VoIP

We introduced you to Fring earlier this year, and now it has become even more useful. You’ve always been able to use Fring with Skype, Google Talk, Twitter, ICQ, and MSN Messenger; but now the application has the added ability to use AIM and Yahoo! Messenger.

Fring doesn’t support voice calls on the new services, but does allow for IM conversations. You can, however, use Fring to make VoIP calls on Google Talk and Skype, along with Fring to Fring calls. With the new service additions, Fring is now a premier universal IM client for the mobile platform.

To use AIM or Yahoo!, simply load up Fring on your cellphone and go to settings -> services and add your AIM and/or Yahoo credentials to hop on those networks. No update to the Fring application is required.

In other Fring news, you can now connect with Free World Dialup (FWD) users using Fring.

Because Fring supports SIP, FWD can easily be used to connect via VoIP to your FWD friends. Details are a little sketchy on how to make mobile FWD calls, but details can be found on FWD’s website. You will need to have a supported handset and your FWD# and password.

Note: you must have a Symbian or UIQ handset to utilize Yahoo/AIM.

The long-time VoIP phone service provider Packet8 just threw its hat into the cellular minute-stealing arena with its new service, MobileTalk. But before we can share about MobileTalk, it would be helpful to know what minute-stealing is. The idea is simple: use your phone’s IP data service to transport costly long distance calls using Voice over IP instead of the traditional way–through the cell carrier’s grossly expensive long distance interconnects.

MobileTalk is a software download that runs on a variety of phones. Like its contemporaries TalkPlus, Gizmo for Mobile, and Jajah, MobileTalk can be sent directly to your phone via a media message when you sign up for the service. Packet8 gets ten bucks when you sign up, ten bucks every month you stay signed up, and 2 - 6 cents per minute for every call you place. If you make a lot of calls across the pond, that *should* save you a fair amount of dough.

Of course, there’s no value-add for existing Packet8 customers (like, say, a discount), and Packet8 still hasn’t fixed the original set of problems with its service–for example, their soft phone (a PC program to let you make phone calls) still can’t share a phone number with another Packet8 phone line. But if you make a ton of international calls on your wireless and you want the benefit of a single bill from your phone provider, MobileTalk is the way to go.

NetZero, the one-time free ISP, which, in recent years has elevated itself to a discount dial-up provider, added voice service to its offering a few years go. This enabled its customers to make and receive phone calls over VoIP in much the same way Vonage and Packet8 provide such service.

Apparently, as Vonage discovered, it’s not as easy as it looks on paper to make money competing with the local Bell. So hard in fact, that NetZero is canning their voice offering after many months of unsuccessfully trying to sell off their customer base to a competing interest. This is a harbinger of things to come in the fixed-location voice business, as even telco monster AT&T is losing wireline customers like crazy to cable companies and on account of people who have settled on a mobile phone as their “one solution”.

So what’s a NetZero customer to do? Well, there’s always Vonage, if you must have a traditional phone in your home. But here at DownloadSquad, we prefer software-driven solutions like Gizmo Project, because it follows you wherever you go–on your laptop and on your cell phone.

Truphone, the UK-outfit that puts bread on the table by allowing cell-phones to make VoIP calls while saving cell service subscribers access charges, has just announced a partnership with WiFi network provider Quiconnect. This means that Truphone users will be able to hop onto WiFi hotspots all around the world, as long as those hotspots participate in Quiconnect’s network.

While there still aren’t enough hotspots to replace your cell provider (WiMax, anybody?), this is a step in the right direction, especially for those of us who do a lot of international roaming. The old “call me when your plane lands” reminder has been the trigger of millions of one-minute-long, six-dollar phone calls over the years, so we’re glad Truphone is helping us save our money. This announcement also represents the first significant push into commercial WiFi access for iPhone users by a service provider, as TruPhone, just a few weeks ago, became the first to offer VoIP calling on the iPhone.

The New York Times’ Bits blog reports that tomorrow, Bill Gates will be unveiling Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 in the company’s first unpretentious bid to dominate the PBX phone system space. Only one problem with the Times’ angle: Office Communications Server is not a PBX system. It certainly supports the use of VoIP phones and software like Office Communicator, allowing you to do a lot of what a PBX system does. But VoIP alone a phone system does not make.

Not only that, but OCS doesn’t support connecting to public telephone network lines without outside media gateway equipment–which means it will work great next to your phone system, filling in some important functionality blanks like desktop conferencing, but probably can’t replace the old phone system altogether. Well, at least not yet. That said, what can OCS do?

Office Communications Server uses SIP (session initiation protocol) to set up all types of collaborative media streams on behalf of an enterprise user group– supported media types include instant messaging, file transfer, VoIP calling, video-conferencing, and desktop sharing and collaboration. Plus, OCS is tied to Microsoft’s Active Directory, allowing you to use your existing security and directory from your Windows network.

But if you want to call for a pizza using the Microsoft Office Communicator VoIP client, you’ll still need a phone system, or at least have your Office Communications Server connected to one via SIP. We invite the excitable folks at the New York Times to calmly read about all the mature, competing products to whom OCS is only now catching up: Cisco MeetingPlace, WebEx, Scopia, and, yes, to some extent, even Skype. Then again, nothing’s really new until Microsoft announces it.

