On Monday, Google announced the Samsung Nexus S 4G was coming to Sprint, but that's not the biggest announcement involving Google and Sprint. Sprint will fully incorporate Google Voice into its handhelds, meaning that for the first time Google has managed to convince a wireless carrier to fully opt-in to Google's "call one number, ring all" service.
The Samsung Nexus S is a vanilla-flavored stock Android phone: it carries Android 2.3, but has no UI layer on top of the OS, meaning no Sense UI, TouchWiz or MotoBlur. Earlier, Google released a version on T-Mobile, but this new version will support Sprint's $g WiMax service.
Hardware-wise, aside from the WiMax capability, Sprint's version will be identical. The Nexus S features a 4-inch Contour Display with a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, front- and rear-facing cameras, 16GB of internal storage, and NFC (near field communication) hardware.
Meanwhile, the more significant announcement is the Google Voice integration on Sprint phones. Google Voice is a service that allows a user to give out his GV number, and then have one or more phones ring, or even have the call go straight to VM based on "rules" set up in your GV account. Using a Google Voice app, you can also dial from your handset and have the number appear as your GV number, not your handset's number.
Recently, Google introduced number portability: you could port your handset's number to GV, in case you had a favorite number attached to your cell phone and wanted to use that as your GV number. That sort of porting causes some issues, however, as it means that your current service is terminated, and that could cause an Early Termination Fee (ETF). It also means that to re-establish service on your handheld, you have to get a new account on your handset.
The new Sprint integration means all of that is avoided. You simply accept an agreement and viola, your Sprint number is your GV number. If you already have a GV number, you can simply configure your Sprint phone to use that number on outgoing calls and text messages. In addition, this integration means that Sprint feature phones, not just smartphones, will be able to take advantage of GV integration.
Among the additional features that GV will give Sprint customers is transcribed voicemail messages available online and sent via email or text message. In addition, Google touts GV's inexpensive International calls and there are all those other features that can be enabled by setting up rules for your GV account, such as personalized voicemail greetings based on caller ID, call recording, blocking unwanted callers and still more.
In addition, Google has been pushing Google Voice "education," as it rolls it out in an integration form in more apps. Google integrated Google Voice into Gmail last year, and they also began rollout out "phone booths" with Google Voice integrated into them.
The announcement comes at a good time for Sprint. Sprint was reportedly courting Deutsche Telekom to acquire T-Mobile USA, but AT&T apparently outbid the nation's No. 3 carrier for the nation's No. 4 carrier.
You can watch a video on the integration below.
The Samsung Nexus S is a vanilla-flavored stock Android phone: it carries Android 2.3, but has no UI layer on top of the OS, meaning no Sense UI, TouchWiz or MotoBlur. Earlier, Google released a version on T-Mobile, but this new version will support Sprint's $g WiMax service.
Hardware-wise, aside from the WiMax capability, Sprint's version will be identical. The Nexus S features a 4-inch Contour Display with a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, front- and rear-facing cameras, 16GB of internal storage, and NFC (near field communication) hardware.
Meanwhile, the more significant announcement is the Google Voice integration on Sprint phones. Google Voice is a service that allows a user to give out his GV number, and then have one or more phones ring, or even have the call go straight to VM based on "rules" set up in your GV account. Using a Google Voice app, you can also dial from your handset and have the number appear as your GV number, not your handset's number.
Recently, Google introduced number portability: you could port your handset's number to GV, in case you had a favorite number attached to your cell phone and wanted to use that as your GV number. That sort of porting causes some issues, however, as it means that your current service is terminated, and that could cause an Early Termination Fee (ETF). It also means that to re-establish service on your handheld, you have to get a new account on your handset.
The new Sprint integration means all of that is avoided. You simply accept an agreement and viola, your Sprint number is your GV number. If you already have a GV number, you can simply configure your Sprint phone to use that number on outgoing calls and text messages. In addition, this integration means that Sprint feature phones, not just smartphones, will be able to take advantage of GV integration.
Among the additional features that GV will give Sprint customers is transcribed voicemail messages available online and sent via email or text message. In addition, Google touts GV's inexpensive International calls and there are all those other features that can be enabled by setting up rules for your GV account, such as personalized voicemail greetings based on caller ID, call recording, blocking unwanted callers and still more.
In addition, Google has been pushing Google Voice "education," as it rolls it out in an integration form in more apps. Google integrated Google Voice into Gmail last year, and they also began rollout out "phone booths" with Google Voice integrated into them.
The announcement comes at a good time for Sprint. Sprint was reportedly courting Deutsche Telekom to acquire T-Mobile USA, but AT&T apparently outbid the nation's No. 3 carrier for the nation's No. 4 carrier.
You can watch a video on the integration below.
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