Facebook’s mobile app for iOS has been updated with several new features today, including placing free calls over data.

Facebook’s less-popular Messenger app for iOS previously got free voice calling, but now it looks like it wants all of its members to call their friends through the main FB app as well. As long as you have an active Wi-Fi or data connection, you’ll be able to place a call through Facebook with the ease of an app like Skype or Vonage. Calls only work in the U.S. and Canada so far.

On top of free calling, the application has also improved buttons to like, comment, and share posts.

Woman using call me gesture via Shutterstock

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

For all of the apps, sensors, and powerful hardware our smartphones are equipped with, they’re still pretty dumb when it comes to making and receiving phone calls. With its latest Android app, Current Caller ID, WhitePages shows us one potential evolutionary path for the smartphone’s calling and texting screens.

Like caller ID on steroids, the app displays social media updates, as well as local news and weather information, alongside a caller’s name and number when receiving or making a call or text. Current Caller ID also offers nifty infographics that chart your communication history with contacts (so you can feel extra guilty about never calling your grandma).

As you can see in the video below (seriously, watch it), the Current Caller ID app takes over your Android phone’s standard call screen to do its magic (something that’s notably not possible on the iPhone). It’s such a simple concept that I’m surprised something like this hasn’t been attempted before. Or perhaps the app is just particularly refreshing since call screens haven’t really changed much since the feature phone era.

Current Caller ID replaces WhitePage’s previous Android app, which simply acted as a Caller ID app for your smartphone. The new app offers all of the same functionality as its predecessor, which WhitePages says has identified more than 700 million calls since it launched in 2008.

I wouldn’t be too surprised if Apple, Microsoft, and Android manufacturers take a few hints from Current Caller ID. The app has the potential to bring us even closer to our family and friends by automatically keeping us informed when it matters the most.

WhitePages has also put together an interesting infographic breaking down just how much we’re buried by communication options these days. Of course, the hope is that Current Caller ID will serve as a relief to the headaches of status updates, unread messages, and cluttered inboxes.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

It’s said that with all of our technological advancements, the world is getting smaller and smaller, but it sure doesn’t feel like that when you have to travel for business frequently. It’s difficult to be away from home for long periods of time, but fortunately those aforementioned technological advancements are pretty helpful for staying in touch with your loved ones, even when you’re hundreds of miles and many time zones away.

Frequent business travelers probably already know the classic tips, like using a calling card to save cash or getting an international SIM card to cut down on the wireless bill, but there are several other things you can do to keep in touch while far from home.

Calling: In addition to a calling card or international SIM card there are other options that make calling home a bit easier on the wallet. Consider setting up a Google Voice number which will ring right through to your phone and is generally significantly cheaper than a standard long-distance call on your cell.

Video Chat: While most smartphones these days have a video chat feature, the calls themselves could set you back a pretty penny unless they run over Wi-Fi. Consider using Skype instead; it comes as a mobile or desktop app so it can be used on either your computer (only requiring internet access) or your phone. If you use the mobile app, keep your phone in airplane mode to avoid international roaming charges, even while on the ground.

Blog: Many people already have a social networking profile or personal blog set up; indeed, there are a variety of options including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Tumblr as well as more traditional platforms like WordPress and Blogger. Share your trip with your loved ones by posting photos to Instagram or Tumblr, videos to YouTube, or blogging about the experience on your own blog. Friends and family can follow your trip as you blog it, making them feel like they’re right there with you.

Games: If you’ve got your laptop or tablet, you can also keep in touch in a fun ways like playing games with friends and family while far away. Sure, you may be on the other side of the country, but as long as you have access to WiFi you can still play Words with Friends with your spouse, coworkers, or kids. Likewise, if you’re a dedicated gamer, consider using a service like Steam that can connect you to other players.

Fun for Kids: There are many creative ways to keep in touch with your kids while you’re traveling, such as making an audio or video recording of you reading a favorite bedtime story with a good night message that can be played back for kids as they go to sleep. Or, take a favorite toy or stuffed animal with you on your travels (“Flat Stanley” is a popular example). Pose for photos with Stanley at notable landmarks during your trip and post them online so that your kids can see where you and Stanley have been. Another option is having kids send faxes to the hotel, and sending some back, so that you can exchange messages and artwork. They might get a kick out of the antiquated technology.

Airport image via ShutterStock

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Google has released a feature-rich update to its popular Google Voice app for iOS, but unfortunately it also comes with numerous bugs.

The application catches-up the iOS app to where the Google Voice Android app was a month ago. The iOS app adds welcome features like group texting, multi-line text entry, one-touch copy and paste in the dialer and integration with Sprint phones. The Sprint integration is especially good because it lets the company’s new iPhone owners send calls to the native dialer.

But as great as those features are, the app has a few serious issues that need fixing. The biggest single issue being complained about is that when you call someone through Google Voice, it now shows your phone’s number on other people’s Caller ID rather than your GV number, as it previously did. I can confirm that this issue is legit, as I saw it in my own testing. Other issues reviewers have include the following: Sprint users no longer being able to make U.S. calls, one user said he could no longer make international calls, another said voice dictation no longer works and a few users said the app no longer works because they cannot log in.

Google was forced to pull its Gmail for iOS application in early November because of crippling bugs, and later released a working version of the app in mid-November. Coupled with these new Google Voice errors, this makes us wonder if the mobile app team has been shaken up lately. In the past, updates weren’t so consistently buggy.

At this point, I would highly recommend not updating your Google Voice application for iOS until these issues are resolved.

Update: A Google spokesperson has sent us the following (predictable) statement:

We’re investigating reports of bugs for some users on the latest Google Voice iOS app launched today. We believe we isolated the issue and are working on getting a fix for it shortly.

Google launched calling to standard phones from the Gmail interface in August 2010 and has kept it as an option ever since. This past August, the company expanded calling from Gmail to support 38 languages and four payment currencies.

While domestic calls to people in the U.S. and Canada are free, international calls will cost, with pricing starting at $0.02 a minute. The most expensive rates in Google’s list for straight-up calling appear to be for Antarctica at $2 a minute. Callers, if they want, can also link this to a free Google Voice account to get inbound calls.

In light of Google adding voice calling to Google+ Hangouts just a few weeks ago, the move to keep free calling in Gmail isn’t terribly surprising. That new feature handily lets you rope a non-Google+ user into a Google+-powered meeting or conference call.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Google on Wednesday announced that users who want to keep a previous Google Voice number permanently will now have the option — for a small fee.

The feature is not a major new offering, but it could help a select number of users who want or need two different Voice numbers. Any user who changed their Google Voice number, ported their number to Google Voice, or merged their number with Sprint used to lose the old Google Voice number after 90 days. Now users have the option to keep the old number as long as they pay a one-time $20 fee.

Any person who calls or texts a newly permanent secondary number will automatically forward to the newer Google Voice number. To keep a previous number, log in to Google Voice, click the Settings tab, and click “make permanent” next to the number you want to keep.

It’s hard to believe there are many users clamoring to keep their older, secondary Google Voice lines. However, it could come in handy if you want, for instance, a business number and a personal number through Google Voice. Or perhaps you want to keep a number that’s easier for people to remember and would rather give that out to friends and associates instead.