TruPhone, the UK-based creator of VoIP least-cost routing tools for cell phones, is demonstrating the first implementation of VoIP calling over WiFi on Apple’s iPhone. The demonstration is occuring at DEMOFall in San Diego. The solution uses the SIP protocol, so TruPhone users can call each other from the iPhone, or call the outside world using SIP or the public telephone network. This will allow TruPhone users to reach Gizmo Project users, for example.

This announcement is significant as VoIP calling from the iPhone was previously not possible, even with Apple’s own iChat (which on Mac desktops enables VoIP chat. So TruPhone’s offering will satisfy an enormous demand and increase the value of the iPhone’s WiFi hardware dramatically.

UPDATE: Andy Abramson has video of TruPhone running on the iPhone.

Gizmo for Mobile, from SIPPhone, the makers of Gizmo Project, lets you do chat, VoIP calls, and file transfers on your smart phone. Whether your buddies are on the Gizmo network, MSN, Yahoo, or AIM, you’ll be able to text chat, which will help you avoid those SMS fees if you don’t have unlimited texting. In addition, the rates for voice calling using Gizmo’s call-out credits are very tempting–especially if you call across international boundaries. Ever call the UK from the States on your mobile phone? Ouch.

Gizmo for Mobile can be installed directly to your mobile phone using its browser, and SIPPphone claims support for 200 mobile phone models including Nokia, Motorola, Blackberry, Treo, and Samsung. Oh, and if you have a Linux-based mobile device like the Nokia N800, Gizmo Project will run on that, too.

We at Download Squad aren’t sensationalists, but a title like this is destined to draw the ire of Earthlink TrueVoice customers. That said, we love getting answers–and the question of the day is this: Is Earthlink prepping for an exodous from the VoIP phone service business? And when industry-insider Andy Abramson is asking the question, it’s a legitimate one.

First there was a story about Earthlink hemorrhaging jobs, then a tale of a botched shipment of severance packages for terminated employees. Following that, a strange comment appeared on Wired from a former Earthlink employee claiming their voice service is going to be shut down in January. Sour grapes or a real concern for current customers? As we wait for Earthlink to provide some clarity, time will indeed tell.

Like any corporation recovering from a major service interruption, Skype is doing everything in its power to make sure customers don’t jump ship and start using competing VoIP services. For two days last week, millions of Skype users were unable to connect. For some folks, this just meant you had to switch to a different chat program or pick up the cellphone to call your friends long distance. For some small businesses who had already cut their land line, this was the equivalent of the phones going down after a hurricane.

Today, Skype sent out an e-mail to customers who have signed up for services like Skype Pro, Skype Unlimited, SkypeIn or Skype Voicemail. In a nutshells, since these customers are paying on a subscription basis, the closest Skype can give to a cash incentive is a contract extension. So the company is giving all its paying customers an extra 7 days on their contract.

On the one hand, 7 days free for a 2 day outage seems like a good deal. But reliability? Priceless.

It’s not clear whether Skype is offering any cash apologies to customers who sign up for SkypeOut credit but don’t have a long term calling plan. You can read the entire e-mail after the jump.

Here is Skype’s email:

Hello

You may or may not know but last week Skype wasn’t available for a couple of days. There were a number of reasons for this and I am delighted to say that the problem is now well and truly sorted and everything is back to normal. For those of you who tried to use Skype during that time but couldn’t, we’re very sorry. For those of you who didn’t try to use Skype - well thankfully you were not affected but we want to reassure everyone that Skype is now working happily and the problem is fixed.

We know we have many faithful users out there who give us feedback (good and bad) on what we’re doing as a company. The Skype community makes us what we are. Without you, our users, we simply wouldn’t exist. We’ve helped people stay in touch with their friends and family over the past four years without any massive hitch and we want it to stay that way.

When the unexpected happens, it’s important to remember the people who stuck behind us and whose loyalty humbled us. I want to thank everyone for their support, patience and being part of the Skype community. And for those of you who missed out on using Skype last week - I want to especially thank you as well.

As a goodwill gesture to all you faithful Skype Pro, Skype Unlimited, SkypeIn or Skype Voicemail customers, we’re adding an additional seven days to your current subscription, free of charge. And even if you didn’t miss out on using Skype last week - you can still have a week free on Skype, on the house!

So please enjoy it, call your loved ones, friends, family and colleagues and thanks again.

Talk soon, The people at Skype

Mobile VoIP company fring has added support for phones and PDAs running Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6. Since fring works with any internet connected device, that means you can use the software to make free phone calls from your PDA, even if it doesn’t normally have telephone capabilities.

In a nutshell, fring lets you make VoIP calls using your 3G or WiFi connection. You can make calls to anyone on Skype, Google Talk, MSN Mesenger, SIP, or Twitter. You can also call other mobile phone users running the fring software, or you can use services like SkypeOut to make phone calls to any phone number without eating into your phone plan’s voice minutes.

Before you download fring software, you’ll be asked what type of phone or Windows Mobile devices you’re using. For some reason, a number of devices, including the Dell Axim X3 are listed, even though they do not run Windows Mobile 5.0. And we’ve confirmed, fring will not work on devices running Windows Mobile 2003SE or older.

[via StartupSquad]