Will Android get Gmail phone calling?

[ManxMariner]

Call anywhere in the US and Canada for free and get low rates for other countries with this small plugin ? right from within Gmail.

Free to the US
Call phones in the US and Canada for free.

Cheap international calls
Call around the world for pennies per minute

Video chat, too
Install the plugin and get video chat for free

Google

 

[WarER4X]

How is this different from Google Voice?

-SR-

 

[kenyee]

LOL...that was my first thought too. We have Google Voice on Android phones already which does the same thing...it's one of those killer apps that bring people to Android phones..."free calling from your wifi connection to any phone or landline in the US/Canada"...

Main negative is that HTC's Sense UI prevents it from working

 

[ottscay]

The Gmail extension is just another way to get people to try (and then continue to use) Google Voice...it's not new except for the integration with their email client. As others said above, it's one of those things that have been a marketing point for Android phones for some time.

 

[Prof-KOS]

Big thing for me is that the GMail one works for users in Canada, but Google Voice does not yet.

 

[kenyee]

FWIW, I've used Google Voice while in Canada when I found a free wifi hotspot, but I'm a US user...

 

[Polymira]

What is different is gmail uses voip and voice on your phone uses minutes... unless you use ut through gizmo or another sip service.

Sent from my Droid

 

[Stryf3]

LOL...that was my first thought too. We have Google Voice on Android phones already which does the same thing...it's one of those killer apps that bring people to Android phones..."free calling from your wifi connection to any phone or landline in the US/Canada"...

Main negative is that HTC's Sense UI prevents it from working

Google voice uses your plan minutes and is not VOIP. They're not the same. And, why would Sense keep GV from working??

 

[lostmarine]

I am no expert but I can tell you for sure google voice is not VOIP and uses your mins (as stated above). I have had it well before I had a droid. As for why it doesn't work on sense UI I have no idea. The new gmail calling service is voip and is basically googles equivalent to skype. They currently have free calling to compete with skype. I personally hope they bring it to droid and integrate it into google voice. Bottom line though google voice isn't VOIP it is great for forwarding, giving people one number for you, texting from the interwebs, getting free visual voice mail (not paying verizon 2.99), blocking numbers that you don't want to talk to, and so many other features.

 

[anthonyzul]

My minute usage has actually gone down quite a bit ever since I began using GV. Enough, in fact, so that I went down to the 450 minute plan.

That being said.. This calling through Gmail thing is pretty sweet. It's integrated into the chat feature though, so I would imagine that if it came to Android it would be integrated into Gtalk. Which would be freakin' awesome! They should do that, and bring the video chat feature into Gtalk as well! This would make for one seriously killer app! Other then needing to use their mobile network when not in a wifi hotspot... you wouldn't need a carrier at all.

Imagine if Google had succeeded in blanketing the world in wifi...