(UPDATE) Google Voice now open to everyone – Not exactly

(Update 0133hrs 23062010) Ok we were pretty excited about the service but when we wanted to sign up for Google Voice, the screen below greated us. Turns out Google Voice is only available in the US at the moment. The post titled “Google Voice for everyone” on Google’s official blog sure did an awesome job in confusing us. We’re sorry if we managed to inadvertently confuse you as well.

It was very mysterious that Google didn’t allow you to create a label called “voicemail” in your Gmail inbox.

We speculated that Google might be on the verge of lauching a VOIP service that runs from Gmail where users can make VOIP calls (ala Skype) directly from their Gmail account.

We added that its then US only service called Google Voice was the frontrunner of this VOIP service that we thought Google would launch. Well, it turns out, we were pretty close.

Google today just announced on its blog that it has made its Google Voice service — it’s web-based platform for managing voice communications — available to everyone.

Basically Google Voice gives you one number to ring all your phones, voicemail that works like email, free calls and text messages, low-priced international calls and more.

Don’t quite understand how Google Voice works and what it can do for you? Check out Google’s official introductory video after the jump.

We’ve just signed up for the service and found out, by “for everyone”, Google meant everyone in the US. Thanks for the confusion Google. still learning the ropes on this one as well. We’ll report back on findings as we discover them. In the meantime if you’ve tried Google Voice, let us know in the comments your experience.

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