Have friends, relatives, or business contacts located in faraway lands? Internet telephony company Skype is launching its first plan that lets you make unlimited international PC to telephone calls, assuming you're calling a landline in one of 34 countries covered by the plan.
Most of Europe is covered, as well as the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.The $9.95/month plan doesn't cover calls to cellphones in all areas, but you can call mobile phones in the US, Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Or you can just convince everybody you know to install Skype on their computers and mobile phones so you can make Skype to Skype calls for free.
Internet telephony company GrandCentral was down for several hours this morning. That wouldn't be so bad if GrandCentral's business model didn't depend on telling users to give out their GrandCentral phone numbers instead of their cellphone, work, home, and other numbers. GrandCentral, which is owned by Google, provides a single number that can ring through to each of your phones. And most of the time it works brilliantly.
But GrandCentral is still in beta. And while we've grown used to Google's beta products being more stable than many companies' final release products, we probably shouldn't be surprised when a beta product goes down. And this morning, a lot of people were probably worried about missing phone calls because of the outage.
The service was restored by noon, Pacific time. But the fact that a "power issue" at a single facility could knock out GrandCentral phone service across the country is going to make us think twice before giving out our GrandCentral phone number from now on. Hopefully one of the things Google will do before taking the beta label off of GrandCentral is build some redundancy into the system to avoid this sort of problem in the future.
It's 2:00 in the morning and the phone rings. You roll out of bed and go grab your phone just in time to hear the person on the other end hang up, realizing it's the wrong number. You stumble back to bed and the phone rings again. You put a pillow over your head and fall asleep dreaming of what you'd do if you knew where that obnoxious caller lived. TP2Location can help. Well, to a degree. It won't give you a street address, but if you type any phone number into this web tool you'll get geographic information describing where the call came from. While this may not help you track down the person keeping you awake at night, it might help you decide whether you should place that overseas business call now or wait a few hours until the sun has risen on the other side of the ocean.
TP2Location also has a semi-useful Google Maps feature, which will bring up a map of the country corresponding to the phone number. While this would be great if you were looking at a country the size of Vatican City, the results for New Jersey and California phone numbers are identical: A map of the entire US.
Apple has the iPhone, Microsoft has Windows Mobile, and Google has, well, whatever the new gPhone operating system is going to be called. Computer software companies can't seem to get enough of the mobile phone market. Now it looks like Skype has plans to partner with 3 Mobile to create a Skype branded cellphone.
3 Mobile is a wireless carrier covering Europe, Asia, and Australia, so don't expect to get your hands on a Skype cellphone in the US anytime soon. But if the phone proves popular overseas, who knows what could happen in the US market.
The phone will reportedly work just like a regular cellphone -- until you press the big button that launches the Skype application. Then you'll be able to call any other Skype user for free, whether that person is using Skype on a computer or phone. Because the calls are being routed over the internet, there's no reason to charge you for anything but data minutes (it's not clear what kind of data plans will be offered with the phone).
Skype will charge its usual rates for SkypeOut calls if you're calling anyone who is not using the Skype service. Since SkypeOut international rates tend to be lower than the rates you'll get from 3 Mobile or most other telephone service providers, this sounds like a pretty good deal. But it raises an interesting question: if the Skype cellphone model proves successful the service will put itself out of business. If most of the people you call are Skype customers you'll be making free calls all the time and Skype won't be making any revenue aside from whatever service fee it collects from 3 Mobile.
What's GrandCentral? It's a service that lets you receive calls from all your phone numbers on a single phone. You can also combine all of your voice mailboxes into one simple account which you can access over the phone or on the web.
In announcing the acquisition, Google product manager Wesley Chan describes the technology as fitting well "into Google's efforts to provide services that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between our users."
Does this mean GrandCentral's technology will be integrated with GTalk? It's not clear just yet, but we wouldn't rule it out. Google promises that service will be uninterrupted for existing customers while GrandCentral's technology is migrated over to Google's servers. In the meantime, Google says a limited number of beta invitations will be available for new customers.
It looks like a federal appeals court has issued a permanent stay on a lower court ruling banning Vonage from signing up new customers.
Earlier this year a jury found that Vonage's internet telephony service violates patents held by Verizon, kicking off a whole slew of legal troubles for Vonage.
