It's silly that the 3G models don't do voice calls. You could easily do calls using the speaker and, more privately, using a (BT) headset. It's great to be able to use the device while calling instead of holding it to your head like a neanderthal.

I still don't know what the (or my personal) sweet spot for phone size will be. You're trading off essential attributes either way you go. 7" might be an interesting spot if you want to "have" a tablet device and a phone device but don't want to have to own both.

Stashing it is a problem though. I can't imagine lugging it around in my front pockets. Back pockets might work better but are easily stealable and (the bigger issue) you have to sit on your phonetablet all the time. Cargo pants work, but aren't fashionable, and I imagine (from lugging beer^Wwater) that the weight distribution is annoying. Biking clothes have a bigger pocket in the small of your back, and having never worn one, I think that's just about perfect. Or you could do it like Peter Molyneux: http://youtu.be/o6-grRsTupA?t=9m35s

Any reason why voice can't be added through a custom rom?

Short answer: no. Long answer: they're working on it.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2025377

Recent nexus 7 purchaser (~ 1 week) here, previously disenchanted with android, who therefore reverted to a Nokia N900 but is now considering using the nexus 7 in the real life on a daily basis.

There are many great points in the article (and BTW I purchased the same cover - it has a magnet to turn the screen off when it closes and works a bit like an ipad cover) but there are some weird points. Well, a big one : no software phone by default.

Why should we need grooveip?

I have various SIP accounts, and on my laptop, I can use google voice to send call from the browser. I just wish the Nexus 7 had something better than "click to call" (to another device)

(and I wish it was possible to connect by SIP to google voice)

Just put some cash on your account and you can also send call.

The form factor is not really a problem - you just use the nexus 7 'differently'.

> (and I wish it was possible to connect by SIP to google voice)

There was a time when you could connect Google Voice to Gizmo5 (SIP) but then Google bought them and disabled that functionality.

If you have the time to mess around with Asterisk, it's doable on your own. That's a sizable "if" though.

Wait, why hasn't someone made a kit for this and offered people free home phone service without a monthly fee?

There are lots of SIP phone services. I use sipgate which covers many countries and have an old VoIP phone or use my mobile.

I ended up using Yate with a hard phone to achieve this.

It works mostly, but far from trouble free.

I suspect this is a closer view of the near future than some of the incumbents would like. Once your voice API crosses a certain reliability threshold tapping your chest and saying "Kirk to Enterprise" makes a lot more sense. :-)

I think the fact that you can already pretty much do this via a bluetooth headset or headphones, yet few do, speaks volumes about the social action of putting a phone to your head in public.

Not everything is a technology-related barrier. I suspect most people will be less inclined to look like they are talking to themselves than you would think.

This is awesome! Has anyone build something like this already? A bluetooth button with a mic and speaker, to wear on your chest. When you press it, the voice recognition software in your phone gets started. You could call it the Siri-button (or Google Voice/Now button).

Well my current BT headset will pass though a voice call request if I hold the button. I'm guessing one could hook that into the 'home' button signal for iOS to pull up Siri, and coding Siri to accept 'my_name "to" <contact>' as a request to speed dial contact, well that is just a bit of coding as they say.

My guess is that Google could do it trivially by oneboxing the Google Now API (you know how they intercept a search for recursion to return a specific result).

Now building a small speaker phone gizmo the size of the Star Trek com-badge is also pretty doable if you don't mind hacking on a BT headset.

So the pieces are there. I hope someone builds one and submits it to Hackaday. I'll have to go look and see how hackable the souvenier communicator I got at the Star Trek Experience is.

I think you can already do this. I had a Blackberry a few years ago that would go into voice command mode when you pressed the button on any Bluetooth headset. Presumably this is standard behavior (though I can't actually find my headset to test with the Nexus 7).

With the standard in place, it's a simple matter of 3D printing a suitable enclosure and having it press that button.

Kirk actually still had a flip-phone.

Kirk used both of course, although you raise an interesting point. The original Motorola Razr (I still have one) was an homage to that flip open communicator vision. Perhaps a bluetooth equivalent of the chest communicator will emerge as a similar homage.

As others have pointed out though, the folks in Star Trek were always on speaker phone whereas we see that being annoying.

