Digital Daily » service plan

Unlike Google Voice, Vonage Now Available on iPhone

John Paczkowski — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:00:54 +0000

Apple seems to have gotten over its aversion to apps duplicating core iPhone functions. This morning Internet telephony company Vonage released an app that allows iPhone users to make calls over Wi-Fi and AT&T’s voice network. Place a call in range of a Wi-Fi signal and it will be routed over AT&T’s (T) data network; place it out of range of Wi-Fi and it will be routed over the carrier’s voice network, where it will consume minutes from the caller’s AT&T service plan

Interesting, given the recent flap over Google Voice for iPhone, which Apple (AAPL) hasn’t yet allowed into its iTunes App Store because it “appears to alter the iPhone’s distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone’s core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voice mail.”

How is Vonage’s (VG) app different? Its features and functionality are certainly very similar to those of Google Voice.

Apple won’t say, but the company did tell the Associated Press that Vonage’s app falls under the same category as other VoIP applications that have already been approved for the iPhone.

Pre-diculous

John Paczkowski — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:00:57 +0000

According to Palm (PALM), Pre was chosen as a name for its new smartphone because “it’s anticipatory.” If that’s the case, then it couldn’t be more well-suited to the device which has left observers waiting in frustrated anticipation for official word of its price and launch date. During a joint Palm/Sprint Webcast Thursday to discuss the Pre’s upcoming launch, the companies had little of note to say. The big takeaways from the event: Palm and Sprint are sticking to their first-half-of-this-year schedule for launch, they are not giving any updates on pricing, and the Pre will be offered with the standard Sprint service plans. Beyond that, we’re to understand that the Pre “feels great in the hand” and that the two companies are very excited to be working together.

Fascinating.

Xohm: No Long-Term Commitments Besides Baltimore Residency

John Paczkowski — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:01:12 +0000

Among the announcements forgotten for a moment amid the shrieks of agony and general keening on Wall Street today, this one from Sprint Nextel heralding a single-market launch of Xohm, its new WiMax wireless service. The company lit up only Xohm in Baltimore today, fulfilling its promise to have the service up and running by the end of September. That said, it’s still nearly a year late.

Still, it sounds promising. With downlink speeds in the 2-4Mbps range, Xohm is about twice as fast as current cellular broadband networks. Sprint’s service plans include a $25 monthly home subscription, a $30 “on-the-go” plan and a $10 day-pass program. All three require a PC card or modem and a subscriber agreement permitting Xohm to “use various tools and techniques designed to limit the bandwidth available for certain bandwidth-intensive applications or protocols, such as file sharing.”

So much for that “open network” promise. Well, at least Xohm is up and running, right? Sprint Nextel (S) first announced plans to deploy a nationwide WiMax network in August 2006.