone, so the point that everybodys spending 500 on an iPhone when they could be getting much cheaper android phones is bullshit, presuming you're not also sacrificing features and capability.
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well the previous iPhones had a camera and the iPod Touch didn't, the new iPhone 4 has a better screen and better camera, also it's built differently using different more expensive techniques. Also I am not sure of the numbers but maybe the iPod Touch benefits more from economies of scale?
It also might be licenses they have to pay for the chips and technology?
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I just spent $1000 on mine (Well, $1000AUD; ~$940USD today)... 32GB unlocked iPhone 4 from Apple in Australia...
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And how much does a *comparable*, unlocked, 32GB Android phone cost from Motorola, HTC, or Samsung? Not the cheapest phone that runs Android, mind you - one comparable to an iPhone 4.
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Those android phones are not anywhere near feature parity if they're 199 factory unlocked. Thanks for playing.
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Uh... who spent $500 on an iPhone?
Me. In 2007.
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Uh huh. And how much was a comparable android phone selling for at that time, with the same terms & conditions as the iPhone?
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shhh stop telling the facts... gives people one less thing to inaccurately bash apple on.
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And how much was a comparable android phone at that time, with the same terms & conditions as the iPhone?
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Bah, wrong "Reply" button.
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Try looking at the unsubsidised market. These prices are from the UK and before you rabbit on about tax, being from outside the EU, we dont pay VAT (tax).
Iphone 3GS 8GB GBP 425/US$670 [expansys.com]
Iphone 4 16GB GBP 698/US$1095 [expansys.com]
HTC Desire GBP 340/US$535 [expansys.com]
Samsung Galaxy S GBP 375/US$590 [expansys.com]
Brand new HTC Desire HD GBP 430/US$675 [expansys.com]
So do you see that an Iphone that is over a year old is competing with the latest Android releas
Unlocked (Score:2)
http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?cid=WWW-NACA-IPHONE-NAV [apple.com]
http://store.apple.com/ch-fr/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone [apple.com]
Not first (Score:3, Interesting)
Technically this isn't the first Google Voice app in the app store. There were GV apps years ago, then Apple yanked them in short order. This marks the return of GV apps, not a new arrival of the kind.