500M cheap VoIP calls propel Rebtel to 15M users

Rebtel, the second-largest voice-over IP calling company behind Skype, announced major milestones today that prove consumers just can’t get enough of cheap phone calls.

The company says that it has surpassed 15 million connected users (it’s unclear how many of those are active) since its launch in 2006. Rebtel users have made over 500 million calls on the service and have chalked up over two billion minutes of international calls.

Rebtel offers mobile and desktop … Continue Reading

Vonage’s iOS and Android apps undercut Skype’s international rates by 30%

VoIP startup Vonage has launched new applications for iOS and Android phones that feature free app-to-app calling and international calling rates that run 30 percent less than rival Skype, the company announced today.

Vonage has made itself known as the company you subscribe to for cheap unlimited calling for your home phone, but it makes good sense for the company to branch out with strong mobile apps as well. The company offered a few apps … Continue Reading

Battlefield 3 voice chat is finally fixed on Playstation 3 – 104 days after launch

The fix for broken voice communications on the Playstation 3 version of Battlefield 3 has finally arrived today. Developer DICE has taken a staggering 104 days to get the voice chat working properly, and it is a welcome, if somewhat overdue, development for the multi-million selling game.

Battlefield 3 launched in Oct 2011, and voice chat for most PS3 users has been consistently choppy and unusable, until now. With over 4 million PS3 copies of … Continue Reading

Battlefield 3 voice chat fix for PS3 is confirmed – patch coming soon

Playstation 3 gamers can breath a sigh of relief today, as Electronic Arts’ DICE officially confirmed that a patch to fix long running Battlefield 3 voice chat problems is incoming.

PS3 users have been reporting issues with the voice chat functionality in Battlefield 3 since the Beta rolled out, back in September 2011. The full game saw the same problems occurring, but despite developer DICE saying that looking at the issue was a top priority, … Continue Reading

Google keeps phone calls through Gmail free through 2012

Google will keep voice calls to the U.S. and Canada free into 2012 the company announced today, after indicating earlier it might charge for calls at the end of the year.

Google launched calling to standard phones from the Gmail interface in August 2010 and has kept it as an option ever since. This past August, the company expanded calling from Gmail to support 38 languages and four payment currencies.

While domestic calls to people … Continue Reading

Rebtel’s Voice-over-IP app hops between data/voice networks, a first

Voice-over-IP company Rebtel announced version 2.0 of its iPhone app today, and it sports a unique feature: the ability to easily move between WiFi/data networks and voice networks during VoIP calls.

The network-hopping feature, dubbed KeepTalking, allows VoIP callers to continue a call on a voice network if they notice their WiFi or data network degrading. This solves a major problem facing many VoIP users, who want to make free or cheap calls using data … Continue Reading

T-Mobile’s Bobsled brings free Facebook voice calls to iOS, Android, and the web

Sometimes, just “liking” a friend’s Facebook update isn’t enough. That’s when a good old-fashioned voice call is in order.

Today, T-Mobile is expanding its efforts to let you call your Facebook friends for free with the launch of its new Bobsled VoIP apps on iOS, Android, and the web.

The new apps greatly increase the presence of T-Mobile’s Bobsled service, which launched back in April on Facebook as a way to easily call your friends … Continue Reading

Ooma VoIP goes wireless with Telo Air adapter

VoIP provider Ooma announced today that its VoIP box, which costs $250 and allows for free phone calls, can finally take advantage of wireless networks with the launch of its $50 Telo Air adapter.

The company claims that it’s the first major VoIP company to offer effective wireless access. Previously, customers had to connect Ooma’s VoIP box physically to their router, which greatly limited where they could keep their home phones.

The wireless adapter could … Continue Reading

Calling all developers: Twilio unveils Skype-like in-app voice calling

Twilio, which provides software to connect phone calls to web-based applications, announced today it is releasing a software development kit (SDK) that integrates the company’s two-way audio service into web applications with a few lines of Javascript.

