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GrandCentral Reborn As Google Voice
Some anonymous person wrote in to say that Google has relaunched and rebranded GrandCentral as "Google Voice." The article says it will "revolutionize telephones. It unifies your phone numbers, transcribes your voice mail, blocks telemarketers and elevates text messages to first-class communication citizens." Sadly, the voicemail didn't integrate very nicely w/ my phone back in the day, so I guess I should give it a shot.
They are now listening in and converting Voice to Text. I suspect that they are using an AI to figure out the heurestics of converting voice to Text. At some point, that will be useful in a number of new areas. Not just better transcription, but will be EXTREMELY useful for selling products to the Feds. Want to know exactly what Abdula is saying to his Cousin Obama in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia? Of course, that will lead to new translators as well. It could convert nicely from Arabic to English.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
How does google plan to make money off of this? TFA mentions that they'll be transcribing voicemail to text in near real-time. Will they also be sifting those voicemails for marketing keywords? If my buddy calls to brag about his new car, will I be seeing BMW ads next time I log into gmail?
*Pulling the tinfoil hat even lower over the brow now* Will Google Talk also have the ability to monitor calls made through their service for marketing info?
Yeah, it sounds like a great service, but what's the cost in privacy?
ANI and VOIP don't play well together because the ANI (which is accurate) will point to the POP where the VOIP system connects to the POTS.... which may be very far from the VOIP user.
But that ANI (is* accurate, in that it will lead you to the actual VOIP company that delivered the call to the POTS. From there, they have records that identify the actual source.
So while ANI+VOIP isn't good for E911, it does work well for identifying telemarketers and suing their ass.
Who wants video phones? There are really only two times that I use (or want to use) video calling:
1. Very occasionally, for remote meetings with colleagues that I know well and like, mainly because it is amusing and allows us to connect after not working side-by-side for a long time.
2. When dealing with tiny kids at a long distance.
Other than that, it's awful. I hate it for ordinary business calls because I can't read email, munch on raisins, pick my nose, stare out the window, or whatever else I'd normally do. And I've never felt like I want to see my friends when calling them.
Assuming I'm not too terribly odd in this regard, the market for video is probably limited.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
While that's cool I find the "alarm" function on my phone a bit easier...
I don't know, I'm becoming more and more wary about all the personal information Google is acquiring, and this is another area where Google is able to collect and store such information. Gmail, Calendar, Blogger, Desktop and now essentially, Phone Manager. The way things are going, soon Google will will be able to set your alarm clock for you without your direct input. They'll just know what time you need to wake up and voila.
I totally agree, but I'm also looking forward to this. it's a hate-love-relationship. I really hate and abhor the fact, that there's a company out there gathering such immense amounts of data on everyone - for the company's gain, not the public's. On the flip side, I'm truly envious of the quantity, quality and accuracy of their statistical data. I love that this data will enable them all kinds of awesomely cool stuff. I hate that they're essentially using that information to exploit their users.
it starts off nice and clean with direct and targetted advertising, which by itself might actually be helpful and not bore people with ads that don't have any relevancy to them. But if we project and exaggerate their prowess, we get to a stage where google can directly and on a massive scale, manipulate markets and behaviour.
this, I'm not looking forward to.
It's not about fate, it's about character.
there be no shelter here, the frontline is everywhere!