To compete against SkypeOUT, Nimbuzz have now launched their equivalent service, NimbuzzOut, which offers the ability to make international calls at a discounted rate.  In a similar style, you need to TopUp your account with credit, and are then able to make cheaper calls to landlines and mobile phones.  For example, a call to a French landline would cost €0.0135 per minute, and the same cost to a US landline too.  In comparison, SkypeOUT will charge€ 0.020 per minute for the same countries.

It should be said that Nimbuzz offers US$ or EUR€ pricing, not GB£, so you will always have some element of currency conversion in there.

NimbuzzOut is currently available on the Symbian and iPhone / iPod Touch clients, and will be rolled out to the other platforms in time.

More information is avaialble from Nimbuzz from their website here.

Firstly, here are some highlights of software releases that have happened over the last few weeks that we haven’t already covered (interestingly many of them focused on the new S60 5th Edition):

• Nokia have released a Friend View version for S60 5th Edition devices (ie the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and the Nokia N97); if you previously installed the S60 3rd Edition (which did pretty much work, but wasn’t optimised for touch input), then you need to fully uninstall it before installing the new software.  To download it, simply head here on your mobile.

• Nimbuzz have updated their multi-IM client (now v2.0) with S60 5th Edition support too. Nimbuzz includes IM support for Google Talk and MSN, SIP support and even Skype (with SkypeOUT too), and it’s available to directly download to your phone from here.

• Nokia Beta Labs have updated their S60 3rd Edition (original and FP1 versions) Ovi Contacts application, which should now feature more reliable voice messages and location sending features.  With some server side changes, you are now able to search for contacts (with the ability for individuals to opt-out of appearing the searches), and this client should now be available via Download! (until it’s replaced by the Nokia Ovi Store) and via nokia.mobi.  Head to here for more details.

• Nokia have released a new Beta application; Nokia Point & Find, which is designed to provide you with real time information on things you point the phone’s camera out.  Right now, it mainly works well with movie posters and barcodes but Nokia has put some clever thought into this; if you select a movie poster it not just show details, including reviews, ratings, but will use the GPS location to provide additional information such as show times, the closest cinema showing the movie, and (limited to the UK) may even offer to allow you to purchase tickets there and then.  More information is available from here.

• Nokia have released a beta version of their Nokia Messaging application for S60 5th Edition, and more information can be found about this version here.

• Gerry over at nokiAAddict has confirmed that the BBC have fixed their iPlayer client on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, such that you can now download TV onto your device for later viewing again (this problem seemed to mainly affect those who had upgraded to the latest v21 firmware).

Since we released our last Branded firmware update where we requested help on providing product codes for various devices, we received a number of helpful comments from various people, and now appear to have a full set of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic operator product codes for the UK (we’re still missing a couple of product codes for the Nokia E71, so if you have a Nokia E71, we’d be grateful for a quick comment including the product code (found under the battery) and which network the device came from).  However, we can now confirm that the situation with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic looks like this:

• v21 was released a couple of weeks ago, having replaced v20 (compared to the v10 or v11 that most devices originally shipped with)
• We can confirm that T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2  and even Virgin (the first Virgin phone we’ve tracked!) should all now have access to v20, however
• Orange devices are still stuck back at v11

It appears that for different networks, different phones seem to suffer from greater delays with firmware updates, and we’d like to see the networks providing more timely updates.

Skype have updated their Skype for iPhone application to v1.0.3.  This fixes 3 key issues people have reported, and as such, is well worth upgrading to…

• Fixed crashing when clicking on certain contacts in the contact list
• Fixed crashing when returning to the contact list after having accepted a contact authorization request in specific cases
• Improved the handling of international calling prefixes in SkypeOut calling

fring have updated their iPhone / iPod Touch app, which should be available now in the iTunes Store.  You can now select to hide offline contacts, but probably the key new feature is offline notifications.  They’ve also added the flag icon to allow you select the country you are trying to dial (via SkypeOUT or SIP calls) and it will automatically enter the country code for you (shown above).  If your contacts (Skype, Google Talk, MSN etc.) try to reach you whilst the app is turned off, it will notify you when you come back online.  This is being slowly rolled across the UK and US right now, and should be “eventually be in line with Apple’s 3.0 firmware and new notification feature”

More information on this version of fring here.

