calling

Now expanding to 38 new languages, Gmail's phone call feature has kicked in a slew of cheaper rates to more than 150 countries.

An alternative to Skype, Google's calling feature enables you to make free domestic and inexpensive international calls to any mobile phone or landline via Gmail Chat.

Launched almost a year ago, the feature racked up more than 1 million calls its first day and has continued to expand, most recently offering the ability to make multiple calls at the same time.

Now, Gmail calling has expanded again in a move designed to save its users … Read more

A lot of Android smartphones don't have an LED that can display color-coded alerts like the G1 or Nexus One. It's pretty handy to simply glance at your phone and already know if the alert you were out of earshot for is actually something important to check. NoLED is a useful little app that allows you to see a small colored dot or icon on your screen which will identify your different alerts received.

Note: It's recommended that you only use NoLED on AMOLED screens because it is not as battery-friendly on SLCD screens; however, it can … Read more

Apple's Mac App Store is now on virtually every Intel-based Mac out there. It's come preinstalled on new systems since January, including the brand-new MacBook Air and Mac Mini desktops, and it was pushed to owners of prior systems (who have at least OS X v10.6.6) via a downloadable update.

While you're not locked into it for buying new software as you are with the App Store for the iPad, iPhone, and other iOS devices (jailbreaking aside), it's so convenient and easy to use that it's probably your first stop when looking for … Read more

On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world.

By now I'm sure that you're familiar with the arguments against the proposed AT&T-T-Mobile merger. As critics see it, the deal will put too much power in the hands of one carrier (and one GSM carrier, at that), it will reduce customer choice and innovation, and it will lead to higher prices and poorer customer service.

Those all are valid points, but I'm more worried about something that hasn't received a lot of attention. … Read more

The official Skype app for Android lets you place voice calls to landlines, mobile numbers, or other Skype users. It also offers built-in SMS capabilities, instant messaging for chatting with your Skype connections, and for a select few supported devices, video calls.

Skype's user interface is incredibly clean and simple to use. The Home screen displays four icons to cover all your basic needs: Contacts, Recent, Call phones, Profile. Above the icons, there's a small bar where you can change your mood message (Skype's version of a status update). And at the very top, there's a … Read more

Google shuts down Google Labs for greater company focus, Darth Vader makes it to Garmin GPS devices, and the space shuttle Atlantis touches down, marking the end of NASA's shuttle program.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Make multiple calls in Gmail

Those of you who use or want to try out Gmail's voice calling feature to make phone calls can now set up multiple calls at the same time.

Unveiled almost a year ago, Gmail's phone call feature lets you make calls to other Gmail users as well as to regular cell phones and landlines. Calls to the U.S. and Canada are free, while calls abroad typically cost a few pennies per minute. The feature even includes video chatting.

Until now, you could only make one phone call at a time. But in a recent update to the … Read more

Using a mobile phone while driving is dangerous enough on its own. Add to that the need to look at your phone to end calls and you have a recipe for disaster. If only today's smartphones had that trusty end-call button that existed on older phones. Fortunately, you can follow these quick steps to turn your power button into the end-call button you've been missing:

Editor's note: This How To is geared toward handsets running Android 2.2 and above.

Step 1: Enter the settings menu from either the app tray or by clicking Menu>Settings … Read more

Google Voice users who have been marking calls as spam now have something to show for their troubles.

"Thanks to the help of the thousands of Google Voice users who mark calls as spam everyday--and our own spam identification tools--it is now possible to automatically redirect calls, texts, and voicemails from any of the numbers in our database directly into your spam folder," the search company said on its Google Voice blog yesterday.

Spam filtering has long been a desire of Google Voice users. Previously, when telemarketers would call a Google Voice user, they could still block the … Read more