Google Voice now built into Gmail

This story isn't directly related to Android, but it's exciting news for those of us that use Google Voice. After months of rumors, Google has just announced that free VoIP calling is now built right into Gmail. The service is built on Google Voice and promises free calling to the US and Canada at least until the end of 2010 (what happens after that is anybody's guess). International calling is as cheap as 2 cents per minute and call credits can be purchased through Google Checkout.

Android Voice Actions Review

Last week, Google held a last-minute press conference where they announced updates to the Android voice recognition system. Android has had voice recognition for a while, of course, but the latest update gives it a bunch of new features and makes it all the more useful.

Previously, the voice recognition provided a way to enter text into any text field, as well as perform searches. You could compose text messages, or search the web, but you first had to navigate to the specific application to perform the task. Maps had a slightly more intuitive ability, letting you say, "Navigate to..." followed by an address to immediately launch Navigation.