Truphone
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FCC wants to fine wireless carrier Truphone for ties to Russian oligarchs
The agency says the Montana company broke FCC disclosure rules on foreign investors.
Truphone's Local Anywhere SIM gives you a local number anywhere, as long as 'anywhere' is the US or UK
Truphone -- better known for its VoIP services than anything else -- is getting into the rough-and-tumble world of international roaming with the introduction of its Local Anywhere SIM. At a glance, you might think that it works like countless other global prepaid SIMs that are ready to get shoved into the unlocked quadband phone of your choice, but here's Truphone's secret: on its higher-end packages, you can add local numbers for countries you visit frequently. To borrow the company's example, this means local pizza delivery dudes can buzz you without placing a multi-dollar call. The big hangup is that you can only get numbers in the US and UK at this point, but they'll apparently be adding in Australia, Netherlands, South Africa, and "many more" this year.
Truphone demos VoIP for iPhone
Are you ready to have your brain go flying out of the back of your skull? If you said yes, be prepared to lose your mind... repeatedly. One of the Holy Grails / Seven Wonders of the iPhone World has been loosed upon the Earth today, namely: VoIP. According to a company called Truphone, they have unlocked the secret of IP telephony on the iPhone, and demonstrated said ability today at DEMOfall 07 in San Diego. Executing commands via the Terminal (i.e., on a phone which had been jailbroken), Truphone CEO James Tagg was able to call another mobile phone using only an IP connection -- all without breaking the SIM lock. According to the company, the software is still in beta, but they soon plan to have a version which will simplify activation, and allow seamless switching between WiFi and SIM use. Clearly, an exciting development for iPhone users, but a cringe-inducing situation for AT&T. Check the video after the break to see it all in action.
Vodafone being sued over VoIP blocking
It seems that a cold day in hell will have to arrive before some stuffy mobile operators don't let customers do what they want to with their handsets and purchased data services. In the latest round of madness, Vodafone users in Europe are having multiple issues using wireless VoIP clients on their handsets (usually smartphones) based on selective blocking techniques by Vodafone. While we're not yet calling the carrier "Vader"fone with an evil and dark helmet as the corporate logo, we feel for those European Voda customers. The carrier is now being called on the carpet for not meeting interconnection obligations and disabling Internet telephony on handsets that it sells -- which was inevitable we think. One rather blatant misstep by Vodafone has the carrier actually blocking calls to customers of Truphone, the VoIP service that brought the lawsuit against Voda. Want more? How's this: Voda handsets are also reportedly blocking Skype services to users of its mobile Internet service. Part of Voda's shaky response includes these lines of piffle: "Vodafone believes that VOIP-over-mobile (can't even get VoIP right, heh) is not yet a mature service proposition as it does not have guaranteed quality of service, and would fall short of the customer experience demanded of any service we launch. To ensure a solid end-to-end customer experience, this service would require in-depth testing, billing integration and customer service support which is currently not available." We call shenanigans here. Unlocked Nokia N95, here we come.
