5 ms·

Gmail now allows for multiple calls at once

60 points by cleverjake 15y ago

Xlythe 15y ago
Still waiting for them to officially roll internet calling out to Android. There's built in SIP support, but nothing that easily ties in to Google Voice. And there's GrooVe IP, which definitely works well, but it's not native. They added tethering and apps2sd despite the opposition.
- aristidb 15y ago
  I think there's a Google Voice app. Can't use it myself though, wrong country.
  - peregrine 15y ago
    It doesn't do SIP calls it just forwards through your own phone. So you still use your minutes...
  - cleverjake 15y ago
    there is, but it doesnt use voip. it sends a request for a callback from a random google owned number, then once you answer, it connects you to the number your calling over normal POTS.
- w1ntermute 15y ago
  > Still waiting for them to officially roll internet calling out to Android. > They added tethering and apps2sd despite the opposition. And just like with tethering, the carriers (in America, at any rate) will remove the app and charge an extra fee for it. I suppose it would be a boon for the rest of the world, though.
  - eli 15y ago
    Tethering is free on T-Mobile
    - w1ntermute 15y ago
      But not on any of the other Big 4 carriers, and if T-Mobile gets bought by AT&T, you can say goodbye to their free tethering as well.
      - wccrawford 15y ago
        Did you miss this? http://www.businessinsider.com/att-buys-t-mobile-2011-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/att-buys-t-mobile-2011-3
        eli 15y ago
        My comment is still true as of today. And I'd say there's at least even odds the sale of T-Mobile to AT&T fails to go through.
  - aphexairlines 15y ago
    Only if you buy your phone at a massive discount from the carrier.
    - w1ntermute 15y ago
      I'm pretty sure that if they catch you tethering, you're screwed no matter where you got the phone from. Not to mention you have to get a Verizon- or Sprint-specific phone if you're on either of those carriers.
- aphexairlines 15y ago
  What's wrong with GrooVe IP not being native? It's about the price of one month of SkypeOut in the US.
  - angryasian 15y ago
    Groove IP is excellent, only drawback is you can't have your gmail client open.
  - Xlythe 15y ago
    The OS constantly nags you if you're without a SIM card. You're either reminded you have no signal or you're reminded you're in airplane mode (The signal icon on the notification bar becomes useless. There are messages in the notification dropdown and on the lockscreen.) If WiFi calling were native, support would be built in to turn off these reminders. Connectivity could be displayed where signal is, instead of adding another icon to the notification bar. The app could be moved to the system partition (Coming from a Nexus One, app space was hard to come by. GrooVe IP hates being a system app and you can't move it to the SD card w/o it not starting at startup). I've bought GrooVe IP, I just feel like a native approach could work better.
- foob 15y ago
  Along the same lines, I wish they would integrate the video chat that they have in Gmail. I have a camera on the front of my phone that I have no use for because the only thing that anybody I know uses for video chatting is Gchat. I wonder how explicit the pressure from the carriers is to leave out this functionality.
  - abraham 15y ago
    This is available in Android 2.3.4+
    - darklajid 15y ago
      No, it's not. I wish it would be. It's available on 2.3.4 for a selected number of devices (for all I know the library supporting this feature is chipset specific). I've got very neat phone (LG Optimus 2x, T-Online G2x in the states) that is blazingly fast, has a front facing camera - but cannot use this, because it's a tegra2 based phone. Sad face here, Skype on Android is about the worst piece of crap, ever (ignoring my general dislike for Skype, it is so much worse), so no easy 3.000km+ video calls with my wife on my mobile.
      - abraham 15y ago
        It looks like the LG Optimus 2x is still on Android 2.2 so my statement still stands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Optimus_2X http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Optimus_2X
        darklajid 15y ago
        Err.. No. Your statement was 'works on 2.3.4'. Whatever Wikipedia claims, that's exactly what I run on my device. So my statement still stands: 2.3.4 does support audio/video calls, but only _for selected hardware_. If LG magically brings out a stock firmware with 2.3.4 tomorrow (and if I'd care enough to want it), they'd need to patch GTalk or rather press Google into supporting my type of handset - or they would have no audio/video support.
MikeCapone 15y ago
I wish they would make a standalone GTalk app with this feature for Mac so that I could more easily use it to replace skype.
- angryasian 15y ago
  I don't mind going to a website, just wish it wasn't my email. Would prefer making the calls right from google voice as thats the most likely page I'm on when I'm checking voice mail or texts.
  - MikeCapone 15y ago
    I'm in Canada, so I don't have access to Google Voice, unfortunately.
    - lionhearted 15y ago
      VPN. It's worth the $8 per month for all the USA-only services you unlock.
  - foob 15y ago
    I kind of like it being in Gmail because I always have that tab open no matter what. I agree that a deeper integration with Google Voice would make a lot of sense though. I've never understood why SMS messages that you send from Google Chat can't come from your Google Voice number. It comes from your Google Voice number when you make a call so it seems strange to me that your texts come from some other number that they assign to you.
mhp 15y ago
Conference calling yet? I guess not yet, but this is a good start.
- ConstantineXVI 15y ago
  Google Voice does conference calling[1], I'd hope you can invoke it in the same way from Gmail if they call your GVoice number. [1] http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=115137 http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&...
makthrow 15y ago
Is this the Google Voice plugin for Gmail that we're talking about here?
- tomsaffell 15y ago
  Technically, no, it's not part of Google Voice. Google Voice is a phone forwarding / management system. GTalk is a component of gmail that allows calls to be made / received. Either can be used w/o the other. However, they do integrate nicely - that's what I use, and I like it a lot.
ck2 15y ago
So not allowed to bridge the two for 3-way conference call?

