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Viber's free, no-registration 3G VoIP app officially launches on Android
Hey there, friends. Do you have the voice-calling blues, wishing for a better way to talk to your friends -- without using your minutes? Consider Viber, a free VoIP app that launched for the iPhone last year. Usable over 3G or WiFi, with built-in SMS, it requires no registration, using your existing phone number and contact list. Our only quibble? A disheartening lack of Android support. But our spirits are lifted today, with the app making its way to the everyone's favorite olive-green market. It has all the compelling features of the iOS version, plus a few extras we saw in the limited beta, like pop-up text message notification, in-app call logs, and the option to use Viber as your default dialer. The company must be doing something right, as it claims 12 million active users just seven months after launch. Interested in being one of them? Check the full PR -- with video! -- after the break.
Viber VoIP app hits Android, serves up cross-platform 3G voice and text (video)
What's better than free in-app 3G calling? Cross-platform 3G calling. Delivering on old promises, Viber is offering an Android version of their free, no-registration VoIP app to beta applicants this week. The Android beta keeps everything from the iPhone original, plus a few bonus features -- including the ability to respond to text messages without opening the app, natively viewable in-app call logs from non-Viber calls, and the ability to set Viber as the default dialer for all applications. All this, and cross platform support? Sign us up! Oh, wait -- no registration required. It just works. The current version of the app has been tested on devices from Samsung, HTC, Sony Ericsson, and more, but the full release is waiting on beta testers to weigh in on the fragmentation front. See a video of Android and iOS playing nice after the break.
Viber VoIP iPhone app: 3G calling, no registration, and totally free
You know those voice minutes you've been coaxed into buying for, like, ever? Now would be an awesome time to bid 'em adieu. Out of nowhere, Viber has swooped in to crush the dreams of Skype and every other VoIP provider out there, and if these guys can reach critical mass, avid iPhone users will certainly be able to buy a mobile plan with fewer minutes. It works as such: install the free app on your iPhone, provide just your phone number (no "registration" is necessary) and then fire it up. Viber uses your existing contact and favorites list, and you can make Viber or standard voice calls from within the app; naturally, a Viber logo pops up beside any contact who is also a user, making it easy to see who you can VoIP call for free. As our brethren over at TUAW point out, there's simply no catch to be found -- well, except for those of you counting your kilobytes on AT&T's newer, metered data plans. Call quality was said to be excellent over 3G and WiFi, and potentially best of all, gratis SMS and an Android version are both on the way. Head on past the break if you need any additional convincing, and tap that iTunes link to get your download on. So, AT&T, what's the value proposition on those "rollover minutes" again?
Verizon to allow unlimited Skype calling over 3G starting next month
We may be way off base here, but we're pretty sure the game just got upended. Days after AT&T appeased the masses by finally enabling 3G streaming over the iPhone's SlingPlayer app, Verizon Wireless has delivered some big gargantuan news of its own. Starting next month, all Verizon Wireless customers with smartphones (and an accompanying data plan) will be able to make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any user in the world over its 3G network, which is something that AT&T users have been able to do since last autumn. Let us repeat that: VZW, which is known historically as one of the most controlling carriers in this great nation, is opening up its 3G network for limitless Skype calling. The forthcoming Skype Mobile application will also support Skype Out calling, instant messaging between Skype users and an ability to "remain always connected... to see friends' online presence." Nine smartphones will be compatible at launch (the full list is after the break), and we're guessing that more will be added in due time. Giddy yet?
