I have been surprised various times that in how many ways the CallMe-links can be used. They not only help me in everyday life, but also when I am at work and I want to talk quickly with my business partner or client. And the best part is that the other party does not need to install any software to receive my calls.
This has saved me a lot of time. Besides the above example, there are infinite ways in which CallMe-links can simplify your life. My children have bookmarked my CallMe link on their Internet browser, and wherever I am, they simply click the bookmark and I can talk with them at no cost. Usually when my younger son hear about release of a new trading card of his favorite cartoon characters, he calls me straight away so that on my way back from office, I would simply buy him the present.
No doubt, using the CallMe-Links is very easy and you can always save money, because its free!
The Swedish blog slashhat reports that Steve Jobs answered to the question that whether if the new iPad Wifi versions will support iPhone Internet tethering with one word:
“No!” (with signed: sent from my iPhone).
What do we learn from this?
- Our dreams about the freedom of mobile Internet just experienced a setback after a few encouraging signs like multi operator strategy and the opening of Internet for free by “secondary” iPhone providers like FarEasTone.
- Even Steve Jobs find it cumbersome to change his iPhone signature
Source: Slashat
In a recent press release by Apple Inc., the Taiwanese leader in mobile manufacturing, HTC, is sued for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface. These patents corresponds to architecture and hardware profiles of Apple’s iPhone.
The lawsuit was filed today (March 2, 2010) in U.S. Disctrict Court in Delaware and with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, has filed this lawsuit with confidence and claims that his technology and inventions are not available for stealing and he can not just sit back and watch this happening.
This is the second time Apple has filed a big lawsuit against a cellphone company, the first being Nokia. Not to forget that HTC is the largest manufacturer of Android phones. The lawsuit doest not really target Android handsets, but it is indeed a warning to all Android’s manufacturers. Why? Because Android phones like HTC’s touchscreen phones are very similar to the iPhone.
3G VoIP freedom on iPhone and Android phones is progressing, but Android’s capability of running background apps converts a cell phone in to a fully featured VoIP handset. Whereas, Apple’s iPhone and the latest iPad does not have the functionality of running background apps, rather informing the user with a push-notification that a call is coming via your VoIP app. With this new lawsuit greater pressure on Android market is expected, and so on the VoIP freedom.
Let’s see how far this battle goes on, and what remedies the global cellular market suggest to get the freedom of manufacturing touchscreen cell phones without fearing Apple.
FriendCaller 3 Pro
In app purchase are payments that are made directly in an iPhone or iPod touch application and now included in iPad apps. Lets take a look at our FriendCaller VoIP app, the FriendCaller 3 Pro version, to see how inApp purchase works. FriendCaller VoIP calls between FriendCaller users are always free, regardless of the parties using an iPhone, an iPod touch, an Android phone, the FriendCaller.com website or the popular hybrid FriendCaller JavaFX web phone that can operate in a browser or installed on the system. Users can use all these FriendCaller versions to call landlines and cell phone (mobiles) too. The calls are inexpensive, like most of the countries cost only a few cents per minute and every new user gets a small credit to test the calling out feature for free.
So, once the FriendCaller user tried the calling out feature and decided to save a lot of money, user will add credit to his account. This is either done by providing his credit card details like his name, billing address, card number and CCV/CVC number or a FriendCaller 3 Pro user can simply add credit with a click.
iPad Appstore
Apple handles and approves the payment and the user pays through his iTunes account. That has a couple of advantages, the customer does not has to trust his credit details with every developer or content provider he buys from, but only one time with Apple Inc. And Apple has expanded the payment methods way beyond Credit Cards. Users can buy iTunes vouchers and gift cards in retail stores, they can use debit cards, money transfers, deduction from bank account, Paypal and depending on their country’s iTunes store with local payments like ATM transfer or clickandbuy. For most of us owning a credit card or having rather too many is a fact of life but here are many countries where Credit cards are not so common and are not freely available due to currency exchange and other regulations in developing countries.
