SIPphone, Inc., developers of the free Gizmo Project Internet calling software, announced their “All Calls Free” program. The new program gives active Gizmo Project users unlimited free calling to landlines and mobile phones in 60 countries around the world. People who wish to participate simply download Gizmo Project, sign up for a free account and add their friends, family and business contacts to their Gizmo Project Contact list. Callers can then call their Contacts on their mobile phones, landlines or Gizmo Project for free. There is no cost to sign-up and the program is available to anyone. More information on this new calling plan can be found at www.gizmoproject.com/allcallsfree.
To be eligible for All Calls Free, users have to log in to their account and make a call using Gizmo Project to attain “active” status. Thereafter, calls to other active Gizmo Project users in select countries will be free. Active users are those people who regularly use Gizmo Project to make calls to other Gizmo Project users (on a PC) or to any landline or mobile phone. The free Gizmo Project software for Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, Linux and the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet can be downloaded at www.gizmoproject.com/download.
The program includes countries such as China, the United States, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Thailand, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Canada, and more. Most European and Asian countries are also included. A full list of countries may be found at www.gizmoproject.com/allcallsfree. Calls to other countries not on the list, or calls to users who do not have an active status, will be billed at the standard low rates found at www.gizmoproject.com/rates.
“The All Calls Free program allows Gizmo Project users to call more than 2 billion landline or mobile phones around the world at no cost to them. There are no hidden fees or catches and we hope to extend the program to more countries in the near future,” said Jason Droege, president of SIPphone. “This is a great reason for people to get their family and friends to make all their calls using Gizmo Project,” Droege concluded.
An interesting review of the upcoming Origami tablets from The Inquirer:
My impression of each of these mobile tablet PCs was the same: they’re a bundle of compromises. They try to fill a lot of different roles, but are second best at all of them. The manufacturers have made a valiant first effort, but Microsoft’s UMPC blueprint is not ready to be turned into a viable product.
Probably just a typo, but nevertheless a third country has been added to the list of honorary countries which participated in making of 770 - Lithuania.
In related news, Nokia USA appears to have grossly underestimated demand for the 770 — the Lithuania-made device is currently back-ordered into January, as many LinuxDevices.com readers are likely already aware.
What do you think of the new Itronix Internet tablet?
It’s been a while since I’ve been to Spokane, but generally Itronix products, generally sold to defense contractors and what not, are selling for thousands of dollars, since they use those Tablet PCs in the battlefield, etc.
Mid-sized, lightweight and ergonomic, the Duo-Touch boasts the rugged and weatherized features you’ve come to expect from Itronix. With up-to-four integrated wireless options in the same device, including GPS, the Duo-Touch is ready for any wireless network. It offers the performance and flexibility needed to keep field-deployed, mission-critical workers productive. The Duo-Touch combines the features of an active digitizer with the flexibility of a passive touch screen. Never fear losing your tablet stylus again!
Smart Money might have cracked the real reason for Nokia to experiment with new products like N770, something that Forbes magazine thought was totally uncalled for:
Simply put, Wall Street worries that Nokia isn’t cool anymore. The Finland-based giant has been cranking out 1990s-style phones shaped like candy bars when consumers have been clamoring for flip, or clamshell, designs like Motorola’s ultra-thin RAZR. At the same time, industry growth has slowed somewhat, and Nokia and others have been pushing into emerging markets with lower-margin phones. Result: Nokia’s overall margins and profits have been slipping.
Business Week’s Dialing Up Linux is a feature story on phone manufacturers’ venture into the open source world. In Linux Answers Phone Makers’ Call the magazine mentions Nokia’s 770 among others:
Even Nokia, which owns almost 50% of Symbian, leaves open the door to working with Linux, says Jorma Ollila, the top cell-phone maker’s CEO. “We will put all our weight” behind Symbian for smart phones, he says. “But at the same time, we are working with the open-source and Linux community, so that we have the readiness to use Linux more in the future if we decide to.” Nokia has already announced a Linux mobile device, the palm-sized 770 Internet Tablet, with a bright, landscape-oriented screen and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology, which enables high-speed wireless Internet access.
However strong the Linux draw may be, Symbian and Microsoft still have certain technological advantages. Both take little configuration and are virtually identical from one phone to the next. That means third-party developers can create off-the-shelf software programs for either. For instance, more than 4,100 applications are now available for devices running Symbian. Not so with Linux.
Meanwhile, global market for handheld devices took another dive, falling 16.9% in Q3 2005. If IDC considers new 770 sales a handheld device (they have some criteria of what they call a handheld, and what they call a phone, and two seldom mix), this could boost the entire industry.
Postneo shares his impressions of Google Local for Mobile and expects Nokia 770 to be the harbinger of all things that are AJAX and mobile:
I predict that 2006 will be the year of mobile Ajax. While I might be stretching the Ajax term a bit beyond Javascript and XMLHTTPRequest, I expect to see a new breed of apps and services with that Ajax feel to them hitting mobile devices in 2006. Google’s offering is just (as usual) before its time. On the horizon we also see Nokia’s WebCore based browser which will be more than capable of traditional Ajax, more devices shipping with Flash and SVG support, connected tablets (Nokia 770 and the PSP), and more. Trust me, 2006 is going to be a wild ride.
A bit unrelated to 770 itself, but everyone seemed to point out the fact that 770 did not have any cellular connectivity. CommsDesign says:
Nokia said Tuesday that it has passed a significant milestone by completing voice and data calls using Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology. UMA is a technology that cellular operators can use to seamlessly transfer voice and data calls from cellular to wireless LAN networks. It enables, for instance, a voice call to automatically switch from the cellular network to a wireless VoIP system.
The discussion on Engadget regarding new SlimDevices Squeezebox prompted some readers to bring in Nokia 770 comparison:
This looks like an awesome alternative to the Sonos. The Sonos has the nifty LCD remote, but you can buy the upcoming Nokia 770 PDA with 802.11 to fulfill the same function. Also, if you already have a home stereo receiver, you are wasting some money with the Sonos because the base unit comes with an amp. Finally, this Squeezebox has optical output, which the Sonos does not have.