T-Mobile’s Bobsled service, a VOIP-based communication platform that initially allowed smartphone owners to call their Facebook friends from their mobile device, has been expanded to provide free calls to any mobile or landline number in the U.S, Canada or Puerto Rico from anywhere in the world, simply by using their desktop browser.
The move is one more example of what normally happens in competitive markets, which is that the contestants lagging most in a market are most likely to embrace disruptive changes.
Whereas before, Bobsled would allow you to call Facebook friends from a dedicated smartphone application, the service has been adapted to give users the opportunity to call numbers in North America directly from the browser using their desktop computer and iOS or Android tablets or smartphones.
The Android/iOS version currently only supports calls direct to Facebook contacts, but that will be upgraded soon, one assumes. If an iPhone or Android user wants to make free general calls, users will need to log in through the browser interface instead of placing calls directly from the mobile.
Still, using the mobile apps, users already can make Bobsled to Bobsled calls, cross-platform between Android and iOS, and leave voicemails that show up on Facebook contacts’ walls.
It’s also possible to record a voice message and leave that pinned to someone’s wall, rather than actually talk to them.
In effect it’s a clever way for T-Mobile to potentially get onto hundreds of thousands of iPhone home screens, despite being the only major US carrier not offering the new iPhone 4S. The immediate revenue for T-Mobile is nil, of course, but the potential for mind share and awareness at least is enhanced.
"Bobsled Calling" allows users to make high quality calls to Facebook friends and any number in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico from anywhere a user has an Internet connection, even when they phone isn't available. Bobsled
To download the application on your smartphone or tablet device, click here.
The move is one more example of what normally happens in competitive markets, which is that the contestants lagging most in a market are most likely to embrace disruptive changes.
Whereas before, Bobsled would allow you to call Facebook friends from a dedicated smartphone application, the service has been adapted to give users the opportunity to call numbers in North America directly from the browser using their desktop computer and iOS or Android tablets or smartphones.
The Android/iOS version currently only supports calls direct to Facebook contacts, but that will be upgraded soon, one assumes. If an iPhone or Android user wants to make free general calls, users will need to log in through the browser interface instead of placing calls directly from the mobile.
Still, using the mobile apps, users already can make Bobsled to Bobsled calls, cross-platform between Android and iOS, and leave voicemails that show up on Facebook contacts’ walls.
It’s also possible to record a voice message and leave that pinned to someone’s wall, rather than actually talk to them.
In effect it’s a clever way for T-Mobile to potentially get onto hundreds of thousands of iPhone home screens, despite being the only major US carrier not offering the new iPhone 4S. The immediate revenue for T-Mobile is nil, of course, but the potential for mind share and awareness at least is enhanced.
"Bobsled Calling" allows users to make high quality calls to Facebook friends and any number in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico from anywhere a user has an Internet connection, even when they phone isn't available. Bobsled
To download the application on your smartphone or tablet device, click here.
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