Update: fring have also provided more information their “always-on” system here.

Skype has released their iPhone Skype client, and although it has a few features missing, has been well received.  The main complaint seems to revolve around the inability to make Skype calls via 2G or 3G networks, however, Skype have been keen to point out that it is a license restriction placed upon them by Apple, and hence not within their pwoer to fix.  The other issue is that the client crashes on install or running, although Skype claim this is only happening on jailbroken phones.

Skype on iPhone is available from here in the iTunes Store.

Ignoring the 3G call issue, you can make and receive Skype calls via Wi-Fi hotspots (however, we should point out Skype chats, and setting your Skype status and mood message will work over EDGE / 3G).  Skype have done a lot of good integration work on this client, so it can use the built in Contacts (for SkypeOUT calls), and can use the camera to set your photo.

Of course, with the inability to run apps in the background, as soon as you move away from the Skype client, it shuts down.  Any messages or calls that occur whilst you have the app shut down will be notified to you when you next start it up.  In that respect, running Skype on Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian (via clients like fring), or even the INQ1 and Skypephone all benefit from the ability to leave the app running in the background.

A final point; 3UK have reacted to this release pointing out that Skype has been available on their network (ie via 3G) since 2006, but they also claim that there are “over 1 million minutes of Skype to Skype calls made on 3 every month”. Now, that includes Symbian phones running X-Series (or simply having the current Internet Access) but wow, that’s a lot of Skype support…

It’s been a while since we covered Truphone, so we thought we would summarise some of the news Truphone have released recently.  In no particular order…

Truphone have announced support for Skype on their iPhone and iPod Touch clients.  This will allow you to make Skype calls and send chat messages to other Skype users, potentially for free (if using Wi-Fi).  If you aren’t in the range of Wi-Fi, then the app will use Truphone Anywhere to connect the call; Truphone Anywhere allows you to dial a local (in country) number and use Truphone’s infrastructure to connect the call internationally (or in this case, to Skype).  Truphone have pointed out that at the moment, you can’t call using SkypeOUT (although with Truphone’s rates you may not need to), you can’t add a new contact via their app, and group calls/chats are not available, but for most people, these limitations won’t be an issue.

On top of this, Truphone have added AIM (AOL IM) support into their iPhone and iPod Touch clients, which already covered Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.  Like fring, they also support twitter updates as well.

Continuing their iPhone and iPod Touch enhancements, you can now also topup your Truphone account via PayPal from direct within the client.  This adds on the existing website, mobile optimised web pages and IVR (interactive voice recognition) options.

Finally, and probably the biggest news of all, at MWC, Truphone announced Truphone Local Anywhere.  This will offer users a new SIM with the ability to add multiple mobile numbers (to allow people in each country to call the Truphone user at local mobile rates), yet allow the user to make calls at local rates; ie no more high roaming charges.  To achieve this, Truphone will become a global virtual mobile network operator, which gives them direct control over the charges.  Even better, this service will also include data and SMS support, a failing of some of the other offerings in this space today.  As Truphone will still need to use the local in-country mobile network, the call rates will be a little higher than a local SIM would cost, but they intend to ensure they are much cheaper than roaming rates.

Given that you can have multiple incoming numbers assigned to the single SIM, Truphone are also planning Smart CLI management, presumably allowing control of which number to present when an outgoing call is made.  All this, and no lengthy contracts either.  On top of all of this, Truphone allows you to call other Truphone users for free, and their iPhone / iPod Touch client even has presence indicators to allow you to see if your friends are online or not.

When Truphone announced this, they suggested some examples of people who would immediately benefit from such a service; airplane pilots (and the rest of the crew!), the international business traveller who visits lots of different countries, people with homes in more than one country, ex-pats living abroad, and the armed forces personnel.

This service looks very interesting, and would seem to compete with the likes of MAXroam, who offer something similar, so it will be interesting to see how this service works when it’s released later this year.  The Truphone service is built on their purchase of SIM4Travel last year, and should allow them to be very competitive for those who want a single SIM covering multiple countries.

Truphone Local Anywhere story courtesy of Mobile Industry Review.

