Android update leaves Google Voice users gagged

SOFTWARE DEVELOPER Google has continued its run of bugs in Android 2.3.3, with users reporting that the update has rendered its own Google Voice application useless.

While Nexus S users are grappling with Google's decision to change the colour temperature on displays, Nexus One users have a different problem, the inability to use Google Voice. The voice over IP application is popular among users who want to avoid paying long distance call charges and the embarrassing aspect of this bug is that Google Voice is one of the applications that comes pre-installed with most Android devices including the Nexus One and Nexus S.

Users from all over the world have flooded Google's help forum asking for answers, with most saying that Google Voice was working fine on their Nexus One when it ran Android 2.2.2. Initially some users thought that Google was blocking users outside of the US, but some have reported that inserting a US mobile operator SIM card still doesn't grant access to Google Voice.

Technically Google Voice is a US only service, however users could get access to the service by going through a few loopholes.

It's unclear at the moment whether Google has placed tighter controls over Google Voice or whether it has dropped a clanger with the Google Voice client that it supplies in Android 2.3.3. One user said that he managed use Google Voice by rolling back to the version of the client that was supplied on his HTC Desire, which is yet to receive the Android 2.3.3 update.

Google has not commented, however, about whether the problem with its Google Voice client is just shoddy testing or a tightening of controls, but either way the problems with Android 2.3.3 don't serve as a good advertisement for Google's software development performance. µ