On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 02:38:48PM -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: > > Thanks for the info. Actually I haven't tried any version yet. I was > just curious about finding some app that might receive text message > sent from a cell phone. I.e. - instead of giving my cell phone number > which I'd rather keep private I might give a Google-Talk phone number > and receive the messages at my desk. I think this can be done with > Skype but you have to buy a phone number from them. It seems to me > that Google gives theirs out for free, at least right now. > > I believe you are correct about the ?? versions. They aren't in portage here. > > Thanks again, > Mark
There is a service called Google Voice. You get a phone number from them and can forward it to another phone. Also, it will send voice messages to your Google mail account, and even translate them (not well) to text. It will also send text messages. This was the number I put on my business cards (it's in my sig) so that I could receive calls to my cell number w/out actually giving it out. When someone calls 662-205-6424 it tells me I have a call from (and I assume they're asked to give their name), press 1 to accept. If I don't want to talk to them at that time, I don't answer, and they're routed to the voice mail. If they leave a message, it's sent to my Google account as a sound file and translated to text. That's the gist of it... When my one-year with this Android phone is up in Dec, we're getting iPhones and also canceling all the Google accounts and services. We don't agree with the new privacy policies they released March 1, 2012. Google was not a favorite before then, actually. But if we didn't keep the Google account we couldn't get updates to the Android phone. Which, by the way, is a piece of junk (Samsung Galaxy S). Android OS is basically Googles *borrowing* from Linux and OSS over the years, and they've done an amazingly poor job of it. Be that as it may ... Google Voice has been nice. If some sane and responsible party who valued privacy and freedom as we do had a similar service, we'd be interested. -- Happy Penguin Computers >') 126 Fenco Drive ( \ Tupelo, MS 38801 ^^ supp...@happypenguincomputers.com 662-269-2706 662-205-6424 http://happypenguincomputers.com/ Don't top-post: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_post#Top-posting