Today's ruling came just two hours after the appeals court heard arguments from the two sides.
The stay only applies while Vonage is appealing the initial ruling. If Vonage loses the appeal, the company could be finished. That said, Vonage stock jumped closed to 50% today on the first good news the company's had in months.
High quality phone calls are what every international caller wants. No pops, cracks or wizzles. VOiP providers have achieved this quite nicely, including Vbuzzer. Upon downloading the Vbuzzer application it closely resembles an instant messaging application, but that's not all it does. The free service allows users to make free phone calls, send text messages and files. Calls can be placed through the application, or to traditional telephones for a small fee.
Vbuzzer is currently only available for PC users. Although Skype is much more user friendly, and at the top of everyone's list, Vbuzzer could still be a small contender. If anyone uses Vbuzzer regularly to make calls to landlines or mobiles, let us all know how it works and your thoughts.
Earlier this month, a jury found that Vonage had violated Verizon's patents. Vonage lawyers tried to argue that any harm to Verizon was outweighed by the public good of providing competition in the telephone industry. An appeal is likely.
In the meantime, Vonage says customers should not expect interruptions in service. It's not clear if that means the company expects the two week stay to be extended pending appeal, or if Vonage is readying new technologies that don't violate Verizon's patents.
So you've got that fancy new smartphone, and you've got an unlimited data plan from your wireless provider. What's the first thing you want to do? Install Skype for Windows Mobile and start making cheap international phone calls over your data connection without paying exorbitant service fees for international calls.
Okay, maybe that's not the first thing, but it's up there. Unfortunately, most mobile service providers include provisions in their end user agreements that prevent customers from using their data plans to make VoIP calls. Well, it looks like Skype is hoping to change that.
The company filed a petition with the FCC on Wednesday asking the commission to make wireless companies drop that restriction. Apparently back in the 60s, the FCC enacted rules allowing customers to hook pretty much any device up to their telephone as long as it didn't hurt the network. This was a reaction to the AT&T monopoly at the time. Nowadays, as telcos continue buying each other out, we're getting closer and closer to monopoly territory, making me think Skype's got a good case. That, and it'd be really cool if they win.
One of my first thoughts on realizing that Skype's mobile client would now work with smartphones was "great, free phone calls." I thought about canceling my mobile service, getting a smartphone and signing up for an unlimited data plan -- with no voice service.
Well, that might still work (if you're willing to always use an external headset. Skype won't route sound through your smartphone's speaker), but the calls won't exactly be free.
SkypeOut calls to telephones in the U.S. and Canada have been free since May. But that was obviously too good to last, and the company said at the time that the promotion would only last through the end of the year. Skype general manager Don Albert told the New York Times that people have shown that they're willing to make SkypeOut calls if they're reasonably priced.
To that end, starting January 1st, Skype will charge $29.95 a year for unlimited SkypeOut calling, which is still a pretty good deal if you ask me. And if you sign up before January 31st, you'll get service for just $14.95. If you don't have a plan, calls within the U.S. and Canada will cost 2.1 cents per minute. Rates to other countries vary.
GrandCentral is another of a crop of new services that aim to improve your telephone experience through the power of the internet. What it does is give you a single phone number that, when dialed, rings all of your phones--cell, home, office--and connects the caller to whichever one you answer first. That's a nice little service on its own, but GrandCentral has some more interesting tricks up its sleeve. To begin with, you can set up rules for different callers, e.g. ring all of your phones if it's your wife, but only your office phone if it's a client, and send your mother-in-law straight to voicemail, and you can set custom MP3s to be played for different callers instead of a standard ring. Even more interesting is a feature called "ListenIn," which lets you send someone to voicemail and then listen to their message as they're recording it. You can also start recording a conversation at any time by pressing a key and switch phones in mid-call, e.g. hop from your office phone to your cell phone without skipping a beat. Voicemail storage is unlimited and you can receive your messages on the phone, via email, or on the web. And GrandCentral can block annoying callers and even claims to be able to identify callers even when they've blocked Caller ID. So, how much will all this cost you? Oddly enough, nothing. A free GrandCentral gets you all of the above with support for up to three phones, 100 minutes of incoming calls, 3 custom MP3s, and 30 days of voicemail storage. For $14.99 per month that becomes six phones, unlimited minutes, 100 MP3s, and eternal voicemail storage. Right now you can get a free 60-day trial of the premium service with no credit card required. When you sign up you get to choose your own phone number, though the area codes currently available are limited. Even though I only have one phone, I'm tempted to sign up for the other features.