60 points by cleverjake 15y ago

Still waiting for them to officially roll internet calling out to Android. There's built in SIP support, but nothing that easily ties in to Google Voice. And there's GrooVe IP, which definitely works well, but it's not native. They added tethering and apps2sd despite the opposition.

aristidb 15y ago
I think there's a Google Voice app. Can't use it myself though, wrong country.
- peregrine 15y ago
  It doesn't do SIP calls it just forwards through your own phone. So you still use your minutes...
- cleverjake 15y ago
  there is, but it doesnt use voip. it sends a request for a callback from a random google owned number, then once you answer, it connects you to the number your calling over normal POTS.
w1ntermute 15y ago
> Still waiting for them to officially roll internet calling out to Android. > They added tethering and apps2sd despite the opposition. And just like with tethering, the carriers (in America, at any rate) will remove the app and charge an extra fee for it. I suppose it would be a boon for the rest of the world, though.
- eli 15y ago
  Tethering is free on T-Mobile
  - w1ntermute 15y ago
    But not on any of the other Big 4 carriers, and if T-Mobile gets bought by AT&T, you can say goodbye to their free tethering as well.
    - wccrawford 15y ago
      Did you miss this? http://www.businessinsider.com/att-buys-t-mobile-2011-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/att-buys-t-mobile-2011-3
      - eli 15y ago
        My comment is still true as of today. And I'd say there's at least even odds the sale of T-Mobile to AT&T fails to go through.
- aphexairlines 15y ago
  Only if you buy your phone at a massive discount from the carrier.
  - w1ntermute 15y ago
    I'm pretty sure that if they catch you tethering, you're screwed no matter where you got the phone from. Not to mention you have to get a Verizon- or Sprint-specific phone if you're on either of those carriers.
aphexairlines 15y ago
What's wrong with GrooVe IP not being native? It's about the price of one month of SkypeOut in the US.
- angryasian 15y ago
  Groove IP is excellent, only drawback is you can't have your gmail client open.
- Xlythe 15y ago
  The OS constantly nags you if you're without a SIM card. You're either reminded you have no signal or you're reminded you're in airplane mode (The signal icon on the notification bar becomes useless. There are messages in the notification dropdown and on the lockscreen.) If WiFi calling were native, support would be built in to turn off these reminders. Connectivity could be displayed where signal is, instead of adding another icon to the notification bar. The app could be moved to the system partition (Coming from a Nexus One, app space was hard to come by. GrooVe IP hates being a system app and you can't move it to the SD card w/o it not starting at startup). I've bought GrooVe IP, I just feel like a native approach could work better.
foob 15y ago
Along the same lines, I wish they would integrate the video chat that they have in Gmail. I have a camera on the front of my phone that I have no use for because the only thing that anybody I know uses for video chatting is Gchat. I wonder how explicit the pressure from the carriers is to leave out this functionality.
- abraham 15y ago
  This is available in Android 2.3.4+
  - darklajid 15y ago
    No, it's not. I wish it would be. It's available on 2.3.4 for a selected number of devices (for all I know the library supporting this feature is chipset specific). I've got very neat phone (LG Optimus 2x, T-Online G2x in the states) that is blazingly fast, has a front facing camera - but cannot use this, because it's a tegra2 based phone. Sad face here, Skype on Android is about the worst piece of crap, ever (ignoring my general dislike for Skype, it is so much worse), so no easy 3.000km+ video calls with my wife on my mobile.
    - abraham 15y ago
      It looks like the LG Optimus 2x is still on Android 2.2 so my statement still stands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Optimus_2X http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Optimus_2X
      - darklajid 15y ago
        Err.. No. Your statement was 'works on 2.3.4'. Whatever Wikipedia claims, that's exactly what I run on my device. So my statement still stands: 2.3.4 does support audio/video calls, but only _for selected hardware_. If LG magically brings out a stock firmware with 2.3.4 tomorrow (and if I'd care enough to want it), they'd need to patch GTalk or rather press Google into supporting my type of handset - or they would have no audio/video support.

MikeCapone 15y ago

I wish they would make a standalone GTalk app with this feature for Mac so that I could more easily use it to replace skype.

angryasian 15y ago
I don't mind going to a website, just wish it wasn't my email. Would prefer making the calls right from google voice as thats the most likely page I'm on when I'm checking voice mail or texts.
- MikeCapone 15y ago
  I'm in Canada, so I don't have access to Google Voice, unfortunately.
  - lionhearted 15y ago
    VPN. It's worth the $8 per month for all the USA-only services you unlock.
- foob 15y ago
  I kind of like it being in Gmail because I always have that tab open no matter what. I agree that a deeper integration with Google Voice would make a lot of sense though. I've never understood why SMS messages that you send from Google Chat can't come from your Google Voice number. It comes from your Google Voice number when you make a call so it seems strange to me that your texts come from some other number that they assign to you.

mhp 15y ago

Conference calling yet? I guess not yet, but this is a good start.

ConstantineXVI 15y ago
Google Voice does conference calling[1], I'd hope you can invoke it in the same way from Gmail if they call your GVoice number. [1] http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=115137 http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&...

makthrow 15y ago

Is this the Google Voice plugin for Gmail that we're talking about here?

tomsaffell 15y ago
Technically, no, it's not part of Google Voice. Google Voice is a phone forwarding / management system. GTalk is a component of gmail that allows calls to be made / received. Either can be used w/o the other. However, they do integrate nicely - that's what I use, and I like it a lot.

ck2 15y ago

So not allowed to bridge the two for 3-way conference call?