WiFi in-flight on American Airlines - VOIP Update

Less than a week ago, American Airlines announced that WiFi would be available in 15 of their flights (click here for the article). In their press release they announced how much the service called  Gogo would cost and that VOIP services would be blocked. This way they could charge those huge fees for phone calls from their in-flight phones. Just like with all service blockages, they are just a hack away from being unblocked. We see the same cat-and-mouse game being played with the iPhone software updates and the unlocking of so many other smartphones.

The same game is now being played in the sky.

Here’s the abstract of the report where the tool is mentioned.

The workaround, called Phweet, allows users to call friends who are linked via Twitter. Andy Abramson from VoIP Watch says that he recently used Phweet to chat with a friend on an American Airlines flight, and that the conversation was so clear he could hear the flight attendant ordering people to get back to their seats in preparation for landing.

Phweet is a shortURL link to an external directory (for now, only Twitter, though others will be added later), that enables calls between two or more profiles without sharing any additional information between the parties. Using the application to make calls at 27,000 feet is a painless three-step process:

• Go to the Phweet homepage and log on with your Twitter name and password.
• Add the Twitter user name of person you want to connect with, along with a message telling them want to talk. A Twitter update and Phweet URL is sent.
• When your friend clicks on the Phweet URL and accepts, your browser whistles and a Flash widget appears. Click on it to talk.

This is obviously not the last we have heard of this hack or the service… Aircell (the company behind Gogo) claims that the workaround to their blocks can be re-blocked but they also reported that it is up to the airline to enforce the no-call policy during flights.

Having said that, I doubt that a no-call policy can be enforced. For example; someone could activate the service, then the workaround and use their mobile device to talk from the bathroom… Not the same as a public phone booth; but you would not be seen talking into a device, therefore no one would notice whether you are circumventing their service or not.

What are your thoughts?

Skype v4 is Calling

I have been involved in voice and video communication on the PC for a long, long time..back to the original Internet Phone technology in the 90s. I have been involved professionally with several of the early innovators in the space, and today I would say VoIP is one of my most commonly used technologies. I use it for at least three quarters of my overall daily communication, and all of it from work.

That being said, I am extremely excited by the release of the beta for Skype v4, which is supposed to start rolling out sometime today/tomorrow NOW. Skype is a great program and one which I find more or less indispensable both professionally and personally..and v4 sounds like it is going to be a useful, gutsy release for the company. The new version seems to be a major step forward for Skype, but technically and philosophically.

In a nutshell, the core Skype software, which was created for the voice dominated environment of a couple years back, is being retooled to focus on video and video/voice/text integration which are the key ingredients of today’s online communication landscape.

[Read more]

New version of EQO available - Part II

As promised, here is a follow-up to Part I of this review.

Let me start off by saying that I took a week to mess around with the new version of EQO (pronounced like "echo"). If I didn’t already mention it, it is a beta, so know that when reading this. There may be fixes underway to the issues I have noted.

I have good and bad things to report. Let me start with the bad.

[Read more]

New version of EQO available - Part I

EQO (pronounced "echo") just sent me a message that a new version of their  IM/VOIP software is available. I will be running some tests and keep you all posted about results.

 

First a little background

Initially, one of EQO’s main benefits was that it allowed you to connect vicariously to Skype (before Skype had ports to mobile phones) and make data calls over that network from your phone. It worked like this: You installed Skype on your desktop, then you installed EQO on your desktop, then you connected the two apps, then you installed EQO on your mobile device which then connected to EQO on your desktop, wirelessly, and made calls vicariously on the Skype network, via the EQO/Skype pairing on your desktop. I first tried the J2ME version on my old Motorola L6 about 2 years ago. I have to admit, it was a little clunky and was more of a "power user" install, but it actually did connect, even over my old T-Mobile EDGE connection (hard to believe actually). Was it usable? Not really. But I think that was mostly due to latency of EDGE network and not that app itself. VOIP was still kind of new then.

I had also tried the IM port it offered, with mixed results. I always loved the interface though.

Fast forward a bit

About 3 months ago, I was looking for a better IM client for my Blackjack II and I decided to give EQO a try again. I installed the Winmo version and all the interface

[Read more]

WebMessenger Unveils Unified Mobile IM/Telephony Solution

One-Click Escalation of Enterprise IM Chats to Voice Calls and Conferences on Mobile Phones Delivers Complete Unified Communications Solution

WebMessenger, a leader in enterprise mobile communications, today announced a powerful new solution for mobile professionals that unifies mobile IM with mobile telephony and enterprise VoIP platforms, enabling instant escalation of chat sessions to phone calls or conferences on handheld devices. WebMessenger Mobile Voice for BroadSoft’s BroadWorks VoIP application platform significantly enhances the real-time collaboration experience for mobile professionals, while dramatically reducing the cost of international dialing from mobile phones.