Like Skype, the Twilio client allows voice communications to occur over a number of different channels including through phones, tablets, websites, within web and mobile applications and more. Developers can use the client to solve a number of … Continue Reading

Microsoft patent allows for web-based spying technology (Updated)

A recently revealed Microsoft patent could create wiretaps for several kinds of Internet communications, including video and voice calls over Skype, which Microsoft acquired in May.

Federal law enforcement agencies have had difficulties tracking and recording criminal and terrorist conversations online. Back in September, it was reported that law enforcement officials wanted to expand the government’s powers to wiretap Internet services. Microsoft’s new technology could help make this a reality.

The spying technology, called “Legal … Continue Reading

Microsoft’s $8.5B Skype purchase gets antitrust approval

Microsoft’s proposed $8.5 billion deal to purchase Skype has won antitrust approval, the Federal Trade Commission announced today.

The news means that Microsoft is one step closer to finalizing its Skype purchase, barring any other unforeseen difficulties. Microsoft previously said that it expects to close the Skype deal by the end of the year. Given Skype’s recent string of outages, the sooner Microsoft can help out the video chat company, the better.

And once Microsoft … Continue Reading

Apple sued over iCloud trademark

Only days after Apple announced its new iCloud service at WWDC, the company iCloud Communications has filed a trademark lawsuit against Apple.

Phoenix-based iCloud Communications filed the suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Arizona. The company, which offers voice-over-IP solutions to business and residentional customers, contends that Apple’s new product will cause confusion. The lawsuit reads:

The goods and services with which Apple intends to use the “iCloud” mark are identical to or closely … Continue Reading

Vivox and T-Mobile turn Facebook into a phone company

Vivox, a voice app maker, is partnering with mobile carrier T-Mobile today to turn Facebook into a phone company. Together, they have created the Bobsled by T-Mobile app that lets Facebook users call each other for free with a single click on a PC.

The recipient of the call doesn’t even have to have the Bobsled app installed in order to receive the call. If it takes off among Facebook’s 600 million users, the app … Continue Reading

Skype's newest feature: ugly ads

As if Skype’s interface needed more clutter, the Internet voice and video chat company announced today that it’s bringing advertising to its service.

The ads will take the form of large banners that will appear on top of Skype’s Home tab. The company says it’s working with big advertisers like Groupon, Universal Pictures and Visa. The ads will initially appear in, and be focused on, the US, UK and German markets. Skype says it currently … Continue Reading

Google Voice tests cellphone number porting for $20

Google is expanding its testing of a long-awaited feature for Google Voice, the ability to port your current mobile number to the service, Engadget reports.

Number porting on Google Voice has been talked about for years now, but Google tells Search Engine Land that it’s only recently gotten over some back-end technical hurdles that will make the porting process easier.

Porting your number costs $20, and it will also end your current cellular service plan … Continue Reading

Skype finally brings video chat to the iPhone, one-ups Apple's FaceTime

Video chat on the iPhone 4 just got a lot more useful. Skype tonight announced its latest iPhone app update, bringing with it the ability to make video calls to other iPhone OS devices, as well as to Skype users on Mac and Windows computers.

The feature has been a long time coming, as Skype is pretty much synonymous with video chat on computers. Skype’s iPhone video chat even manages to one-up Apple’s own FaceTime … Continue Reading

Is Skype about to release video-calling for mobile devices?

Skype, a provider of voice and video calling services over the Internet, might be poised to release video calling for mobile devices equipped with a front-facing camera and running Skype at the Consumer Electronics Show next year, according to a number of reports.

The service already has video conferencing built into its PC and Mac applications. The application uses webcams and can connect to other Skype users. But video calling isn’t available on Skype’s mobile … Continue Reading

Skype competitor magicTalk launching on Christmas

VocalTec already has a major hit with its magicJack internet phone device, but now the company is ready to step up and offer completely free calls to users with the launch of its magicTalk service on Christmas.

Given the recent downtime issues Skype has been seeing, many consumers may be looking for a similar internet calling service. By launching on Christmas Day, VocalTec may be able to take advantage of frustrated Skype users as well … Continue Reading