I’m one of those people who will go sign up for whatever new hot service everyone is talking about, just in case I might use it someday.  One such service was GrandCentral, now Google Voice.  I signed up for a number right before GrandCentral closed their beta, but I never really used it.  I figured it was something that would be nice to have for certain situations, but I didn’t find a chance to put it to the test until GrandCentral made the Google Voice transition.

Now that I’m doing some more writing and publishing work, I’d rather give out my Google Voice number than my cell number so that I can have my voicemails transcribed and searchable.  I also really like the ability to send and receive text messages from the Google Voice account. I don’t see me transitioning to using the Google Voice number as my main number, since I’ve had the same cell number for 5 years, but it could start coming in handy for personal business.

Of course, the one thing that was missing was a Google Voice app for my iPhone.  I have the Google Voice mobile site bookmarked on my iPhone and it works just fine, but it’s a pretty inelegant solution.  I didn’t figure it would be too long before an iPhone app surfaced, and I was right.  GV Mobile is coming soon, according to reports on the Net.  It is a 3rd party application, so I am interested to see what Google has to say about the app and how quickly they might come out with their own.

In addition to using a dial pad, it will integrate with your existing contacts list on the iPhone, which I think will make the experience of using GV Mobile feel flawless.  You will be able to place and receive calls and send and receive SMS messages using the app.  Received SMS messages will be forwarded to your normal SMS inbox on the iPhone.  Of course, it would be ideal if the calls list could also route directly to the call history on the iPhone, but considering how locked down certain parts of the OS are, I really doubt that would ever be possible.  Call history in GV Mobile IS very cool because it will allow you to see all calls you’ve made from Google Voice, no matter what phone or computer they were made on.

Given the recent hoopla surrounding the Skype application only working on Wi-Fi, I think the Google Voice app is set to become seriously popular when the GV service comes out of closed beta.  You can’t beat free, and from what I can tell you won’t be limited to using the phone only on a Wi-Fi connection.  I realize that Skype and Google Voice are different, and that making Google Voice calls over your iPhone will still use phone minutes.  But, if someone is using Skype for features like the online voicemail or forwarding their SkypeIn number to a landline or cell phone, I think Google Voice (and possibly the GV Mobile app) come out the clear winner.  I’m looking forward to seeing if I’m right!

Google Voice for iPhone and iPod Touch Coming Soon via Lifehacker