How good is VoIP? Is it better than standard telephone service? This is object of a new study, to find out if it's better. Keynote Systems (who measures Internet and mobile transmissions) studied 12 telecom providers of VoIP services to see if the call quality was better than standard lines. The companies: AT&T, Comcast, Lingo, Packet8, Skype, SunRocket, TimeWarner Cable, TrueVoice, Verizon, Vonage, Vonics and Windows Live Messenger were studied in the New York and San Francisco markets. Keynote claimed that the call quality was better than a standard phone, but the audio delay on the line in a VoIP system needs to be addressed. Considered by most to be in its infancy, this is good to hear that the call quality is getting there. Delay and some other factors need to be dealt with, but VoIP is well on its way to replacing traditional phone service in my mind.
Apple has the iPhone, Microsoft has Windows Mobile, and Google has, well, whatever the new gPhone operating system is going to be called. Computer software companies can't seem to get enough of the mobile phone market. Now it looks like Skype has plans to partner with 3 Mobile to create a Skype branded cellphone. 
My, how time flies. It seems like just last week we were telling you that Google was going to purchase internet telephone company GrandCentral. And now... they have.
It looks like a federal appeals court has issued a permanent stay on a lower court ruling banning Vonage from signing up new customers. 
Bye bye Mr Telephone company, the future is arriving quickly with plenty of VOiP providers in the landscape, including a new buzzing sound. (although your Vonage phone may face a lack of dialtone soon)
So you've got that fancy new smartphone, and you've got an unlimited data plan from your wireless provider. What's the first thing you want to do? Install Skype for Windows Mobile and start making cheap international phone calls over your data connection without paying exorbitant service fees for international calls. 
One of my first thoughts on realizing that Skype's mobile client would now work with smartphones was "great, free phone calls." I thought about canceling my mobile service, getting a smartphone and signing up for an unlimited data plan -- with no voice service.
GrandCentral is another of a crop of new services that aim to improve your telephone experience through the power of the internet. What it does is give you a single phone number that, when dialed, rings all of your phones--cell, home, office--and connects the caller to whichever one you answer first. That's a nice little service on its own, but GrandCentral has some more interesting tricks up its sleeve. To begin with, you can set up rules for different callers, e.g. ring all of your phones if it's your wife, but only your office phone if it's a client, and send your mother-in-law straight to voicemail, and you can set custom MP3s to be played for different callers instead of a standard ring. Even more interesting is a feature called "ListenIn," which lets you send someone to voicemail and then listen to their message as they're recording it. You can also start recording a conversation at any time by pressing a key and switch phones in mid-call, e.g. hop from your office phone to your cell phone without skipping a beat. Voicemail storage is unlimited and you can receive your messages on the phone, via email, or on the web. And GrandCentral can block annoying callers and even claims to be able to identify callers even when they've blocked Caller ID. So, how much will all this cost you? Oddly enough, nothing. A free GrandCentral gets you all of the above with support for up to three phones, 100 minutes of incoming calls, 3 custom MP3s, and 30 days of voicemail storage. For $14.99 per month that becomes six phones, unlimited minutes, 100 MP3s, and eternal voicemail storage. Right now you can get a free 60-day trial of the premium service with no credit card required. When you sign up you get to choose your own phone number, though the area codes currently available are limited. Even though I only have one phone, I'm tempted to sign up for the other features.
How good is VoIP? Is it better than standard telephone service? This is object of a new study, to find out if it's better. Keynote Systems (who measures Internet and mobile transmissions) studied 12 telecom providers of VoIP services to see if the call quality was better than standard lines. The companies: AT&T, Comcast, Lingo, Packet8, Skype, SunRocket, TimeWarner Cable, TrueVoice, Verizon, Vonage, Vonics and Windows Live Messenger were studied in the New York and San Francisco markets. Keynote claimed that the call quality was better than a standard phone, but the audio delay on the line in a VoIP system needs to be addressed. Considered by most to be in its infancy, this is good to hear that the call quality is getting there. Delay and some other factors need to be dealt with, but VoIP is well on its way to replacing traditional phone service in my mind.
