Android Atlas

Google Voice transcribes your voice mail for karaoke-style playback.

(Credit: Taylor Wimberly)

Google Voice released its first mobile client to the Android Market this week. The mobile application allows you to make calls and send text messages from your Google Voice number. Also included with the service is visual voice mail, which offers transcriptions of your messages.

The new service works by converting your voice messages into text that is easy to read. When a new message is available, Google Voice sends an alert to the notification bar. The transcription is not always perfect, but most messages are readable. During playback, you can easily jump to any part of the recording by tapping the word in the message.

Using a simple hack, any Android user can use their Google Voice account for all voice mail. If you wish to replace your regular T-Mobile voice mail with Google Voice visual mail, follow these steps. If you don't have a Google Voice account already, go request an invitation now.

1. Create a new contact on your phone that includes your mobile number. When creating the contact, check the box to send all incoming calls to voice mail.
2. Go to your phone settings and browse to Call Settings. Change your voice mail number to your Google Voice number. Be sure to write down your existing voice mail number if you want to revert the changes.
3. While still in the Call Settings, change your Call forwarding numbers to your Google Voice number.

After making these changes, any call that would normally would go to your T-Mobile voice mail is now forwarded to Google Voice. All changes can be undone by simply replacing your original T-Mobile voice mail number.

Play around with the hack and see how you like it. Visual voice mail is a highly requested feature and T-Mobile might launch their own service when the is released. We will have to wait and see how the services compare, but it is nice to have choices.

If you are new to Google Voice, watch this introduction video to get a better understanding of the service.

SMS Unread Count displays the number of unread messages on top of your icons.

(Credit: Taylor Wimberly)

Android's open nature makes it easy to customize the look and feel of your phone with widgets, themes, and home screen replacements. Not surprisingly, many have chosen to make their Android phone look and operate like the wildly popular iPhone.

Yet, Android and the iPhone differ in the way they display unread application notifications. Android places new alerts in the systemwide notification bar while the iPhone places a notification directly over the specific app. Both systems work well, but some might prefer the iPhone's system.

SMS Unread Count is a free Android widget that attempts to emulate the iPhone method. Once installed, users can replace the default messaging and dialer icons with new notifications that display the unread number. Though it doesn't provide any real functional use, it is a nice visual cue.

Adding the new widget to your Android phone is easy after installation: Just long press on an empty space of the home screen to add a new object. Browse through the available widgets and select SMS Unread Count. During the initial setup, you can change the type, counter size, and toggle show zero count.

Only messaging and dialer icons are available in the current release of SMS Unread Count, but support should be expanded over time. The developer Kanok Gems has already released several updates that added new functions. In the future, I would like to see support for Gmail, Email, Market, and other default icons.

PrinterShare allows you to send print jobs from a phone to your printer.

(Credit: Taylor Wimberly)

Have you ever wished you that could print files directly from your Android phone? A new application called PrinterShare uses a client on your handset and a print server on your PC to do just that. Once installed, you can print documents, contacts, and photos on your home printer from any place with cellular service or Wi-Fi. The service is free to use and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. What's more, the mobile client is available for both the Android and the iPhone.

Set up the desktop PrinterShare software
Before you can register an account with PrinterShare, you first must install the desktop software. Visit the PrinterShare Web site and download the appropriate client for your operating system. Unfortunately, Windows Vista 64-bit is not supported yet.

Once you install the software, follow the instructions to register a PrinterShare account. A name and e-mail address is required for the free version. When registration is complete, you'll receive an e-mail with your User ID and password, which you'll need when setting up the mobile client.

Make sure that you share a printer when the software installation and registration is complete. To do so, launch the PrinterShare application and it will scan your PC automatically for installed printers. After it's done, just select the printers you want to share. In Windows, advanced options are available by right clicking on the PrinterShare icon in the Taskbar.

Install PrinterShare on your phone
When the desktop software is ready to go, it's time to install the client onto your phone. Search the Android Market or the iPhone App Store for PrinterShare.

The app setup process for Android phones is quite simple. After the install finishes, launch the application and press the menu button to enter your account information. This is the same User ID and password you received during registration. At this same time, you can add your printers by browsing for the any that are shared. One cool PrinterShare feature is the ability to share your printer with roommates or family members.

Printing files from your Andorid device
Now that you have added a printer, you can begin printing files. The three available options on the PrinsterShare home screen include pictures, contacts, and Web pages. It's also possible to send print jobs to PrinterShare from other Android applications by long pressing on items.

Printing pictures is pretty straightforward. Simply click Print Pictures and select a photo from the gallery. When selecting photos, you can change options like paper setup, page margins, and picture size. It also provides a print preview before sending the print job.

In my testing, it took about 5 minutes total to complete a print job over a T-Mobile Edge connection. It requires about 2 minutes to process the print job and send the file with the rest of the time allotted for the print server to receive the file. These times can vary based on file size.

Print Contacts is an especially helpful feature. When selected, use the menu option to toggle which group of contacts to print. Alternatively, you can select all of your contacts. The app will print all information associated with a contact including a photo.

Print Web Pages launches a browser inside the PrinterShare app and places a large print button at the bottom of the screen. Type in the Web site you wish to visit, navigate to the desired page, and then hit print to send off the job. It's also possible to send Web pages to PrinterShare from the default Android browser. Simply hit menu, then more, and select share page. When you hit share page, the PrinterShare application will appear in the list.

It's also possible to print e-mail attachments, but this can be more difficult. In order to print an attachment, you must visit the desktop version of Gmail in the Android browser. Then, find the e-mail with the attachment and preview it. From the document preview page you can use the menu, more, and share option again. In my testing, I was able to print TXT and PDF files.

Is PrinterShare worth all the hassle?
Installing the PrinterShare software on your PC and mobile device can be time consuming. But after the initial setup, the application is easy to use. And even better, its works just as promised. The free version of the service is supposed to include a cover page that you can remove for a fee. Yet, when I tested the free Android client, it never printed my jobs with a cover page.

Since its release, there have been several updates to the Android client. Hopefully we will continue to see added features over time. But when it comes to printing files on Android, there are not many choices. PrinterShare performs as advertised, and I would recommend it to any Android user.

The Ion gives a taste of what to expect with the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

T-Mobile has finally unveiled its second Android phone, but how does it stack up with the carrier's first release? If you purchased a G1 back in October, is it time to upgrade? How were the major concerns of the first phone addressed?

The MyTouch 3G won't launch in the United States until August, but the phone has been available in other parts of the world for months. The Google Ion, which made the rounds at the Google I/O conference last month, is a limited edition version of the HTC Magic, and shares the same hardware and many features with the MyTouch 3G.

Battery life
One of the biggest complaints of the G1 concerned its limited battery life. Users were forced to disable many features in order to prolong use. Indeed, on my G1, I routinely had to disable Wi-Fi, GPS, and other features that I wasn't using. Normally, my phone would normally survive the day, but it was near dead when I placed it on the charger at night.

Luckily, the battery life is no longer an issue on the second Android phone. The Ion's 1300mAh battery offers increased capacity over its predecessor. Though it's only 13 percent larger than the G1's 1150mAh battery, it feels as if it has twice the capacity. Even if I leave all features turned on, my phone is still going strong at night. There have even been a few nights where I skipped charging the Ion, which is something that I could never do with the G1.... Read more