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Google Fiber Phone

fiber.google.com

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Re: Google Fiber Phone

#41

Post by zanny »

grahamburger wrote: post #32
soyiuz wrote: post #21

I like this idea, but I no longer trust Google to shepherd their side projects in the long term. Google voice had amazing promise (and I still use it) but it has also been a completely stagnant, without significant updates for a few years now. It conflicts with Hangouts, Google Fi, and the Android SMS app. Contacts are a mess. Ditto Google Groups.

Agreed on Google Voice, I used it all the way back to the Grand Central days and I wish it were maintained more. That being said, the Hangouts integration isn't that bad now. I know it feels risky to hit that 'merge to hangouts' button but I've been using it for a while without any huge inconveniences. The only problem I run in to is when I need to search for old SMS messages, the only way to do it after merging is b…

I'm much happier having them carry Google Voice on in Hangouts than kill it. It is an incredibly valuable way to just have a phone number that works without having to pay every month for it.

Re: Google Fiber Phone

#43

Post by tsax »

grahamburger wrote: post #32
soyiuz wrote: post #21

I like this idea, but I no longer trust Google to shepherd their side projects in the long term. Google voice had amazing promise (and I still use it) but it has also been a completely stagnant, without significant updates for a few years now. It conflicts with Hangouts, Google Fi, and the Android SMS app. Contacts are a mess. Ditto Google Groups.

Agreed on Google Voice, I used it all the way back to the Grand Central days and I wish it were maintained more. That being said, the Hangouts integration isn't that bad now. I know it feels risky to hit that 'merge to hangouts' button but I've been using it for a while without any huge inconveniences. The only problem I run in to is when I need to search for old SMS messages, the only way to do it after merging is b…

What was really horrible and downright ATROCIOUS was the Messenger (SMS) integration into Hangouts. I was jumping for joy when they freed SMS from Hangouts again recently.

Re: Google Fiber Phone

#44

Post by ianferrel »

hnrodey wrote: post #30

I think there's still a market for landlines although $10/month sounds like a high price point for such a feature. Having a stationary phone is important when you start having kids and they are old enough to know how to use it. There's a gap of several years from when kids are old enough to know how to call others versus old enough to warrant having their own mobile device. So what happens in the scenario when the ki…

Most of the 4-5 year olds I know of know exactly where mommy and daddy's iPhone is because when they're lucky they get to play games on it.

Re: Google Fiber Phone

#45

Post by webkike »

rayiner wrote: post #6

A landline phone service seems a bit anachronistic, but there is a place for it. The future of telephony is here, but it sucks. Many here on HN probably don't even remember this, but phone calls actually used to be intelligible. Before cell phones and VOIP, before packet-switching and aggressive digital compression, calls traveled over Ma Bell's glorious circuit-switched network. You could actually understand what pe…

This is crazy, because I'm pretty much too young to remember a time when phones ever sounded good. The reason I prefer text to call isn't because I don't like to talk to people - I've just always found call quality to be utterly trash. Maybe this is part of the reason the younger generations prefer texting.

Re: Google Fiber Phone

#46

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

daj40 wrote: post #27

I feel products like this - http://www.vtechphones.com/products/product_detail/1673 - (just an example) are a better solution to this problem. You dont need a land line subscription, just a cell phone with bluetooth. When my parents get home, their cell phones pair to the home phone, so when they receive a call, the home phone rings. They don't have to carry around cell phones, and they can place calls through their…

I think the major selling point is that you're not SOL if you need to be reached or call 911 while your cell is dead/left in the car/etc.

Not that it's an important enough point for me personally to have a land line, but I can understand why a lot of people would favor that. As a $10/month add-on for existing Fiber customers it's not a bad deal.

Re: Google Fiber Phone

#47

Post by aviv »

hxegon wrote: post #9

I get that Google is doing this (Fiber) in order to improve internet service, which is in it's best interest. But I can't help but feeling like there is some other goal here.

It's all about the bundle. They need to be able to offer the so-called triple play that other ISPs do.

Re: Google Fiber Phone

#49

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

tsax wrote: post #43
grahamburger wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed on Google Voice, I used it all the way back to the Grand Central days and I wish it were maintained more. That being said, the Hangouts integration isn't that bad now. I know it feels risky to hit that 'merge to hangouts' button but I've been using it for a while without any huge inconveniences. The only problem I run in to is when I need to search for old SMS messages, the only way to do it after merging is b…

What was really horrible and downright ATROCIOUS was the Messenger (SMS) integration into Hangouts. I was jumping for joy when they freed SMS from Hangouts again recently.

Messenger has been in the Play Store for at least a year or two now, and you could always designate it as your SMS app. It was only recently that they started nudging users to switch to it from Hangouts (which is funny considering that they nudged everyone to use Hangouts for SMS not that long ago).

Re: Google Fiber Phone

#50

Post by grahamburger »

tsax wrote: post #43
grahamburger wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed on Google Voice, I used it all the way back to the Grand Central days and I wish it were maintained more. That being said, the Hangouts integration isn't that bad now. I know it feels risky to hit that 'merge to hangouts' button but I've been using it for a while without any huge inconveniences. The only problem I run in to is when I need to search for old SMS messages, the only way to do it after merging is b…

What was really horrible and downright ATROCIOUS was the Messenger (SMS) integration into Hangouts. I was jumping for joy when they freed SMS from Hangouts again recently.

I'm not sure what you mean by freed SMS from Hangouts - once the two are merged you send and receive SMS in the Hangouts interface, as far as I know that hasn't changed. (That's how I do it today.) It's pretty simple, there's a dropdown menu next to the message input box that lets you select between Hangouts or SMS (if you have a phone number attached to that contact.) Works the same on mobile or in the browser. I remember there was some confusion around that when they initially added it but for the past few months it's been pretty straightforward and reliable.

EDIT: I see now, I think my experience is different from others in that I only use my Google Voice number for everything. Doing SMS to/from your actual phone number inside of hangouts is definitely a disaster. If that were my use case I'd be using the Messenger app. If you're exclusively using your Google Voice number, though, the integration is pretty straightforward.

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