Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, E-mail, Web services, VoIP, Social Software, Beta, web 2.0
VoxOx brings chat, social networking, phone calls together
by Brad Linder Nov 3rd 2008 at 2:00PM
VoxOx is currently in beta, with clients available for Windows and OS X. Linux and mobile clients are coming soon. And right now some of the services listed in VoxOx are unavailable. For examle, you can link the client to your Yahoo! Mail account to receive a pop up message every time you get a new email. But when you click the button to do the same thing with Gmail, nothing happens.
One of the most interesting things about VoxOx is the company's business model. You can do text chats with anyone for free. You can make free voice or video calls to anyone using VoxOx. And when you sign up you get 120 minutes of free calls to telephones. You can purchase credit for additional calls, or pay a monthly fee fro unlimited access. But every time you refer a friend to the service you get another 2 hours. And VoxOx will also soon add the ability for users to gain points by watching video ads.
If you're one of the first 500 Download Squad to register using our signup page, you'll get 1200 VoxOx Points which are good for 1200 domestic phone calls minutes of domestic US phone calls. Keep reading to find out how to get your bonus minutes.
I tested VoxOx to make a few phone calls and to chat with a few friends. The voice quality was pretty good, although I feel like there may have been a tiny bit more lag than I typically experience in Skype calls. The chat features work pretty much as you'd expect - except that the chat window is much larger than it needs to be. I also found that VoxOx has an unusal solution for sending files to friends using different chat platforms like AIM, or MSN Messenger. Instead of actually transfering a file directly from your computer to your friends', VoxOx uploads the file to its servers and creates a temporary download link which can be shared via Chat, SMS, or email.
VoxOx does suffer from excessive RAM usage, which shouldn't be surprising considering how much this application does. I found that it used between 125MB and 200MB of memory. If you plan to take full advantage of all of the program's features that might seem reasonable. But if you just need a chat application you might be better off sticking with Trillian, Pidgin, Digsby, or Adium.
To get 1200 free Vox Points, visit the Download Squad signup page.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
OdinsBeard said 2:53PM on 11-03-2008
Im confused by, "you'll get 1200 VoxOx Points which are good for 1200 domestic phone calls."
Would these calls be limited in time?
Reply
Brad Linder said 2:56PM on 11-03-2008
Sorry, that was poorly (and incorrectly) worded. What it actually means is that 1 point = 1 minute on a US domestic phone call. So it's 1200 minutes of US calling. International call rates are a bit higher.
I've updated the post to more accurately reflect this.
Chris Carey said 2:57PM on 11-03-2008
Looks nice, is garbage tho...Ended up theming Digsby.
Not a great phone client.
Not a great chat client.
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Jon said 3:16PM on 11-03-2008
its decent but I cant hear a ringing noise, once a person picks up its fine...
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itsjackalackin said 3:35PM on 11-03-2008
Im in ahahahah.
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Mike said 3:42PM on 11-03-2008
Can't get it to register a new username..lol. Seems to be a waste of time and hard drive space for now, maybe wen they get out of beta, but got nothing now.
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Nadine said 8:47PM on 11-03-2008
Couldn't tell anything about my experience with it. It does not work period! I signed up for it, confirmed through the link, it does not allow me to log into it, or onto their portal. Here's to uninstalling it and sticking to Trillian.
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Mewz said 7:55AM on 11-04-2008
This is crazy. It won't let me sign up. xD Says "The Server Made a BooBoo!"
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Jash Sayani said 8:49AM on 11-04-2008
Support for iPhone apps....??
Great copy of the iPhone interface....
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napoleonstarz said 11:00PM on 11-05-2008
same, same over here. downloaded, registered, followed all links and couldn't log in. tried to get the password sent via 'forgot password,' and never got an email.
bloody hell, beta.
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