The last few weeks I’ve used two new technology offerings that I thought were just fantastic. Here are my reviews:
Google Voice
I received an invitation to beta test the new Google Voice feature about a week ago. Basically Google voice provides you with a phone number, a local one at that, that you use to hook all your phones up to. When someone calls this number you can configure your settings to ring your cell, work and home phone. Setup was a breeze!
Additional features include VM notifications via text message, gmail, etc. They also let you call out using the phone number. You select a contact, click call. The service first calls your cell, then calls the other party. Very cool. However, my favorite feature is the voice to text. I’m not sure about you but I hate listening to VM’s. I can scan an email a lot faster than I can listen to a complete VM.
There is some room for improvement. The voice to text is sketchy at best. I found that during some limited testing the VM to text missed more than it got correct. The other thing I didn’t like was the fact that when someone first calls you (read the first time) from a number the service asks for the callers name. A few people I had test the service found this annoying at best.
I’m looking forward to more testing…
Verizon Fios
The other offering is from Verizon Fios. Verizon just release a new set of ‘widgets’ available via its Fios TV service. They added widgets for Twitter and Facebook along with a few others. I was a bit skeptical at first. I mean how easy could surfing your Facebook be using a remote? To my surprise Verizon’s developers made it easy and intuitive.
Now for the really cool thing. Verizon is taking applications to develop widgets for its service. I’ve signed up and will post again when I get the SDK!