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Sprint Phone Connect 2 will try to replace your landline on October 14th
Last year, Sprint quietly stepped foot into the world of home and office phone solutions with the release of its Sprint Phone Connect service. In a nutshell, this 3G powered VOIP alternative gives would-be customers the option of transferring their existing home or office landline number to Sprint's flat rate $20 per month service. While Sprint Phone Connect may not be among the Now Network's best sellers, it's done well enough to warrant a sequel. Pictured above is an internal screenshot of the unimaginatively named Sprint Phone Connect 2. Set to release on October 14th, this new and improved hardware is packed with a set of new features: dial tone creation, voicemail notification, caller ID (number only), call waiting, call forwarding and 3-way calling. If that MagicJack isn't quite cutting the mustard and you're looking for an affordable home or office phone solution, the Sprint Phone Connect 2 can be yours for free on a two-year commitment, or $150 outright.
West Virginia county commission says MagicJack skipped out on 911 fees
MagicJack has found itself in more than a few contentious confrontations before, and it looks like it's now landed in another with the Kanawha County Commission in Florida West Virginia. It's alleging that MagicJack has failed to collect 911 fees and in turn pay the funds to the county, which relies on the fees to fund its 911 emergency center -- or, as Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper succinctly puts it, "there's nothing 'magic' about Magic Jack." For it's part, the MagicJack insists that it is not a "voice-over-Internet" provider and therefore isn't required to pay 911 fees, and it further adds that it isn't even able to collect the fees due to the way its product is sold. We'll just have to wait and see how well that argument holds up when MagicJack faces the state's Public Service Commission on March 1st -- which, incidentally, has already denied MagicJack's request to dismiss the case.
MagicJack announces software for completely free internet-to-phone calls, places femtocell on hold
For $40 (plus $20 per year), MagicJack's USB VoIP dongle will let you make free unlimited telephone-to-telephone calls, but this week the company's announced MagicTalk, a piece of software for internet-connected phones and computers that will waive even those upfront costs. The Associated Press tracked down one of our favorite ruthless salesmen, MagicJack CEO Dan Borislow, who described a service much like Google Voice and Skype, number portability and all -- except it adds the whole allowing-free-calls-to-regular-ol-telephones bit by charging the companies that carry incoming calls. The service will reportedly be available on Windows and Mac next week, with iOS, Blackberry and Android by October, but speaking of promises, Borislow said plans for the company's legally-ambiguous femtocell are now on hold -- the device can't legitimately muster up enough power without a cellular carrier on board. In other news, NetTalk announced last week that its pair of competing VoIP boxes now support free video calls. We imagine the timing (and naming) of MagicJack's new service isn't making 'em feel too good.
MagicJack's femtocell misses its launch date, still hasn't been submitted to the FCC for approval
Wondering about the fate of the MagicJack femtocell now that its promised second quarter launch window has passed? So was Computerworld, and what it found out isn't exactly promising for the as-seen-on-TV company. According to a MagicJack spokesperson, it's taken longer than expected to finish the software and patents associated with the product, which means it still hasn't even been able to submit the device to the FCC for approval. The company says the software should be done within two weeks, however, but that still means a wait time of several more months while the FCC does its thing. Of course, that's to say nothing of the many legal problems facing the device, which MagicJack is unsurprisingly not commenting on -- although it insists the device will be available "this year."
NetTalk reveals the Duo, we await MagicJack's response
If you've never heard of the NetTalk TK6000, you're certainly not alone -- suffice it to say it's an as-seen-on-TV product that converts a standard ethernet internet connection into a VoIP telephone cord. And to be clear, the new NetTalk Duo doesn't seem to offer anything different than its predecessor, only a shiny bullet case, but that just makes it the perfect salvo across incumbent MagicJack's bow. We can hardly wait to see how the latest chapter in the infinite long distance call saga will play out. However, on the off-chance you've been looking to Fire Your Phone Company®, don't wait, act now -- peep the press release after the break for your ten percent discount.
MagicJack sues Boing Boing, gets bounced out of court
The MagicJack is a VoIP dongle that hooks ye olde landline telephone up to the world of tomorrow via a humble computer. By all accounts, it seems to work pretty well and does the job it promises. Sadly, it doesn't seem like we can say the same about its management team. A post on Boing Boing in April 2008 addressed some pretty concerning aspects of the MagicJack EULA: it demands that you cede your right to sue the company and give it permission to "analyze" the numbers you call, but even more worrying was the fact that no links to said EULA were provided either on the website or at the point of sale. That is to say, every purchaser of the product was agreeing to something he or she hadn't (and couldn't have, without tracking the URL down via Google) read. Oh, and apparently the software comes without an uninstaller. The whole thing could've been just a nice warning tale about not getting into contracts without reading the fine print, but MagicJack CEO Dan Borislow, hardly a man who shrinks from controversy, felt so offended by Boing Boing's, erm, statement of factual reality that he took them to court, citing that his company was exposed to "hate, ridicule and obloquy" (we had to look that last one up, it's just another word for ridicule, which makes the whole thing a tautology. Lawyers, eh?). Unsurprisingly, he lost the case, but he did manage to squeeze in one last act of shady behavior prior to his loss by offering to pay for Boing Boing's silence regarding the proceedings and costs. After he was turned down, MagicJack's coffers were still lightened by $54,000 to cover the defendants' legal fees, whereas its reputation can now be found somewhere in the Monster Cable vicinity of pond scum central. Great job, Boing Boing.