After we covered the news that Skype will be pre-installed on many Nokia smartphones, including the Nokia N97, it seems some UK network operators aren’t so keen on this news, with Mobile Today reporting that O2 and Orange have both indicated they will not stock phones with Skype built into the firmware.

Well, although this has picked up as a big news story, we’re not so sure.  Firstly, if Nokia adds Skype into every high-end smartphone it produces from this Summer onwards, these networks will look pretty second rate if they have to stop stocking all Nokia smartphones.  Secondly, it’s possible to install Skype onto these devices today, and with the launch of the Ovi Store (to replace the current Download! App) this Summer, it’s likely that Skype, TruPhone and fring will all be easily accessible from within the Ovi Store.  However, it appears the operators are claiming it’s that extra step of actually pre-installing on the phone that these operators take offence at.

If you ask us whether this will stop them stocking these phones, the answer has to be no.

We have already seen at least one UK operator ask Nokia to remove the SIP/VOIP client and support from their operator specific branded firmwares in the past, and if the networks objecting to Skype maintain their anti-Skype position, they will simply continue to request these VOIP applications are removed from their firmwares too (although whether they will have sufficient sway to get it removed from the Ovi Store for these devices as well we’re not too sure).

However, doing this will simply encourage more people to “rebrand” their phones as generic models, and then they will be free to utilise the Skype client anyway (rebranding does not affect the SIM lock status, so the phone is tied to the network it was brought on, and of course, it does not remove the contractual commitment the user has signed up to either, so this does not even impact the network’s revenue).

On the plus side, T-Mobile and 3UK seem to be supporting the Nokia initiative, although 3UK’s current Skype offering, which allows outgoing calls to be made via SkypeOUT does not allow you to use the service for UK mobile and landline calls, a limitation that may not be possible to control with a full Skype client…

One interesting snippet from the Mobile Today article; “The row centres around ownership of the customer, as well as potential lost revenue”; others have said the networks are scared they will simply become dumb internet pipes; it’s time these companies realised the customer was key, and they want to have more flexibility and openness from the networks (including the removal of the term “unlimited” for capped offerings).

In fact, maybe that’s the answer; if the mobile network offered better value for money, and reduced their call and data charges (both for UK calls, international calls and even calls whilst roaming), maybe their customers would not look twice at Skype, and would stay loyal to the network.  How about it guys? … actually start caring more about your existing customers, instead of always chasing after new customers at the expense of the ones you lose each month.

Update: It also appears part of the problem will be that the Skype call options will appear directly in the Contacts app, as additional options, so the mobile networks are worried instead of placing a video call (at great expense across their network), people will use their “unlimited” data tariffs and select the “Skype video call” option instead.  Well, here’s the thing; we don’t “do” video calls because of the price, so again, simply make it more cost effective to use your services and we won’t think twice about those additional Skype options…

We’ve just had the news confirmed; 3 are rolling out SkypeOUT to all 3 SkypePhones, not just the newer SkypePhone S2, but also the original 3 SkypePhone.  This will allow you to make calls to International landlines and mobiles at Skype’s call rates, instead of 3’s International rates.  There will be a software update in the next day or so which will allow this facility, which will automatically be applied to your phone.

Also, this facility will also be available to those using the Skype on 3 service on other 3UK phones.

One small caveat, we understand that although this will enable you to make SkypeOUT calls, it is only available for International Calls, ie you can not use it to make calls to UK phones numbers (in order to protect 3UK’s call revenue), but with most 3UK contracts coming with plenty of minutes to use, this should not be a major problem for most.

This is an important step that 3UK have been planning for some while, and we look forward to the continuation of this integration.

As discussed before here, Sony have now (finally) released the new PSP-Lite firmware (v3.90) which includes Skype support. You additionally need the PSP Skype Headset. This offers a full Skype experience, including SkypeIN and SkypeOUT. It is currently only available via the Network Update facility direct on the device, but a PC download option should appear soon.

A lot of people have been trying to connect their TomTom SatNav devices to their new 3 SkypePhones to get traffic updates, and having problems. Crundy, who developed the SkypeIN / SkypeOUT workaround, has released details instructions on how to achieve this, which you can access in the rest of the article.

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