The Razr (2004) was a follow on to the original StarTAC (1996), which Wikipedia lists as the first clamshell/flip mobile phone. I still have both in my pile of old phones.

The "ear and mouth" part of the phone interface can be a thin strip which you hold with your hand. Picture something like a short drinking straw, curved in a good way.

With a little design, that could attach to the side of the tablet (snap in, so it doesn't get lost - could also charge itself if it needs much juice).

So you want to make a call, just snap off the 'handset' and talk. All the social cues about phone calls apply.

It might also be possible to engineer it as a stylus, but there may be a straight/curved issue to resolve there.

The Asus PadFone had a combined stylus and headset exactly like that: http://asia.cnet.com/hands-on-with-the-asus-padfone-stylus-h...

Oh, interesting, thanks. There was me thinking I was gifting the world a bit of prior art :-)

Let's be honest here. He didn't use a Nexus 7 as his phone. He got rid of his phone and carried a tablet instead. I think this distinction is relevant because a data connection is all that matters. The source of the data connection doesn't.

I experimented for a while with a data-only setup on my Galaxy S2 since I got sick of juggling SIM cards when I traveled. The goal was that as long as I had IP connectivity, my phone worked as it always did, so everything routed through voip, etc.

What forced me to switch back was the latency involved in VOIP calls. It was mostly okay, but sometimes it was downright horrible. I'm super excited for a Nexus device with nice, low-latency true 4G so I can take another run.

I use a Galaxy Camera with a 4G LTE MiFi from Verizon, and can tell you that a Nexus with a similar backend should work nicely for you. Advantage of the MiFi is that I don't have to do anything to tether (no funny business like with a phone on US Carriers), and I am free to change the phone more often. I personally use Skype since their codecs give better quality over even 3G connections. For your consideration...

I've also been using a Nexus 7 as my primary (though not exclusive) connectivity device. Instead of GrooveIP, I use Spare Phone, which has a nicer icon (and yes, that is why I chose it). The biggest drawback I've encountered is that talking over the speakers doesn't work well because the other party can hear his/her voice on a slight delay.

The other thing I've been really surprised by is how much I like using it to write. Now that the stock keyboard has swipe input, I spend about 1 or 2 hours a day writing in Google Docs (err... Drive). To be fair, I was never a particularly fast typist, so I didn't notice the impact to my speed, that others surely would. Still, I don't find the tablet interface to be much of a barrier to getting my thoughts recorded, which was a real surprise.

The thought of regularly typing on a touch keyboard will give me nightmares tonight, thanks.

I have a bluetooth keyboard and I got a TF700 exclusively for the physical keyboard support. Can't stand touchscreen keyboards for anything more than a URL or my name.

Neat experiment, but I just couldn't deal with the size. I've put my N7 in my pocket, because it does fit, but it's usually part of a joke about the increasing size of phones. Other than the size, the N7 feels quite a bit less responsive than my Nexus 4. I do prefer the N7 for two-handed reading, typing and browsing (and to save battery on the N4).

As somewhat of an aside, I love viewing the large screen on the Nexus 4, but ergonomically, it's just too much. If I can't hit all four corners with my thumb without changing my grip, it's not optimal. I have large-ish hands, but my Nexus One is the perfect size for one-handed use.

I'd love to have a modern, vanilla Android phone with a 4" screen. And without a glass back.

One big reason I'm returning my Lumia 920 for an iPhone 5. It's not even just the size, it's the weight. It's so much easier to reddit one handed on the iPhone while e.g. feeding the baby.

Every time I use a giant-screened Android device I have this feeling. Even now that I'm used to the operation of one, I still feel like I can move so much faster with one hand on an iPhone. Like I can't help myself from bringing up my other hand for something I would do with one hand on an iPhone. Bulky cases also tend to exacerbate the situation.

Kinda like the App Switcher, it's something iOS & the iPhone get a ton of shit for, but in practice I'm so much slower at one-handed navigation without it. That could also be because I'm a lefty, though.

I got my daughter an iPhone 5, and although I prefer Android (ICS/JB, anyway; think I'd go with iOS over GB though), I do love the form factor. I've had more than a few near drops with the N4 while shifting position one-handed!