WebMessenger Mobile Voice for BroadWorks is being demonstrated this week in the BroadSoft booth at the Spring 2008 VON.x Conference & Exposition in San Jose, Calif. WebMessenger Mobile Voice for BroadWorks will be available this summer from WebMessenger and via the new BroadSoft Xtended Marketplace, an online community where enterprises and end users can access applications, participate in discussion forums and share integration ideas with developers.

WebMessenger Mobile Voice for BroadWorks extends the most critical call-control capabilities provided by the BroadWorks platform to BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile and Nokia S60 smartphones. Key features and benefits of the new solution include:

• One-click escalation of person-to-person and group chats to VoIP dialing and conference calls
• Dramatically reduced international dialing charges from mobile phones
• Direct-extension dialing to colleagues from mobile phones
• Cross-application presence awareness functionality
• Mobile access to corporate directory and secure integration to Active Directory for single sign-on capability
• View call history; receive voicemail notifications anytime, anywhere; create international profiles; manage a single phone number
• Easily change telephony service settings such as Simultaneous Ring, Call Forward All, Call Forward No Answer, Call Forward Busy, Do Not Disturb, and Remote Office

WebMessenger Mobile Voice for BroadWorks may be deployed on-premise or as a hosted service, and can be used by itself or in conjunction with other WebMessenger Mobile solutions. WebMessenger Mobile Voice for BroadWorks hosted pricing will start at $4.95 per month, not including a one-time seat-license fee.

For more information about WebMessenger visit www.webmessenger.com.

on enterprise accounts, email sales@webmessenger.com.

Source: WebMessenger press release

MWC: tuitalk Brings Together Telecom Operators, Advertisers and tuitalkers

ARGELA-USA announces “tuitalk” and the introduction of a new business model in telecommunications world. tuitalk acts as a broker between advertisers and telecom operators providing free international calling (and other telecom services) to callers world-wide. Services are subsidized by commercials that are directed to subscribers based on their profile, their preferences and advertisers’ marketing targets. tuitalkers access services over the Internet, maintain their profile and preferences while partner advertisers define their target market along with their alternative commercials and interactive marketing applications. tuitalk matches tuitalker’s preferences and profile with its partner advertisers’ target audience profile and plays the most appropriate commercial prior to handing the service request to one of its partner telecom operators.

For telecom operators, tuitalk is a new channel outside their traditional coverage of fixed or wireless networks. Independent of the underlying access infrastructure of the telecom operator, tuitalk integrates with the operator network and hands service requests to its partner operators once the associated commercial is viewed by the tuitalker. In other terms, tuitalk is not an operator but a partner that attracts global subscribers over the Internet and brings them to the operator for additional traffic and a new revenue stream!

[Read more]

TRUPHONE BUILDS FREE PHONE CALLS APPLICATION USING FACEBOOK PLATFORM

Truphone today announced a unique softphone application built on Facebook Platform that enables Facebook users and their friends to call each other for free. Among the ‘firsts’ introduced by the Truphone ‘Call Me’ application is a moveable button that can be dropped anywhere on Facebook that accepts attachments, enabling users to:

• Embed their ‘Call Me’ button within Facebook messages;
• Post their ‘Call Me’ button onto their friends’ walls;
• Drop their ‘Call Me’ button onto Facebook group and discussion boards.

The Truphone ‘Call Me’ application is available to all Facebook users. Users do not need a Truphone account or a special phone in order to use the application.

Read about the Core Information after the break

[Read more]

Flashphone - You need to check this out!

I saw this item today on VoIP Watch and was excited to try it out.  It is called Flashphone and is a free-of-charge web-service that allows you to call from your computer or device.  You don’t need to install anything!  Just register and log on!  Right now, there is a temporary 1 test call per day but that will change (hopefully soon).  But think about it … FREE WORLDWIDE CALLS right from your PC.  Cool!

All that is necessary for calls - headset and sufficient bandwidth of your Internet connection. Never before the IP-telephony was such simple and accessible. You definitely want to check it out!

