Getting Skype to work on mobile phones has been the ambition of an excess of startups, and has gotten some recent attention from a few carriers too. The latest startup to tackle mobile Skype is Mobivox, which has recently changed its company and service name from Voxlib, and is currently running a private alpha trial that it aims to launch at CTIA next week.
The Montreal-based startup that was founded in 2005, raised funds (total undisclosed) from Canadian venture firms Brightspark and Skypoint Capital. It’s new service offers local access numbers which users can call to reach available Skype contacts as well as their other mobile and landline contacts. The service also offers the ability to do conference calls, and a place to combine your address book. It might not be a true mobile Skype solution, but its low tech and works.
Mobivox was a little kludgy to set up originally, probably cause its still in Alpha, but the easy part about it is it can use voice commands over a regular local phone call, so I just dial and say “my contact” and “Skype” and the service will connect me to an available Skype user — or my other contacts’ mobile and landline numbers. I finally got it to automatically sync with my Skype contacts after I triggered the sync by calling in to see if my Skype contacts were online or not.
The most frustrating part of trying to access Skype mobile solutions over some of the other services is downloading the client on the often select number of handsets available. It’s getting better as the startups add more handsets, but its still limited. Well, Mobivox also says they will have a mobile client available starting in April, so I guess they’ll be jumping on that bandwagon too, for users that want a mobile interface.
Mobivox’s previous Skype mobile solution was based on a PC application Skype extension, which isn’t that nice of a solution — EQO used to have a similar PC-style Skype version of these as well. Now that iSkoot seems like its becoming Skype’s chosen mobile solution, other startups with Skype mobile solutions like Mobivox are trying to figure out differentiators.
12 comments so far
12:56 PM PT
MobiVox - Skype íà ëþáîì ìîáèëüíîì…
Îì Ìàëèê ïèøåò î ñòàðòàïå Mobivox, êîòîðûé çàïóñòèë àëüôà-âåðñèþ ñåðâèñà, ïîçâîëÿþùåãî èñïîëüçîâàòü âîçìîæíîñòè Skype ñ ëþáîãî ìîáèëüíîãî òåëå…
2:15 PM PT
Well if it’s low tech and works on all phones I guess that’s a great differentiator.
2:42 PM PT
Hey that’s pretty neat. I like what the European Start up barablu are doing http://www.barablu.com they also have skype integration like a few others
7:58 PM PT
So I just installed Skype for Windows Smart Phones on my T-mobile Dash and it works flawlessly!
Am I missing something about why I need a 3rd party?
See full post: http://blogs.msdn.com/maamktg/archive/2007/03/19/revolutionary.aspx
3:18 AM PT
To Jeremy: the need for a 3rd party.
Probably 0.1% of the cel phones worldwide are smart phones with data plans. This mobivox thing offers a solution for every cel phone user, using the pstn network.
7:46 AM PT
Fring.com to be mentioned..
8:44 AM PT
Globe Dialer has taken an even easier route by simply letting people call internationally via the PSTN network.
Why connect with skype when your contacts are running around with their mobile phone in their pockets…
See also http://www.globedialer.com
Mikael
8:45 AM PT
i use http://www.create-ringtone.com to create and send FREE custom ringtones, wallpaper, mp3 and video files to cell phones around the world
12:30 PM PT
[...] Skype is terrific - a free or low-cost tool to make long-distance phone calls. More than 100 million registered users can’t be wrong, right? One of Skype’s few Achilles Heels is the difficulty using it on a wireless device, which would be terrific given how expensive it can be to make a long-distance call on wirelessly. There is , however, an answer to the mobile Skype dilemma with the official launch today of Mobivix, a global calling service that which, among other things lets you make unlimited and free Skype calls and free global mobile calls between Mobivox users. I’ve been using the Montreal-based company’s service for about a week, and I love it. Using some pretty terrific voice recognition software, Mobivox has proven its value just by allowing me to call other Skype users. I like it so much, I’d pay for premium services, and I don’t offer that admission too often these days. By the way, Mobivox is dead easy to use and doesn’t involve a software download. All you do is register for the service online, and access it using a local number in more than 20 countries. For more on Mobivox, which has received venture financing from BrightSpark and Skypoint, check out GigaOm. [...]
1:31 PM PT
plz recommend some sites which give free calls from pc to india land lines from usa
10:29 AM PT
[...] http://gigaom.com/2007/03/19/mobivox-more-skype-on-mobile/ http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/05/new_voip_player.html [...]
11:29 AM PT
Mobivox doesn’t seem to be getting great reviews here: http://www.mobilevoipreview.com/reviews/mobivox-review/
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