Project Fi is here. Photo: Google

Google has begun sending out invites for its new Project Fi wireless service, but they come with a big catch; those who sign up will have to surrender their Google Voice account, along with its history.

Something much more ambitious than Google Voice is coming.

Pretty soon you’ll be able to buy a Nexus smartphone that works with Google’s own wireless network. The company is close to offering its own mobile phone plans directly to customers, a move that would allow Google to control the entire phone experience from top to bottom.

Many Android users would have been informed of an update for Google Voice earlier today, as soon as I saw the notification I instantly thought Babel had arrived. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. The update brings “improved the reliability of SMS delivery.” But if Google Voice is an IM client, shouldn’t the SMS delivery have been stable in the first place?

Thanks to those leaked screenshots that appeared on Tuesday, we’re pretty confident that Google Babel is no longer just a rumor, but a real product that’s patiently waiting to get its grand unveiling. And according to sources that are familiar with Google’s plans, it’s worth getting excited about.

They claim Babel aims to be “everything we have ever asked for in a unified messenger service,” with cross-platform syncing and a “first class iOS experience.”

Do your children ask you every day when Santa’s going to arrive? Now you can show them, thanks to Google’s new Santa Tracker app for Android smartphones and tablets. Built by “Santa’s developer elves,” the new app features a countdown to Christmas Eve, then allows you to track jolly old Saint Nicholas on his journey to children all over the world.