Forget about downloadable and inconvenient softphones, flashphone is easy to use and it is web-based. Make and receive calls using any VoIP provider in any place on the Earth. Use mobile version of flashphone on your PDAs, communicators and smartphones (in the future). Add unlimited number of accounts and customize the routing using convenient web interface to lower your money spending. Free mobileness that you couldn’t imagine!

Click this link to get to Flashphone and give it a try!

MICROSOFT SELECTS SIGHTSPEED

SightSpeed Inc. announced that Microsoft will feature SightSpeed’s award-winning video chat service with its new Windows Home Server product.

Delivered on hardware from leading manufacturers and system builders, Windows Home Server helps families with more than one PC easily protect, organize and share their digital pictures, music, documents and videos.  High quality video and audio content from SightSpeed’s market-leading video chat service will now be centralized and accessible throughout the home. With Windows Home Server running SightSpeed, talking face-to-face to anyone in your network, anywhere in the world — for free — is now easier than ever. 

[Read more]

Tritton’s Answer to the bulky Bluetooth Earpiece

Hear ye! Hear ye (and in Bluetooth stereo, no less)! Hot off the proverbial press comes Tritton Technology’s brand-spanking new tech toy, the AX BlueStream Bluetooth stereo headset. 

Ever wonder who came up with that monstrosity of a design that is the Bluetooth headset?  Tritton Technologies has—and is announcing their alternative to the bulky, overbearing earpiece: the AX BlueStream Stereo Headset. The headset, which allows you to control cell phone functions and your phone’s MP3 player, eliminates the common cyborg-like earpiece and uncomfortable standard ear buds.

Roughly 2.5" long and weighing less than an ounce, the AX BlueStream is not your average headset. The package comes with stereo ear buds and a mono ear bud to be used while driving and its ability to connect to Bluetooth enabled Macs and PCs makes it the perfect wireless solution for Skype and other VoIP based calls.

Read more after the jump.

[Read more]

Pinger: Free group voice messages

Pinger Launches Revolutionary Mobile Phone Voice Marketing Service

Pinger Inc. today introduced Pingercast messaging, an opt-in mobile phone promotional tool for political candidates, artists, media companies or anyone wishing to create a personal relationship with supporters. Pingercast messages are used to send rich audio content directly to consumers’ mobile phones and consumers get to connect in a personal way with usually inaccessible personalities.

One of the first Pingercast users, Presidential Candidate John Edwards, is employing Pinger to communicate directly with voters in the crucial New Hampshire and Iowa primaries as well as to a national audience of supporters. Pinger’s mobile voice messaging platform lets Edwards’s followers sign up to receive personal voice updates from the Senator on any U.S. mobile phone.

The Pingercast service is for any marketer with audio content, whether it’s movies, musicians, or anyone wishing to talk to a group in their own voice. The Pingercast service enables customers to leverage their most passionate supporters and fans to help spread their message. Pingercast subscribers can forward messages to their friends, who can then sign up to eeceive new updates on their mobile phones.

To collect names, Pinger works with customers to create branded HTML or
Flash widgets suitable for a website or MySpace page so fans can easily
subscribe. Users can also sign up through a Facebook application or even by texting a shortcode. The Pingercast service allows content owners and users to connect in places that are convenient for them.

Pinger’s mobile voice messaging platform provides marketers with the
data they need to fine tune their Pingercast campaigns. Pinger’s analytics
enable marketers to test the effectiveness of their messages with detailed
information about listen, reply and forward rates.

For more information visit Pinger

Source: Pinger press release

NoNews Mobile Adds Voice

Blue Wall LLC, a mobile content sharing company, today announced its click to call feature on m.nonews.com .

 Users can now use voice chat as another means of communication to create new friendships on “m.nonews.com”. Users simply go to m.nonews.com from any Internet enabled mobile phone and view their friend’s profile to access the new click to call feature. All calls setup through m.nonews.com are anonymous, private and limited to your friends with the ability to enable and disable the VoIP feature at any time.

“VoIP is a natural extension of mobile social networking” stated Brian Fowler Vice President of Blue Wall. “We are pleased to provide these new features to our members in such a short time after our launch” continued Mr. Fowler.

Mobile NoNews is available by sending a text message with the word “GO” to start@nonews.mobi. Once the user sets up their home page, they can explore the application’s unique capabilities. NoNews works with all mobile phones that have messaging capabilities and can be more fully enjoyed by users who can access the mobile web.

