Mobivox launched the beta of its new mobile-to-Skype service yesterday. Registered Mobivox users with Skype accounts can call local access numbers to be connected via a virtual operator to their Skype contacts, for free. The service works with landlines and mobile phones, and it requires no download to your phone or PC.
To use the service, just give Mobivox your telephone numbers and Skype account info. The service will sync your Skype contacts and make them available to call using the remote voice access system. Just call the number, and you'll get a virtual operator who takes voice commands or key entries to connect you to your contacts. You can also query the service to see which of your buddies are online. The potential for road warriors is great. There's nearly unlimited space for voice dial contacts, which is a plus for people without a good voice-dialing system on their phones.
Mobivox's business model feeds off revenue from international calls. Users buy into a credit system that lets them purchase chunks of up to $100 international mobile-to-landline credit at a time, without having to buy it from Skype directly. There are no charges for using the service beyond any minutes you use up on your mobile or domestic-calling plan, and since Mobivox gives you a local number, you're likely to avoid any long-distance charges on landlines.
This is a really solid service and very simple to use. The only hang-ups I found were with the voice recognition, which had some trouble with hard-to-pronounce Skype names. Like Google and Tellme's free 411 services, this brings to the table a really simple idea of connecting your phone to Web-based services for free. Since I'm not a big Skype user, I likely won't be using this, but for Skype fans, it's far better than buying a Wi-Fi-enabled Skype handset or digging up contact info while on the go.
Mig33 is a mashup I came across at the O'Reilly ETel conference, which mixes Web-based social networks with cell phone technology in a very interesting way. Mig33 lets users create profiles and interact with friends from their phones or their Web sites. You can also text chat with people through the Web interface or your mobile phone.
There's also a VoIP angle, allowing you to make low-cost international calls using Mig33's phone app, or set up the call to connect on both ends using Mig33's third-party connection service. There's still some cost involved, but in some cases you can get about the same rate you'd get from a good calling card or Skype's SkypeOut service.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Skype is set to launch a new version of its VoIP phone service for international customers in 24 countries. The new service, named Skype Pro, won't charge by the minute for its SkypeOut service, which lets computers call landlines. Instead, it will charge users a €2-per-month subscription fee and €3.9 cents-per-call connection fee.
There are some benefits to the new system over the old one: specifically, free Skype voicemail (which used to cost about $20 a year) and a large discount on a SkypeIn number at which regular phones can call you. All in all, it's a pretty good deal.
In the United States, we've been spoiled with relatively cheap, all-you-can-talk VoIP plans from Vonage and Comcast Digital Voice. In fact, Skype's latest North American effort, $15-per-year unlimited service, makes it seem like international customers are being taken for a ride. Connection fees are a thing of the past. Sooner or later Skype needs to realize that.
Skype announced today a new all-you-can-eat SkypeOut plan for U.S. and Canadian customers. For $29.95 per year, you can make unlimited SkypeOut calls to mobile phones and landlines within the U.S. and Canada. Even better, if you sign up for the plan before Jan. 31, 2007, you get a 50 percent discount so you only pay $14.95 for a year of unlimited SkypeOut calls, plus 100 minutes of SkypeOut credit for international calls. If you're like me and don't make even $14.95 worth of SkypeOut calls each year, you can still opt to pay Skype's per-minute rate to call non-Skype users (around 2.1 cents per minute for calls within the U.S. and Canada).
This news follows Skype's May 2006 announcement of unlimited SkypeOut calls for the remainder of 2006. This free plan seemed too good to last--and it was. The free calls were a push to drum up new Skype users and familiarize them with the SkypeOut premise, and according to the company, it worked. And while I like free better than $14.95, I suppose the company needs to make money. Why isn't it all about me?? Oh well.
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