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Tag: voip-calling

  • Hike Messaging App to Offer Free Voice Calling Provided by Zip Phone

    Hike Messaging App to Offer Free Voice Calling Provided by Zip Phone

    hike-app

    Hike has spread its wings in the messaging app market. The Indian messaging app company has acquired Zip Phone, a US based VoIP service provider.  This is a big deal for the company as the CEO explained that Hike users have been requesting the free calls service technology. Hike and Zip phone have not disclosed any financial details so far.

    Hike’s CEO said that “Zip phone’s technology will allow us to bring free voice calling to the market much faster. Incidentally, this is one of the top requested features from our users as well.” Hike plans to incorporate this feature in its messaging app.

    Even with the over 35 million users, Hike hopes that more smartphone users will start using the app.  Zip is accessible to many people as its available for both iOS and Android platforms and it uses Wi-Fi network to enable phone call.

    Anuj Jain, the CEO for Zip Phone commented on the deal saying, “As a start up enthusiasts, I had been keeping a close eye on hike and its developments and I am excited to now be part of one of the biggest and fastest growing startups in the Indian internet space and finally, building for India.”

    With over 90% user base from India, Hike claims it handles over 10 billion messages every month. The company claims that that last year it raised $65 million through funding led by Tiger Global.

    Though the company is doing well mostly in its place of origin, it needs to gain a worldwide user base so as to compete with other messaging apps like WhatsApp, Line, and WeChat. The acquisition of the new app could help it get more subscribers worldwide.

  • Bolt VoIP app with support for regular calls launches at the Play Store


    One may find VoIP a bit troublesome because using it requires a user to sign up to the service and in order to share the experience of using it with friends and family, one has to sort of market the service or maybe put in some effort to get them on board. That is not all; using VoIP across different services may also be an up-hill task but Bolt intends to make life on VoIP easier and maybe something to look more forward to.

    Bolt uniqueness comes in the aspect that, unlike services like Skype where users can only use it to call fellow Skype members, bolt does not obligate its users to such a choice. Calls made by Bolt users to other Bolt members will be channeled through their service and calls to other services are channeled normally. This makes Bolt a one-stop VoIP significantly reducing all the work one gets into once you sign up to each new service.

    Their main target may be to rally up users for their system or just make it a service to want. The Bolt VoIP keeps a record of the most frequent calls and lists them first and at the center just like the stock calling service. People who like simple easy to use applications should really look forward to Bolt VoIP, especially those that find the new Android launcher troublesome. It is a wonderful service for people out to make just simple calls and you never know; some of the calls may be free of charge.

    The new application is available in the Playstore and interested users with android 4.0 should feel free to download it. Still new at the store, it has a rating of 3.4 but you can be rest assured that it is as good as we say it is. Using it is quite simple and when you are not using it to call other Bolt users, it is still a good enough calling application.

  • WCell Joins Mobile VoIP App Market


    WCell International has announched that its VoIP calling platform is now available for download on a variety of mobile operating systems, including BlackBerry, Java, Windows Mobile and Symbian.

    The Hong Kong-based application for mobile devices is awaiting approval by Apple for listing in the iPhone App Store.

    WCell claims it offers comparable or better voice call quality than its many competitors in the mobile VoIP applications world.

    The company says it does this while also delivering cost savings against market leaders such as Skype.

    It is planning to differentiate itself from the big names such as Skype, fring, Nimbuzz and Truphone by targeting retail handset sales.

    WCell wants to have 10 million paying customers of the service by November this year.

    Ish Paneet Singh, vice president at Wcell International, said that Wcell’s pay-as-you-go rates are at least 60 per cent cheaper than Skype’s.

  • Nimbuzz Offers VoIP Calling Without 3G or WiFi


    Nimbuzz is partnering with Voxbone to offer its VoIP calling service using local DID access numbers – without the need for 3G or Wi-Fi connectivity.

    The arrangement means that users can make voice calls to contacts using most of the popular IM and VoIP services, including Gizmo5 and Skype, in over 50 countries.

    The Nimbuzz service, which runs on all Internet-capable mobile phones, detects when the handset is out of Wi-Fi or 3G range and steps in.

    It requests permission to automatically dial a local access number and route the call over the Internet.

    With most mobile plans, such calls are free except for a low charge (if any) to the local access number.

    The Nimbuzz software client determines the correct access number to dial from the user’s Nimbuzz profile.

    Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, Voxbone provides worldwide local and toll-free phone numbers over its own private intercontinental VoIP network.

    Tobias Kemper, Nimbuzz head of communications, said the intention is to make Nimbuzz a truly mass-market application.

    "Not one limited to this mobile platform, or that chat/calling network, or a particular click sequence," he said.

    "By adding the DID numbers supplied by Voxbone, we can provide reliable mobile VoIP outside of Internet range and over 2G networks in over 50 countries, with any Internet-enabled handset and no change in user behavior."

    Currently growing at a rate of over 750,000 sign-ups per month and operating in 200 countries, Nimbuzz offers mobile VoIP, chat, location, file sharing and MMS services under one application.

    It works across popular communities and social networks, including Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, GoogleTalk, AIM, Facebook and MySpace.

    Nimbuzz VoIP also reaches PSTN phones through Skype-Out, using any of 10 VoIP third-party VoIP services (including Skype).

    A full phone keypad is part of its interface, along with the multi-service buddy list.

  • Choice of VoIP iPhone Apps Growing


    The options for VoIP calling on the iPhone are expected to continue expanding with both Skype and Truphone expected to join a growing list of VoIP apps for the Apple handset.

    Truphone already provides an app for the iPhone which enables users to make low-priced international calls via the GSM network even when the smartphone is not connected to the Wi-Fi network.

    But the company announced at the recent Macworld 2009 that callers will soon be able to use Truphone to make and receive Skype calls and instant message.

    Not to be left out, Skype itself announced at CES that it is also developing a native client for the iPhone.

    The subsidiary of eBay said that a version of its Internet calling and instant-messaging software is available for Google’s Android cell phone platform as a free download – and an iPhone Skype program is expected shortly.

    Fring also has an app that you make Skype calls using the iPhone.

    Keep them coming?