Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Many phone companies are starting to embrace IP telephony, or at least head it off and slap a price tag on it before people catch on to free or cheap options. At least one company, British Telecommunications, will provide a package that will combine land, IP and mobile phone services. The idea is pretty familiar to us US customers who can get pretty much anything through the local phone company including a nice incentive discount on triple/quad-plays (TV, phone, internet, and wireless).

The difference is that BT’s Onevoice Global virtual private network will be available to 54 countries (it appears to be in Europe only) and will make it uber easy for anyone - especially big money businesses - to move into IP telephony. It will include a single contract, single pricing and the same number scheme. Roaming mobile calls and IDD (International Direct Dialing) through the network will be available later this year. Prices are “bespoke,” which is a fancy British way of saying you gotta call ‘em to get ‘em.

Read [VOIP News] Site [BT]

… and you’re not even dead yet? Voice communication company Vivox is giving away one million free phone minutes to residents of the virtual community in Second Life. Registered Second Lifers can pick up a free “microphone” at a virtual kiosk and enjoy live voice chats with up to five people at a time and place calls to real world phones in North America. The giveaway begins Oct. 4 (ends Nov. 1), so sign up now and call all your friends from the afterli… uh, I mean, your Second Life.

Read [Vivox]

When I first heard I could use Skype from my cell phone, I had thought my days of using calling cards were over.  It’s a great idea, but is it too good to be true?

The ActionTec VoSky Call Center ($57.99) advertises its ability to make Skype mobile.  It allows users to make and receive Skype calls on any phone, including their cell phones.  The actual device is very lightweight, and is very easy to install.  It does not require any external power source which is nice.  Make sure you follow the directions on the CD so you know when to plug the device into your USB drive. 

To actually use the main features of the call center, such as remote internet calling, you must connect it to a phone line.  Otherwise the call center will only enable your house phone to make Skype calls.  To make a Skype call from your cell phone, dial the number of the line you connected the device to and wait for the designated number of rings before you are prompted to enter in your password. When living with other people this could be a problem as they may pick up the phone.  Another problem I frequently encountered was the call center did not hang up after my call was complete.  The line was simply dead until I manually went into the software and closed it out.  Obviously a problem if I’m not home.  Re-installing the software did not solve this issue.

Overall, if you are one to make lots of international calls and have a perpetual need for Skype’s services; this call center will be a great convenience and money saver for both you and for your Skype friend.  Although I believe a few bugs need to be worked out in the software, I strongly recommend this product.  Just warn your housemates to not pick up the phone before you make a remote call.

If you are a Vonage customer or are considering switching to Vonage read on, otherwise go download Skype or Gizmo and be happy.

Vonage has released a portable access point for the Vonage service, that is available for Vonage customers. For $39.99 you buy a USB drive that comes preloaded with a program that allows you to call anyone in the world from any computer in the world with two things: a network connection and a USB drive. The USB stick comes with a microphone as well as 250MB of usable memory, for you to use at your conscience.

This seems like a good buy for those of you already using Vonage, but if you are not a customer I would recommend holding off, if you intention is just to use this feature.

Product Page [Vonage]
Read [TechEffect]
Read a review of the product [Gizmodo]

As we previously reported, Jajah is a VoIP service that requires you to enter your phone number and the phone number of the person you’d like to call on your computer, and then you both get a call, connecting you. The company has now extended their 5 minutes of free calling to unlimited calling to both land line and mobile phones around the world. 

There is a slight catch though. JaJah’s Free Global Calling Plan applies only when both call participants are registered JAJAH users.  But hey, if you can make free calls to friends, family, etc. why not have them register? The company is also depending on its users adhering to a “fair use” policy, which simply asks that they keep their calls within a reasonable amount of minutes. This ‘fair use’ will be monitoring the number of minutes each registered user uses per day “to assure that no single person damages the overall service.” This seems fishy to me, essentially offering the company a loop hole to end the program and charge you instead.

Make calls [Jajah]
Read [VoIP Central]

In preparation for Vonage’s upcoming IPO it seems that they have changes their text only logo in favor for a new image. The new logo has a ‘V’ drawn like someone raising their arms in the air and a nice round blue dot for their head. The company has eliminated their tag line, “Leading the internet phone revolution,” probably because Skype has more users than them.

We are hoping that this is a exclamation of happiness with the service as opposed to someone throwing their arms up in frustration (for dropped calls, lack of true 911, etc.)

SoonR Talk enables Skype users to make calls all over the world via their mobile phone when they are away from their PC for free. SoonR Talk makes it easy for everyone who has a mobile phone handset with a browser and data service to enjoy the cost savings and community “presence” benefits of Skype.

Users simply click on the buddy they wish to talk with and SoonR Talk tells their PC to call their mobile phone using SkypeOut, then instructs Skype to call the buddy and places the user into a conference. SoonR Talk can even create calls with multiple users from the mobile phone. Just like on the PC, SoonR Talk shows which buddies are online and if they are not there, a user can IM them so they can see the message the next time they are using Skype.

Other SoonR service features include SoonR Desktop, that lets people search and access the files on their PC desktop, and SoonR Organizer, that lets people check their Outlook email, calendar and contacts—on any mobile phone with a browser, without the need for synchronization or installing software on the phone.

Download [SoonR]
[Press Release]

Web site Jahjah lets you make VoIP-cheap phone calls from your land line. To use Jajah, you enter your phone number and the phone number of the person you’d like to call on your computer. After you press the call button, your phone will ring. When you pick it up, Jajah will connect you to the destination number. No download or installation necessary and calls from or to mobile phones are not available in trial mode (except US cellphones).

You can give Jajah a free 5 minute try at their website.

Via [LifeHacker]
Make calls [Jajah]