New Lycos App Combines Entertainment And VoIP

Lycos is partnering with India’s Globe 7 on a SIP softphone app that offers ad-supported phone time. What makes the Lycos Phone Beta worth covering here is the way it goes beyond VoIP into entertainment, making the name of the software unfortunately misleading. Without explanations, it sounds like just another VoIP app that may or may not work better than the rest. Instead, it’s more daring, promising entertainment and information via video, MP3s and live IPTV; one blurb guarantees 300 free-to-air channels. Some details:
– Globe7 TV includes world news from Reuters, multi-language channels and the chance to earn phone minutes by watching. It also includes PPV sports such as soccer and cricket. (In case you haven’t guessed this is meant to appeal to a global audience. Not all services work everywhere.)

– The initial download comes with 100 “free” minutes to call landlines and mobiles. Additional minutes can be earned or bought. It also includes an MP3 player and IM.

– Users can upgrade to gold, which includes a US phone number with unlimited incoming calls and free voice mail, by providing personal information including name and address. Lycos promises to include free VOD and PPV “soon” along with free fax to email.

– Globe7 offers its own branded version.

Lycos COO Brian Kalinowski tells ClickZ the business model relies on lead generation, something with which Lycos has considerable experience through GetRelevant: “Globe 7 and Lycos receive a bounty for signing up a lead. We share revenue with the lead generations, and we return that back to the user for long distance dialing and things they need to pay for to use the system.” He explains that the combo player “gives people more reason to keep this open other than to make a phone call.”

Gartner Group Research VP Allen Weiner calls it “a fascinating Trojan horse. … Needless to say Lycos is interested in doing anything it can to bring back the luster to the brand from earlier days of the Internet. It’s an interesting way of getting people hooked and getting them to try the service.”

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