Visit m.nonews.com or NoNews.com

Source:Blue Wall press release

Advertising and Voice Improve Mobile Search Experience

Usable Products Company recently completed an independent user experience benchmark on Mobile Search. Eighty participants evaluated three text-based and one voice-enabled mobile search solution resulting in several unexpected insights about the preferences of today’s mobile search users. Researchers were surprised that 79% of participants favored advertising-supported mobile search, and 37% felt that banner ads actually enhanced the mobile search user experience. Paid and sponsored text based ads proved most detrimental to user experience.

Also unexpected was that participants initially predicted voice search would be the most difficult to use but after an hour of usage gave it higher ratings than text search. According to Scott Weiss, president of Usable Products, “Users predicted voice search would be the worst of the four search products, but in final usability, it performed better than expected. We were surprised that participants enjoyed voice search, and how much more they liked it than searching via phone keypad.”

“Mobile search is in its early stages, with many opportunities for improvement. While participants averaged an impressive 88 percent success rate in submitting mobile search queries, only 53 percent found relevant results. Participants who found what they were looking for averaged 143 seconds to submit queries and find answers,” said Weiss. “None of the four search solutions was a clear winner. Our researchers have developed 25 Best Practices, which if followed, are likely to dramatically increase user satisfaction in mobile phone searches.”

The four mobile search solutions benchmarked were: InfoSpace WAP, JumpTap Java (Alltel Axcess Search), Nuance Voice Control, and Yahoo! Go. Participants each used a single mobile search product to check a horoscope, weather, a stock quote, find a restaurant, check a sports score, and find a ring tone. Success, time to complete, and user perceptions were tracked. 20 one-hour usability interviews were conducted for each search product.

“Mobile Search User Experience Benchmark” spans 179 pages and is delivered in print and on CD ROM, with 25 best practices, 76 charts, 32 demonstration videos of mobile search in action, 34 usability video clips, and hundreds of high resolution photographs. It is available for immediate sale from http://usableproducts.com.

Source: Usable press release

Shock News - UK Wimax network up for sale

In what has come as a shock to nearly everyone in the UK. PCCW is about to put its  fixed wireless ISP, NOW, up for sale.

Now the Shock isn’t that it’s selling… but nobody I’ve spoken to actually knew there was a UK Wimax network at all.

To be fair NOW only has about 14,000 customers,  and with a fixed speed of 1Mb/sec and £18 per month price,  it isn’t exactly sexy technology.. compared to the 3G data services that 3, T-Mobile, Orange and Vodafone are now starting to push. But even so you’d have thought that someone would have mentioned it.

Their other option would be to try and grow the business, possibly pushing into VOIP

That would depend not only on successful trials, but also on a change in the regulations. Currently voice-over-Wimax is not permitted, but PCCW group managing director Alex Arena told The Standard’s Chinese-language sister paper that Ofcom has intimated that it will relax this rule.

Arena denied the reports that PCCW is looking to sell NOW, which cost an estimated £27 million to set up and lost £23.2 million in 2005 (later figures have not been disclosed).

Source: PC Pro

Truphone 3.0 released

Truphone, the mobile internet network operator, has added a suite of advanced features to its beta VoIP service for mobile phones, and simultaneously extended until the end of 2007 its offer of free calls to 40 countries.

Truphone is currently available on Nokia’s E60, E61, E61i, E65, E70, N80i and N95 handsets, and will be supported on the E90 handset as soon as that handset becomes available. Truphone is working to support additional handsets from Nokia and other manufacturers, and is also developing a version for Windows Mobile.

James Tagg, Truphone’s CEO, said “We were the first company to demonstrate SMS-over-IP in our preview version at the beginning of June and we’ve been delighted at the feedback we’ve received. People love free and low-cost text messages. Today, the new Truphone service is ready to download for everyone.”

Features

NEW Presence - Know when you can make a free call

NEW Free SMS messages - Text other Truphone users for free

NEW Multi-SIM for Travelers - multiple SIM management

NEW Truphone over 3G - VoIP calls in more places

IMPROVED Easier Wi-Fi access - Truphone manages multiple access points so you don’t have to

IMPROVED Works on more routers - less chance of pesky port-blocking

IMPROVED Easier installation - gotten rid of the awkward bits

 

Video: tour of Truphone’s new features
Video: how to install Truphone 3.0 (first time customers)
Video: upgrading to Truphone 3.0 (existing customers)
Full details of Truphone’s “free calls to 40 countries” offer

For more information on Truphone visit here

Source: IntoMobile and Truphone press release