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BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support

By | August 23, 2010, 6:56pm PDT

Summary: RIM is catching up with other smartphone brands with the help of a new program bringing mobile VoIP connectivity to BlackBerry devices.

RIM is catching up with other smartphone brands with the help of a new program bringing mobile VoIP connectivity to BlackBerry devices.

Up until now, there hasn’t been a single native VoIP client for the BlackBerry platform, as there have been for smartphones running Android or iPhone OS. Truphone, Skype and Fring are just a few of the apps supported by these operating systems right now.

Enter TringMe, the first third-party, native program for BlackBerry that permits phone calls over a Wi-Fi network without eating up voice minutes. The business savvy should also take note that worldwide conference calling is also permitted with this service.

It’s a good start for BlackBerry, but if 100 million smartphone users are “expected to be using mobile VoIP by 2012,” BlackBerry and third-party app developers should really get cracking with this.

Interested BlackBerry owners can visit the TringMe mobile app site to download it.

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Topics

Mobile, RIM BlackBerry, Telephony, VOIP, Handhelds, Telecommunications, Networking, Hardware, Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for ZDNet based in San Francisco.

Disclosure

Rachel King

Rachel King has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted in this blog.

Biography

Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for CBS Interactive in San Francisco. Before serving as a contributing editor at ZDNet in New York City for two years, she previously worked for The Business Insider, FastCompany.com, CNN's San Francisco bureau and the U.S. Department of State. Rachel has also written for MainStreet.com, Irish America Magazine and the New York Daily News, among others. Rachel has a B.A. in Mass Communications and History from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, where she served as art director for the student magazine, Plated.

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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
nebula65 9th Nov 2010
We are beta testing our BlackBerry SIP VoIP client und would like to invite everyone to join the trial phase. The registration is quick and simple and can be found here:
http://www.fgmicrotec.com/BlackBerry-VoIP.html


Here are a few facts:


- the client comes preconfigured with a test account on our system
- you can reconfigure the client to use any VoIP provider
- use it with your own SIP capable PBX (i.e Asterisk)
- dial from anywhere (call history, contacts, emails, SMS etc.)
- trial users with good bug reports get commercial license for free
- quick and reliable support via our forum http://www.fgmicrotec.com/forum/index.php
View in thread
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
ving2010 23rd Aug 2010
Hi Rachel,

Have you heard of MO-Call?
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
bonnen 24th Aug 2010
The news I want to hear is that RIM adds native VoIP support to Blackberry OS. These locked-up 3rd-party clients add to fragmentation in the VoIP space. A proper provider-agnostic VoIP client would allow the user to choose from several providers rather than be tied to one.
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
MrBeck 24th Aug 2010
@bonnen You mean like the SIP client built into Nokia E series handsets? RIM has been too tightly tied to the carriers for this to happen. I know of no carrier that lets this loose on an Nokia handsets it offers, only found on the unlocked ones, but afaik on all E-series, since about 2005.
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
MrBeck Updated - 24th Aug 2010
@MrBeck deleted by the author
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
bonnen 25th Aug 2010
@MrBeck:
Yes, Nokia smartphones have had an inbuilt SIP/VoIP client for years. Not just the Eseries, but also the Nseries. I'm aware that mainly US carriers mandate its removal on the Nseries, but it's more the exception than the rule elsewhere.
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
MrBeck Updated - 24th Aug 2010
deleted by the author
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
MrBeck Updated - 24th Aug 2010
deleted by the author (there isn't a delete button)
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
MrBeck Updated - 24th Aug 2010
deleted by the author
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MVS
MobileAdmin 24th Aug 2010
Seeing you didn't do proper research on this I assume you are mainly focused on consumer / prosumer usage of VOIP.

RIM bought Ascendent Technologies years ago to snap into any company PBX system and their latest update allows WiFi calling. It intergrates seemlessly with the Blackberry and allows all standard Unified Messaging. The low cost routing alone will be a huge savings for any company with a large amount of international travelers. BB can also connect to OCS / Sametime to have a truely enterprise connected mobile device.

There are others in this space as well: Avaya, Cisco etc. So unsure how Blackberry is "catching up".
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
Robvdvelden 24th Aug 2010
What about Skype?
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
Richard in Phoenix Updated - 24th Aug 2010
@Robvdvelden
My Storm 2 on Verizon had Skype, but it was a gimped version that would only work over 3G (no wifi calling), and only for international calls (from the US). I want a version that lets me make wifi calls from overseas back to the US!!

But yeah, the claim "there hasn?t been a single native VoIP client for the BlackBerry platform" seems misinformed.
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
kx2us 14th Sep 2010
You all should try out BlackVoib (http://www.blackvoib.com). It is not tied to any provider.
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RE: BlackBerry devices getting mobile VoIP support
nebula65 9th Nov 2010
We are beta testing our BlackBerry SIP VoIP client und would like to invite everyone to join the trial phase. The registration is quick and simple and can be found here:
http://www.fgmicrotec.com/BlackBerry-VoIP.html


Here are a few facts:


- the client comes preconfigured with a test account on our system
- you can reconfigure the client to use any VoIP provider
- use it with your own SIP capable PBX (i.e Asterisk)
- dial from anywhere (call history, contacts, emails, SMS etc.)
- trial users with good bug reports get commercial license for free
- quick and reliable support via our forum http://www.fgmicrotec.com/forum/index.php

Join the conversation!

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