The rumors finally came true: Google just officially announced the integration of Google Voice and Google Hangouts, meaning you'll easily be able to send messages, video chat, and now call your friends and family all from one app on Android, iOS, and desktop. Before, you had to download a separate Google Voice app to make calls.
Good news for your relationships and your bank account: Calls are completely free in the U.S. and Canada, and international rates are pretty cheap, too (it's only 5 cents a minute to call a friend in Mexico, for instance, compared to 28 cents on a regular phone).
The new version of Hangouts that supports calling will roll out to users over the next few days. If you use Hangouts on your Android phone, you'll also have to install the accompanying dialer to turn on voice calls.
Here a peek at what phone calls will look like in Hangouts:
Voice calls in Hangouts: call history (left); dialer (middle); in a call (right)