So ever since we have started to offer call credit through inApp purchase we have seen a steadily increase of call credit purchases. There are now 77 international iTunes stores. The convenience and security for them is not sufficient, since Apple handles and approves the payment it handles as well the fraud management. Unfortunately, fraud is a serious problem for digital content and services that do not require a physical delivery address. However, with Apple Inc. and all its experience of billion transactions taking care of the payment system developers and content providers can focus on the development of content, apps and services and most are willing to pay the 30% commission to Apple Inc.
To understand the magnitude of all these advantages one needs to compare what else was out there, before inApp purchase was introduced. It was pretty much limited to Premium SMS, or text billing as it’s called as well. There is and was no global standard for this. In each country a game or app developer would have to connect to each operator, each of these operator would have a different interface requirement. So these connections did not make sense for individual companies, they would have to go to payment aggregators and even these would only be connected to a limited number or operators. Users would have to follow rather cryptical instructions to send messages to Premium Numbers, like to get this game, just send the text “Get Nokia2030 Soccer 1 Game to 808099″. Not to mention the revenue share, in many cases the developer would get only 30% of the revenue paid out versus 70% from Apple Inc.
The iPhone and iPod touch was only the beginning, with the iPad’s features like the brilliant new large screen, it is suitable for much more than the somewhat limited iPhone devices, once the iPad is out it will not only find the ever increasing number of iPhone apps supporting it, but many new business fields like ebook and movie rentals that make best use of the larger scree size and better input and connectivity features. InApp purchase is relatively new, the iPad will have a very different start with a very comprehensive range of applications and the inApp purchase as payment method for many new business models.
Thank you for your feedback to our post “Apple Inc. is getting serious with Multi Operator Strategy“. Some of our reader are not familiar with Internet Tethering or could not find the setting on their iPhones. To cite the wiki: “Tethering is the use of a mobile device such as a mobile phone to supply Internet access for another device which is otherwise unconnected, using the mobile device as a modem.”
If you have never heard about tethering or can not find the setting on your iPhone, don’t be surprised. Sharing a mobile phone internet connection with your laptop, computer, or some other device is not something that mobile operators would like to promote. What they rather try do is, they try to sell additional USB data sticks and data plans. With tethering you can simply connect your notebook or PC to the Internet with your phone’s Internet connection. Browsing the internet, access of secured sites, or using Voice over IP (VoIP) are some of the many possibilities. The speed is often close to a low end DSL connection.
T-Mobile Tethering
The tethering availability on the iPhone depends on the operator setting, also called carrier bundles. On my German iPhone there was no option of tethering available for a long time. That changed, only after the tariff option was available and it cost about USD 30 monthly (19.95 Euro) additional for a limited data volume of 3 GB monthly. There is another option of 100 MB monthly for about 7 USD, good enough to check email once in a while. Same in Taiwan, only after an official Far EasTone setting became available, I was able to switch it on.
Consumers are using more and more secondary devices to access the internet, in addition to their PC. Let us hope that Apple multi-operator strategy will create some competition and better deals are soon available for customer to connect all their devices under one unlimited data plan.
Check out your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Network and maybe you get lucky!
Internet Tethering: ON!
Taiwan, or better Taipei (known as the capital of the PC component makers around the world), is certainly not an Apple country. All our Apple needs are managed from Singapore; as whenever there is a new product, ordering it from Singapore takes less time to acquire than ordering the very same product (manufactured in Taiwanese factories) in Taiwan. However, slowly Apple products are getting more and more popular in Taiwan and iPhones can now be seen here occasionally.
A few days back, in one of our stories of Apple’s multi-operator strategy, we discussed why Apple need to adopt a multi-operator strategy in US. Similarly, here in Taiwan also after a long time, Apple finally signed contract with a second operator, Far EasTone, which is Taiwan’s third-largest mobile telecom operator.
I’m also using Far EasTone for a while now, because they offer a high quality 3G network and innovative products. And not recently, after an Operator Setting Update, Internet tethering become available. YES! So, now it’s Chunghwa’s call to step in to the mainstream. Not to forget, Chungwa is the the national flagship operator.
