Consumer Electronics Daily News

Comwave Looks to Take a Bite out of Skype with ePhone App for iOS Devices

Today Comwave launched a new version of ePhone for iOS devices (iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad) which is part of a string of Comwave Apps intended to take a bite of Skype's market share.  ePhoneis different though, because the app includes a built-in telephone number that users can choose, allowing them to receive incoming calls from any telephone around the world. The idea is to choose an ePhone number that is local to your home or office, so this way you can travel anywhere and receive free calls. "Having a Toronto or New York phone number on your smartphone is a powerful tool, especially when you travel and want to get around those costly roaming fees," said Yuval Barzakay, President. 

ePhone also comes with tremendous cost savings for users because the app is absolutely free!  ePhone uses your 3G, 4G or WIFI connection, so there is no need to worry about expensive roaming fees while traveling.  ePhone already includes free calling to the USA and Canada, but you can add international minutes to your account in $5, $10 or $30 increments to call the world at the lowest rates, always guaranteed lower than Skype.  You can use ePhone anywhere in the world, so even if you are in Europe, you can use ePhone to call landlines in North America absolutely free. 

How does it work?
ePhone uses VoIP (Voice Over IP) which allows you to choose your own telephone number.  So let's say you choose a Toronto ePhone number and you happen to be travelling to Florida. First, you would be able to call any phone number back home for free, and you would be able to receive calls from back home for free as well. That's because your friends and colleagues back home could call Toronto ePhone number which is local to them. 

ePhone is available for iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad), Android, Mac, PC and Blackberry Playbook.

 

UberConference Chosen for Enterprise Connect's Innovation Showcase

Firespotter Labs today announced that UberConference is one of the four startups chosen to present by Enterprise Connect at its Innovation Showcase. Enterprise Connect is a conference and exposition on enterprise communications and collaboration to take place in Orlando, Florida March 18-21, 2013. UberConference provides those on a teleconference with a broad range of easy-to-use tools that increase the usefulness and productivity of a group call. UberConference will be in booth 1128 at Enterprise Connect 2013.

With its unique, visual interface, UberConference shows participants who's on a call and who's speaking at any given moment, provides document sharing through Box and Evernote, and gives all participants access to every other participant's Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook public social profiles. As one of the earliest adopters of the highly anticipated WebRTC standard, UberConference users can "dial into" UberConference calls directly from their Chrome browser. UberConference is also available for both iPhone and Android.

"UberConference delivers functionality and control through powerful yet easy-to-use tools that increase business productivity at significantly lower cost than conventional enterprise solutions," said Craig Walker, CEO and Co-founder of Firespotter Labs. "We are thrilled to be selected as one of the four startups to present at Enterprise Connect's Innovation Showcase."

Enterprise Connect 2013 will focus on wireless, video, Unified Communications, WebRTC, SIP Trunking, and the Cloud. The Enterprise Connect Innovation Showcase is designed to feature innovative products and services from new and emerging start-up firms in these areas.

Viber Hits the 140 Million User Mark; Unveils New Fun Version for the Holidays

Viber, the leading mobile communications platform offering free text and photo messages and HD-quality phone calls, announces today that it has passed the 140 million users milestone with 400,000 users being added every day. The announcement coincides with the release of a special fun version of its popular mobile app.

The new version for both Android and iPhone includes:

• Playful emoticons
• Fun stickers
• A new “Send Location” feature that allows you to share a map of any location you choose
• An enhanced messaging experience with an updated user interface

Additionally, the Android version of the application includes a new setting, allowing users to select their phone’s current ringtone and message tone for Viber calls and messages as well.

“We know that our users rely on Viber for their important conversations with their friends, family and the people they care most about. But they also turn to Viber to have fun and playful conversations, whether it’s via text message or voice,” said Talmon Marco, Viber’s CEO. “With the new features that we are delivering in Viber 2.3, our users can look to Viber as a platform not just for communications, but for playing and interacting with their friends.”

Mobile Walkie-Talkie for Facebook Friends: Rallee ‘Push-to-Talk’ App Launches Today

Radio Runt, a Seattle-based technology company focused on introducing innovative communications solutions, today announced the launch of its new free Rallee walkie-talkie app as well as a $1 million investment from international business leader Kenges Rakishev.

As the voice layer for Facebook in the Google Play Android marketplace, the app enables individuals and groups to talk in real time with Facebook friends using a first-of-its-kind “push-to-talk” mobile technology platform with a retro interface design. Rallee is now available for free download in the Android marketplaces and on the Rallee website at http://rall.ee and will become available for iOS devices later this month.

The company, which is positioning Rallee to become the premier group-centric audio communications application for social and interest networks, will use the financing and support from Rakishev to further build out Rallee’s platform and support its expansion into other geographies worldwide.