Does your N7 feel a lot more sluggish after updating to 4.2? The N7 was my first new Android device since the Nexus One so perhaps it's just that massive upgrade slowly wearing off but I too felt my N4 was a lot more fluid than the N7 when I got it.

A lot of people have reported that doing a factory reset after 4.2 cured the sluggishness they were experience after the upgrade. Worth a try if it's really affecting your use of the device.

Yeah, it definitely does. seems to come and go, but switching between apps or opening some feels pretty laggy at times.

Thanks, cageface, I'll try a reset.

IMO this is more like "My life with a tablet instead of a phone". Once pocketability, actually calling people and one-handed operation are no longer a concern to you then your options are basically limitless.

For me those are my top 3 concerns, but if they aren't for you then go for it. Keep in mind though, there is nothing remotely discreet about whipping out a tablet to check something. Not to mention trying to use it on a crowded subway/bus.

Since the Nexus 7 fits in one hand, it is still more like using a phone or an e-reader. I usually read something from my Instapaper queue when traveling in Berlin subway or bus, and haven't ever seen anybody taking any attention to the device I use. Even at rush hours it is fine to hold the device with one hand, and hold on to the vehicle with another.

Now, a bigger tablet like iPad or Nexus 10 could be another story.

"How often when you're sitting around on the sofa would you use your phone to surf the web when you could also go get your laptop? With my 4.5" last phone, the answer was never."

For me it's always even when I have the laptop within reach. Using a phone is just so much more convenient regardless how small it is. I only use my laptop when working nowadays.

Old (as in 1990's old) Nokia phones were more uncomfortable than the flat Nexus 7. They didn't fit in pockets due to how thick they were. So yeah, your 4.5 phone is actually quite comfortable when compared to what I used to have back then. And it got better signal. ;)

I can't imagine carrying a 7" device in my pocket. Will cargo pants finally become practical?

Most of the people I know with bigger phones are women, surprisingly. Presumably they carry their phones in their purses and a 4" phone and 7" phone are about the same at that point.

I've also seen people carrying around Nexus 7s and Kindles in their pockets. It's not exactly the fashion statement of the year, but it's also not 100% impractical.

I can confirm, at least anecdotally, that the Note 2 is a big hit with Asian women. They seem to be pulling them out of their purses all the time here.

I tend to just carry my phone anyways.. I find the N7 more practical to use than my N4, screen size really helps, even commented after getting the N7 (before the HSPA version was available) that I'd love it as a phone, combined with a headset... I tried GrooveIP on it even.. though it does work, I will probably stick to what I have a couple years before doing another hardware cycle.. the N7 did convince me that a nice tablet could be done, and bought the N4.

Fits perfect in the back pockets of jeans.

I have no data top back this up, but I think the back pocket is the most usual place for people to accidentally drop their devices down the toilet from.

But then you have o remember to take it out when you sit. I would constantly forget it...

Is it possible to direct the notification to bluetooth headset? Some bluetooth stereo headset can vibrate.

I've been thinking about the same thing for iPad mini (talkatone instead of GrooveIP), but worried about the notification.

I'm curious about this. A 7" phone seems a certainty rather soon -- the Note 3 will be close, and shaving the bezel off the N7 would make it more pocketable.

I look forward to it. With some changes in pocket design and more wearable Bluetooth headsets, we may be able to combine phones and small tablets effectively.

I feel like the real barrier is less technology and more social attitudes. I rarely see people using Bluetooth headsets in public, the vast majority still hold their phones to their ears when receiving a call and only use headsets in their home or car, if ever. Also, attempting to discreetly text with something that gigantic is difficult if not impossible.

That combined with how slow battery technology evolves makes me assume vast majority will be using phones as phones for the next couple decades. There has always been a niche for VoIP/SIP/Text based solutions to allow you to use other devices as phones, but I don't see any indication that it's about to break out of a niche into the mainstream.

The same people willing to experiment with this sort of thing are the same people that were willing to do so 3-4 years ago. Tech enthusiasts. Everyone else seems to be maintaining the status quo, and barring an unforeseen shift in social attitudes I don't see that changing any time soon.

If you wear a belt, get a belt case for the phone. No more pocket troubles.