NetTalk responds to MagicJack founder's comments
MagicJack founder Dan Borislow certainly didn't mince any words in tearing apart his latest competitor in a recent interview, and it looks like those comments unsurprisingly didn't go unnoticed by the folks at NetTalk. In an (expletive-free) official statement just released today, the company says that contrary to comments made, "our company is founded and run by a staff of seasoned executives with decades of experience who firmly attests to and stands behind the high quality of netTALK's policies, customer service practices, network and product development activities." It further goes on to note that the TK6000 device offers "more convenience, flexibility and functionality" than "others on the market," and that it is, in fact, a "best-of-all-worlds communication device." Head on past the break for the complete statement.
NetTalk challenges MagicJack, gets slammed by MagicJack founder
Air enough annoying late-night commercials and you're bound to attract a few imitators, and it looks like MagicJack now has its first courtesy of upstart NetTalk. Same basic idea here: buy a VoIP box (for $100, in this case), plug in your phone, and make all the long distance calls you want. Of course, MagicJack's outspoken founder Dan Borislow wasn't about it slide by without notice, and he fully lit into the company in a recent interview with Laptop Magazine. Head on past the break to check out the choice quote for yourself -- but first, a word of warning, it's a bit salty.
MagicJack femtocell sure to face legal battle royale
Despite MagicJack's official announcement last week of an in-home femtocell for connecting carriers' phones directly to its service, tons of questions remain -- including most of the questions we had when we first heard of the idea. Let's recap those questions and where we stand with each of them, shall we? Are these guys licensing spectrum from the gub'mint, sublicensing it from carriers, or just going rogue? Going rogue. Historically, this usually ends in an FCC-mandated shutdown -- and since both carriers and the CTIA will undoubtedly be throwing a fit that some company is stealing pricey spectrum for its own purposes, we're sure the pressure on the government to act will be quite high. Are any carriers in on this, and if so, why? Nope, none. The company says that "if they were smart they would take [it] on as a partner, because all [it] could do is enhance the value they create for their customer," but presently, MagicJack's all alone. If carriers aren't involved, why would they establish roaming deals that would allow carrier-branded phones and SIMs to roam on MagicJack's rogue airwaves? As far as we can tell, they aren't on any roaming deals. If they're not working on roaming deals, the femtocells will need to spoof a carrier ID. Furthermore, TDMA femtocells are virtually impossible to design and install for technical reasons, which means these would have to be 3G. So MagicJack's going to offer a UMTS femtocell? It appears to be a plain-Jane GSM femtocell, which is technically interesting considering what we've heard in the past about effectively making a TDMA unit that plays nice with the surrounding network. Considering everything else we know, though, it probably doesn't play nice -- and without a roaming deal in place, they'll need to spoof. That's going to rile up both carriers and the GSMA. Do you get to keep your phone number when you roam on the MagicFemtocell, and if so, how? For incoming calls, probably not, unless you forward to the MagicJack number. Needless to say, both the carriers and the feds are going to have a lot to say about this product -- particularly considering that it hasn't even received FCC approval yet. If it keeps marching toward retail, we could be gearing up for one of the most entertaining legal battles of the year.
MagicJack makes a femtocell, might make that advertising worth hearing
Femtocells now offer cell phone service for $1.70 a month with MagicJack! That's just $19.95 a year. $19.95 a year! MagicJack's femtocell works with mobile phones "potentially" from any carrier, though only GSM is mentioned. Apparently just coming within eight feet connects your phone to the femtocell, after which you can supposedly travel anywhere you like in the house. Calls through the femtocell won't use your minutes. Replace your phone company or get a second line, with MagicJack!
magicJack gets hacked into a magicNetbook
magicJack may still be sorting out its own fairly ambitious cellular plans, but it looks like some folks are taking it upon themselves to put the cheap phone call-making device to some exciting new uses -- like this crafty modder who crammed his trusty "MJ" (as those in the know call it) into his Eee PC 1000HE netbook. That mod apparently took a full day of tweaking to get working just right, but it does indeed seem to work as promised, and will let you make dirt cheap phone calls simply by plugging any old phone directly into your netbook (via a headphone jack). Unfortunately, there's no step-by-step how-to just yet, but you can check out some pics of the process at the link below and do your best to follow along.
magicJack working with magicFCC and magicCarriers on magicFemtocell
It's been revealed that perennial SkyMall and late-night TV favorite magicJack has a bunch of new features in the works for its low-cost, USB-bedongled VoIP service including landline number portability and Linux compatibility, but that's not the real news -- what's got us all worked up is word that they're allegedly working on a GSM-based femtocell that'll hook your cellphone into magicJack's service when it's in range. Even better, it all fits into a box "just a little bigger" than the current USB stick, which would make it considerably smaller than any femtocell we've seen launched so far. We're not sure whether these guys have bothered consulting with the FCC or carriers on this, but we've got dozens of questions: Are these guys licensing spectrum from the gub'mint, sublicensing it from carriers, or just going rogue? Are any carriers in on this, and if so, why? If carriers aren't involved, why would they establish roaming deals that would allow carrier-branded phones and SIMs to roam on magicJack's rogue airwaves? If they're not working on roaming deals, the femtocells will need to spoof a carrier ID -- never mind the fact that TDMA femtocells are virtually impossible to design and install for technical reasons, which means these would have to be 3G. So magicJack's going to offer a UMTS femtocell? Do you get to keep your phone number when you roam on the magicFemtocell, and if so, how? Helluva mess, isn't it? We're sure we'll eventually be able to find out the answers -- and a whole lot more for just one low price -- in a few months' time at 2 in the morning on your local Ion affiliate.
Switched On: Cap'n magicJack's port of call
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:
