OctroTalk now supports Google Talk VOIP calls
OctroTalk, a pretty good Google Voice chat client for Windows Phone, has now been upgraded to support VOIP calls to GoogleTalk/Gmail users.
Unfortunately due to the limitations in Windows Phone 7.5 the calls are still via the main speaker, there is a a 1-2 second delay in playing remote voice and incoming calls do not ring when the app is in the background.
The app now also supports uploading vCard images by tapping your vCard photo on the buddy list, and received numerous bug fixes.
OctoTalk is free and can be found in Marketplace here.
Microsoft says Skype for Windows Phone coming soon
In a Microsoft interview with their Skype division, Skype’s VP of products, Rick Osterloh has renewed their promise to bring Skype to Windows Phone soon. (after 1:10 mark)
He notes after the 2:30 point that he is working with deeper integration with Microsoft products, including Windows Phone, but it is expected that the first version of the app would not benefit from this feature.
The product seems to have been delayed bizarrely by the Microsoft purchase a few months ago, but hopefully when it comes it will be good.
Via theverge.com
MS Skype pushing for VOIP access in UK, Ofcom supporting

After UK telecom regulator Ofcom expressed support for Skype’s VOIP service, saying restrictions on Skype’s services stifle innovation and it may take action if the blocking persists, Microsoft said it will step up negotiations with UK mobile phone companies to open up their service.
Skype complained to Ofcom last year, saying its services are regularly impeded by mobile operators.
“You would expect us to be more impatient than Ofcom,” Jean-Jacques Sahel, head of European regulatory affairs at Skype, said in a telephone interview. “In Europe, there’s still a huge amount of restrictions.”
VOIP software are regularly blocked either via policy or via actual blocking of common ports, with users either not having access at all or having to pay for a much higher tier of data access to be allowed to use the feature.
Examples include T-Mobile UK and Vodafone, with both O2 and 3 UK allowing free access.
“To have that extra hint from Ofcom is helpful and should allow us to continue the dialog,” Sahel said. “We need the few that lag behind to catch up.”
Microsoft, which completed the takeover of Skype for $8.5 billion last month, plans to incorporate the service in its Windows Phone products.
Read more at Bloomberg here.
MobileVOIP comes to Windows Phone 7–make free calls over WIFI or 3G
MobileVOIP is the first real VOIP app for Windows Phone 7, beating Skype to Marketplace.
The app works over 3G or WIFI and allows 100% free phone calls to some destinations using VOIP gateways, such as 2voip and Actionvoip. For those areas where calls are not hundred percent free very cheap calls can still be made.
The app unfortunately continues to have the issues common to VOIP apps on Windows Mobile – the sound is only piped through the speaker, so headphones are still suggested.
The app features:
- Make VoIP calls from your Windows Phone
- Make FREE calls to a selection of destinations
- Make cheap calls to any international destination
- Integrates your phone’s contact list
- Connect via Wifi, 3G edge or UMTS
- Works around the globe; anywhere, anytime
The app is free and can be found in Marketplace here.
Via Moviltoday.com
Analysts: Skype could generate $2 billion a year in 2016
Skype already provides dedicated devices which makes it easy to substitute traditional voice lines with VOIP.
Fixed line VOIP is set to grow from a $17.3 billion business in 2010 to $40 billion in 5 years time says research firm Point Topic, with VOIP set to replace traditional fixed telephone lines.
"The growth of VoIP has been bumpy but shows signs of acceleration," said John Bosnell, Senior Analyst at Point Topic. "VoIP has all the hallmarks of a classic substitution commodity."
Skype, which Microsoft is buying for $8.5 billion, is often used for such VOIP calls, and provides a number of appliance-like devices which makes such substitution easier.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said in March that consumer and business use of VoIP rose 21 percent in the year to June 2010. Usage via traditional lines fell 8 percent.
"We expect there to be over three quarters of a billion fixed line broadband subscribers by the end of 2015, in theory all of them are targets for VoIP," Bosnell said.
He warned however that users may be replacing fixed lines with mobile phones, limited to growth of the business. Skype of course is very well placed to provide mobile VOIP also, and is likely to see deep integration in Windows Phone eventually.
"If Skype continues to grow as it has been and manages to keep its ARPU (average revenue per user) at the current level then it will be generating in the region of $2 billion a year by the start of 2016," Bosnell said.
If Microsoft executes well their Skype purchase may be seen as one of their best deals yet.
Via Portfolio.com
Send Web SMS using Beta SMS 2.0 for Windows Phone 7
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Beta SMS 2.0 is now available on the Windows Phone 7 Market place with a lot of enhancements and new features.
Beta SMS lets you send very cheap and even free short text messages internationally by using your favourite web SMS or VoIP provider.
Beta SMS offers a very intuitive way to send SMS directly from your Windows Phone, without having to log into your provider’s website each time you want to send an SMS.
New Features
- SMS History
- Contacts support
- Balance check on all the supported services
- Managing and sending SMS from multiple providers at the same time
- Switch between multiple account in one tap
Beta SMS is available for $1.29 and can be downloaded from here.
Tango video calling service promise Windows Phone 7 support
Tango is a new VOIP service explicitly designed for video phone calling, and they are thinking big. The company already has 13 million users in 190 countries, and see themselves grabbing a big chunk of an estimated $60 billion pie.
“Smartphones, advanced cell networks, Skype, App stores – this is the best time to have built a new communications platform,” said co-founder Eric Setton. “We’ll be on PCs, tablets, you name it.”
The service already supports Android and the iPhone, but aim to be everywhere. It already supports 70 different models of phones, with new software released every 2 weeks.
“It’s a race right now,” says Setton, “but anybody who tries to start now has to be on the 70 phones we’re doing, plus whatever comes next…then there is the PC, eventually the TV. We want to be on all of them.”
The next version of Windows Phone will certainly support VOIP, with Skype for Windows Phone already announced at MIX 11. The only question really is if Microsoft or the OEMs will release any devices with front-facing cameras, a feature that is not a requirement of the updates Chassis 1 design unfortunately.
Read more about the service at Forbes here.
Fring also bids au voir to Windows Mobile

In a short but succinct blog post, Fring hang up on the call on the Windows Mobile operating system.
They wrote:
As of today, fring for WM, UIQ & J2ME is no longer available for new users. We will continue supporting existing users on these platforms for the foreseeable future.
A big thank you for our users and hope to see you soon on our fully supported platforms including iPhone, Android and Nokia/Symbian.The fring Team
Fring has always been the Skype alternative offered after Skype itself dropped support for Windows Mobile, so this move is particularly poignant.
Unlike the recent departure of Opera Mobile, fring made no mention of future support of Windows Phone 7, and of course the OS is also otherwise devoid of a proper VOIP solution. Like many other features, it likely awaits both Microsoft delivering OS updates and the actual client itself.
For those we want to save a copy for posterity it can be downloaded here.
Via Mobiputing.com
Beta SMS – Send SMS from BetaMax and VoIP providers
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Beta SMS allows you to send cheap or free SMS from your favourite BetaMax and VoIP provider directly from your windows Phone 7 device. It supports more than a dozen of SMS services like ‘WebCallDirect’ and ‘Voip Discount’ and still counting.
In order to use Beta SMS, you need to have an account in one of these services:
SUPPORTED SERVICES:
- webcalldirect.com
- voipdiscount.com
- poivy.com
- voipstunt.com
- voipwise.com
- voipcheap.com
- internetcalls.com
- smslisto.com
- justvoip.com
- voipbuster.com
- freecall.com
- intervoip.com
- smsdiscount.com
- dialnow.com
- telbo.com
Beta SMS is available on the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace here for $1.29.
Sockets coming to WP7 in Mango?
At the Windows Phone developers day at Mobile World Congress Brandon Watson revealed that socket access, which would allow features such as Voice over IP and peer to peer gaming over WIFI for example, is one of the top request by developers, and that this request is likely to be answered in the next big update to Windows Phone 7, expected towards the end of this year.
Via WPCentral.com
References to Visual Voicemail found in Windows Phone 7 registry
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David K from MobilityDigest have been rooting around the Windows Phone 7 registry using some of the developer unlocked tools released a few weeks ago.
He notes that the Windows phone 7 registry is a lot smaller and less complex than the one for Windows Mobile 6.5, but still contained some interesting references to features such as VOIP, Clamshell devices and Visual Voicemail.
Of course these could be left overs from the Windows CE registry that forms the basis of Windows Phone 7, but with the registry otherwise so optimised there is some chance these features will activated with updates soon.
Read more at MobilityDigest here.
Voxofon provides cheap international calls from your Windows Phone 7 handset
We know Skype has so far not jumped in on Windows phone 7 yet. To fill the game and allow cheap international calls easily without pulling out your calling card, Voxofon has released their cross-platform application for Windows phone 7 also.
The service provides international calls from 1c per minute and international text messages from 6c each, conveniently displaying the rate before the call is made. The service uses the normal cellular network to connect to Voxofon’s VOIP gateway, so does not require a high-speed data connection.
Read more about the service at Voxofon here.
Via 1800pocketpc.com





























































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