“Rallee will be a catalyst for individuals and organizations to create public and private conversations among fans, friends, and members on Facebook – where they can begin dialogues, voice their points of view, and host meetings – with anywhere from one person to one million people at a time,” said Tony Bristol, Radio Runt’s CEO, a Microsoft veteran noted in technology circles. "Rallee’s push-to-talk and group voice messaging offer significant user benefits over traditional text messaging, including enabling users to express emotions through voice and communicate more quickly without having to spend time and energy typing.”

Rallee was created by Bristol and other tech leaders with the goal of enabling people with common social groups and/or interests to easily gather and engage in conversations, as well as text and use multilingual transcriptions. Users may enter a variety of voice-themed groups or create their own groups to hang out, chat with friends and meet new people. Key features include:

• Easy log-in: Users may simply log in using Facebook, invite friends to the service, and begin talking in real time with one or more friends at the same time.
• Themed groups: Themed groups enable users to jump on voice chats with groups worldwide and talk about topics of interest.
• Visibility: Users can easily see which of their friends are online and click their profile pics to begin chatting.
• Geo-targeting: Rallee’s geo-location features enable users to find people nearby to meet and chat.
• Random functionality: Rallee’s “Random Feature” enables users to connect with people interested in talking about random topics.

LinkedIn Users Can Now Call Each Other for Free

Farewell, phone numbers. Plingm, the Swedish mobile VoIP app, takes the innovation lead on smartphone communication and introduces free phone calls for LinkedIn's 151 million users. Without a single digit, Plingm users with an iPhone can call their own contacts on LinkedIn directly.

Across the world, LinkedIn has more than 151 million LinkedIn users. Thanks to an innovative back-end solution developed by Plingm, LinkedIn users can now also call and talk to their LinkedIn contacts for free anywhere in the world.

"Mobile numbers are legacy. By using our LinkedIn calling feature, you can always reach the person you want to speak to even if they switch jobs or change their number," says Pandelis Eliopoulos, co-founder of Plingm. "With the growing use of social media, the possibility to call your LinkedIn contacts directly without a phone number is a logical evolution of mobile communication."

How to do it

Download the Plingm app from the App Store and accept to connect with your LinkedIn account. The app automatically scans and imports all your contacts. Calls between Plingm users are free, regardless if you are in the same town or on the other side of the world.

About the app

With the numbers steadily increasing and an impressive consumer rating on App Store, the mobile VoIP app Plingm combines high sound quality with user-friendliness. All calls made to other Plingm users are free, regardless of where they are in the world, and there is no time limit. Calling with this service instead of a traditional operator will save people large sums of money, particularly on international calls. At a low rate, consumers can also call friends not yet using Plingm.

Visit plingm.com for more information.

Grandstream Announces 1-Line IP Telephone with LCD Display

Grandstream Networks, a leading manufacturer of IP voice/video telephony and video surveillance solutions, today introduced the GXP1160/1165. Along with a graphical LCD display that supports multiple languages, this low cost, single-line IP phone features high quality audio, integrated Power over Ethernet (PoE) (GXP1165 model only), 2 call appearances, rich telephony functionalities, and Electronic Hook Switch (EHS) capability with Plantronics headsets. The GXP1160/1165 is fully interoperable with leading IP Telephony platforms (such as Asterisk, Broadsoft, Metaswitch, 3CX, etc.) and various Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) networks, and can be easily mass deployed and securely managed from a central location.

GXP1160/1165 Feature Highlights

• 128x40 pixel graphical LCD display with support for 11 languages
• Single SIP account, up to 2 call appearances, 3 XML programmable context-sensitive soft keys, 3-way conference
• Phonebook with up to 500 contacts and call history with up to 200 records
• Automated personal information service (e.g., local weather), music ring tone/ring back tone
• Dual switched auto-sensing 10/100Mbps network ports, integrated PoE (GXP1165 only)
• Automated provisioning using TR-069 or AES encrypted XML configuration file, SRTP and TLS for advanced security protection, 802.1x for media access control
• Electronic Hook Switch (EHS) capability with a number of Plantronics headsets

“In today’s economic climate, demand for quality yet affordable products continues to outgrow overall market as businesses care more about value and immediate return-of-investment,” said David Li, CEO of Grandstream Networks. “We are excited to announce the highly price aggressive GXP1160/1165 IP phones with unrivaled cost-feature-performance competitiveness. Whether a customer has its own on-site IP PBX or connects to a hosted IP service provider, Grandstream, with a broad competitive product portfolio, will always offer the very best quality, value, and affordability in the market.”

The GXP1160/GXP1165 will be generally available by the end of November 2012 through Grandstream’s worldwide distribution channels at a list price of US$55 and US$59 respectively.