With Far EasTone Unlimited 3G with Internet tethering and nationwide hotspot access now cost as little as USD 20 monthly only. Browsing the Internet, chatting and unlimited free VoIP calls are now very affordable.
Internet tethering will provide a boost as well for the iPad sales. Instead of buying the more expensive 3G plans, analysts recommend to go for the low cost Wi-Fi and use tethering to go online. Simply perfect!
This is another small, yet an important step towards the mobile Internet freedom.
Ever since using the HTC Tattoo and Motorola Milestone to test our FriendCaller Android version it becomes more clear to me: iPhone and iPad lack of multitasking for third party apps like our VoIP apps is a killer. I love my iPhone and over time you just get used to these shortcomings, only when using a different device that can run app as a service in the background it become apparent again what we missing out. The Android phones manage incoming calls while running pass very elegant, no rude interruptions.
Is the nature of my job talking to people for hours a day through FriendCaller and I really like the top quality audio components Apple Inc. is using, FriendCaller apps have a real natural and warm voice quality, a big step from the early VoIP service with these harsh digital sounds. But using the iPhone, you never know when an incoming call will kill my free FriendCaller VoIP call. The only solution is to use a iPod touch. It has the same audio engine and yes, no incoming cell calls!
But now with free 3G calls through the iPhone it becomes even more urgent, now I can talk to my friends for free wherever I go, no search for WiFi hotspots anymore but the same time, as long as FriendCaller VoIP app can not run in the background you have a build in service interruption risk.
We learned to love our iPhone despite lack of background apps, a lot of love will be lost if the iPad will be launched without it! QZKZWM5C4VDK
Screenshot of FriendCaller from Android
Our FriendCaller Android version is soon to be released, very exciting since FriendCaller can run as a service in the background so the Android Phone can be reached at any time through free VoIP calls. So it’s time to prepare some marketing materials.
Yesterday I was trying to find out how to take a screenshot on Android, and finally, I miss my iPhone, first time since I have been using my HTC Tattoo. I found some on the Android Market and also Googled to find a few apps, but on both the screenshot apps seemed to be outdated and no more download links were available.
Tobias, our Android developer saved my day:
1) Load down the Android SDK, unpack the ZIP file and find in the tools folder the DDMS program. Click to install DDMS. NO need to install the complete SDK.
2) On your phone, go to settings > applications > Development and enable USB debugging
3) Connect the phone to your PC and start DDMS, select your phone and select in the DDMS menu “Screen capture”
That’s all: WYSIWYG! (What you see is what you get!)
As a VoIP app developer we are appreciating Apple Inc.’s step toward mobile VoIP freedom. Gradually, Apple opened up to VoIP (and did we ever mentioned that we were in the iTunes App store one week before Skype?) and recently to VoIP over cellular data networks like 3G/UMTS/HSDPA. They introduced Push Notification and inApp purchase too which were very user friendly but there is still one element missing: to make iPhone a full featured mobile VoIP device. We are referring to Multitasking; i.e. allowing app to run as a service in the background.
Now we have a brand new version upcoming which makes FriendCaller as an always running program. Unfortunately, not on the iPhone yet but on the Android phones. And have you ever wondered what a difference this will make?
Now, one does not have to worry anymore about launching FriendCaller each time to make/receive a call. FriendCaller now can just run in the background and the user can be called any time instantly. He/She will be notified by a phone ring directly as it should be in a normal call scenario. At the moment on the iPhone a user gets an instant message prompting to open FriendCaller, but on Android our FriendCaller version now works like magic. A small feature utilized, but a huge step forward towards user friendliness.
Our Android beta version is coming soon, please contact us at info@c2call.com, or leave a comment below, if you would like to enjoy the true mobile VoIP freedom as an early Beta tester 
QZKZWM5C4VDK
Thanks to the quick response from the iTunes Connect Support team: FriendCaller apps are back on iTunes and can be found by searching for FriendCaller.
QZKZWM5C4VDK
Recent Comments