iPhone 3G + App Store = VoIP App Heaven? June 22nd, 2008  

Hey there all you Rebtel lovers,

Hope everybody have had a pleasant weekend with a lot of sunbathing and quality time with friends and family. The weather here in Stockholm has been going up and down but we are not complaining. If it’s raining it just gives us a reason to stay in and figure out new cool services, features and promotions for our beloved users :)

Steve at the WWDC

As most of you probably know by now, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 3G on Monday June 5th and oh boy have we been waiting for that baby. This exciting unveiling took place at the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) in San Francisco, CA. The WWDC can be described and closely compared to simply heaven for iPhone and OSX fan-boys (and girls). It’s a place where developers from around the world gather to listen to Steve’s keynote, hang out, go to seminars and hopefully develop some wicked apps for our enjoyment that will be available for download (for a few bucks or for free) through Apples own App Store. The iPhone 3G will be available on July 11th and so will the App Store.

Now, how is this interesting for Rebtel you might wonder? Well, we believe that Apple is one of the most innovative companies in the world and we like to think that just like us, they always try to keep pushing the boundaries. The iPhone as a platform has enormous potential and with the 8GB entry model going for as little as $199, a lot of people would argue that the iPhone will go from relative obscurity to ubiquity.

I would lie if I told you that we didn’t have anything on the drawing board for the App Store, so I won’t :) What I will tell you is that we are now reaching out to you, our users that make up an incredible Rebtel community spread out across the world. We know a lot of you guys love the iPhone as much as we do so we want you to write a short comment to this post and tell us what kind of functionality you would like to see in a native Rebtel iPhone 3G app. Not too shabby, huh?

Truth is, we could make it easy for ourselves and just put something out there without consulting with our users first but who would we be kidding? That’s not how we roll. Never have and never will. We have always been about our users in everything we do and this is not an exception. So go ahead, let your imagination flow and let’s work together to make this something truly great!

As far as guidelines for VoIP applications on the iPhone go, Steve himself has stated that as long as the app doesn’t use the carriers network, VoIP on the iPhone is all good.

If you want to know more about the iPhone 3G, check out this FAQ the cool people over at Gizmodo put together.

Lastly, have a great Sunday and we’re looking forward to hearing from all of you!

By: alexander drewniak Tags: , , ,

Public Service Announcement – Still Free Calls With Rebtel June 16th, 2008  

Hola compadres!

During the past week there has been a lot of buzz going around in the Voip blogosphere regarding our friends over at Mobivox and Truphone. They have both been written and talked about quite frequently but unfortunately not in the most flattering of ways. Until very recently, Rebtel, Mobivox and Truphone all had something in common. We all offered free internationall calls. As sad as it is, all that stopped when Mobivox and Truphone both announced they have decided to discontinue their free calling service.

All this drama has been the reason for these two companies being on a lot of people’s lips. When Mobivox made this announcement on their forum it caused an outrage among their users. Although, one has to give Mobivox some credit for making the announcement using a way more personal message vehicle than a press release and that must have at least somewhat relieved a few customers irritation. Good job guys!

We are extremely happy here at Rebtel that there are other likeminded companies like us out there that truly try to be on the end users side. We really do. Luckily, there is an alternative for all these people that still want to make free international calls, even though it’s not with Mobivox or Truphone. Our very own Rebtel equivalent service, Smart Call, is still alive and kicking and not going anywhere!

Our mission here at Rebtel is to create resonance in the telecom space, to disrupt and put an end to the “daylight robbery” that takes place every time we make an international call with our mobile phone to our sister or friend living abroad. This world of ours is becoming increasingly borderless and keeping in touch with your loved ones is more imperative than ever. So, if you can think of anyone out there that just moved to the other side of the world to start a new job or to study, call them and give them a few encouraging words and tell them you miss them.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to tell them we said hi :)

By: alexander drewniak Tags: , , , ,