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April, 2010:

Call for free over 3G networks – VoIP apps review

Apr 28th, 2010
by admin.
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One of the main advantages of traveling with a smartphone are the apps – be it location based apps, travel apps, cloud apps and all sort of other. One of the best ways to utilizing apps abroad is using them for communication. When traveling abroad, KeepGo is dedicated to providing a one-stop solution for all your online access needs.

As Apple allowed for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) about two years ago, there was an explosion of apps that allowed you to call for free over the internet to any number in the world. So the next time you are going abroad, read this article and download any one of these apps to save you some cabbage when calling back home.

There are four main platforms now (as far as I know, although tomorrow there may be many more) that support calls over data networks: Skype, iCall, Fring and Viber.

So… what options for making calls over 3G data networks are available for iPhone users?

 

Let’s take a look at the iCall app that allows VoIP over 3G: iCall for iPhone.

First of all, you can download the iCall App for free from the Apple Store.

iCall offers three packages: Total Access, Pay-as-you-go and ad-supported free USA and Canada calls.

iCall’s Total Access package includes free and unlimited VoIP calls over 3G to the US and Canada and dirt cheap rates for all the other international calls. The package costs $9.95 per month and includes a customizable voicemail.

Pay-as-you-go plan call rates are slightly more expensive, but are still very cheap.

Ad-supported Free Calling is great for those who need to call the US and Canada most of the time. As it says – it’s free, but is limited to 5 minute calls. However, you can’t make calls over 3G networks to the rest of the world using iCall, unless you subscribe to either Total Access or Pay-as-you-go. And if you subscribe to the Pay-as-you-go plan, your calls to the US and Canada won’t be free any more. So… it’s kinda tricky.

Tough decision to make :)

Just to sum up the features offered by iCall for making calls over 3G:

  • Free ad-supported USA and Canada calling (with a 5 minute limit)
  • Possibility to receive VoIP calls even when the app is not running
  • Option to switch cell phone calls to VoIP
  • Those calls don’t count towards your cell-calling plan
  • Cheap international rates, especially for those who choose Total Access Plan
  • Compatible with Apple devices… and more.

 

Now let’s see how Fring’s VoIP over 3G works

Another solution for making free calls is Fring, which is also free.

Here is the detailed explanation on how Fring works over 3G:

With Fring you can pretty much call anyone in the world – VoIP calls through 3G or WiFI, Video chat with up to 4 people who have Fring installed, and even call people on their mobile or landline through FringOut. Also, since the app is available on almost every other platform (Android, iPad, Symbian and more) you’ll be to talk to quite a lot of people, not just iPhone users.
Also, If you have an SIP account (like Vonage, perhaps) you can set up your Fring account to use your SIP setting while you’re going abroad and avoid those 3G roaming charges.

    • VoIP calls on 3G, 4G and WiFi
    • Free calls to other Fring Users.
    • Cheap calls to mobile and landlines around the world with FringOut
    • iPhone phonebook integration
    • Free video group chat, with up to 3 other Fring users
    • Free unlimted IM with Fring, MSN messenger, GoogleTalk, AIM and ICQ users
    • Detailed call history and more…

 

 

Probably the most popular app at the moment (and has been for the last few years) is Skype.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Skype has been around for so long, their strength lies in their user base, which has crossed the 500 milions a few years ago. Going abroad? chances are your friends will have you use Skype to call them while you’re there.

But what about the feautres for the iPhone user?

Skype offers  free Skype calls between Skype users over 3G and WiFi (pc-to-pc, phone-to-pc and phone-to-phone), cheap VoIP calls to any phone number in the world with SkypeOut, free Video calls between Skype user and free IM. Keep in mind that any free service from Skype has “Partner advertising”, while only the paying programs are ad-free.

Skype also offers some premium services that are aimed at heavier users, like: unlimtimed calls to any U.S number for $6.99 per month, unlimited calls to landlines in 20 european countries for $8.99 per month. Their top-of-line plan, which allows calling any landline in the world for $13.99 per month.

  • Free VoIP calls on 3G, 4G and WiFi to other Skype users
  • Cheap calls to mobile and landlines around the world with SkypeOut
  • Unlimited call plan to the U.S for $6.99 per month
  • Unlimited calls to landlines in Europe or the world for a fixed monthly fee
  • Free unlimited Video chat with other Skype users
  • Free unlimted IM to other Skype users
  • PC/Mac client available, allowing for Phone-to-computer video and VoIP calls

 

Another worthy contender is Viber

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unlike Skype, and like other apps, Viber is smartphone only client. It’s available both on iOS and on Android platforms.

Though most other clients allow video calls as well, Viber is focused and dedicated to voice calls and text messages using your 3G data plan or WiFi, bypassing your providers voice and text-messaging networks. Viber offers these services free of charge with no advertisements, with no hidden fees and no premium services – all services are free.

But the biggest benefit Viber offers compared to the other apps is the “push notifications” feature – even if you have Viber off, or in the background, you will be able to receive calls and messages, and be notified of missed calls from other Viber users. It does so by “pushing” the info straight to your phone, the only thing you have to make sure is to not turn off the data connection.

  • Free VoIP calls on 3G, 4G and WiFi to other Viber users
  • Free unlimited IM to other Viber users
  • A unique “push notifications” feature allowing you to receive calls even when the app is off

If you’re planning to travel abroad with your iPhone and use the VoIP over 3G, beware of data roaming charges. The solution is to rent an  3G Internet SIM card from KeepGo and enjoy free data roaming (i.e. free Internet access anywhere you go, free emails and now – free phone calls over 3G as well).

If anyone knows about any other apps that support VoIP over 3G, please let us know.

and… Enjoy 3Ging :)

 

(Updated on 11/16/11)

Hello! How to SMS for free

Apr 26th, 2010
by admin.
140 comments

Hello! :)

No, no… I’m not greeting you. Hello! is a new app that allows iPhone, iPod Touch and Blackberry owners send SMS’s to each other for free. Free meaning – no charges whatsoever.

You can connect to the Internet using either 3G, Wi-Fi or Edge and send unlimited number of SMS’s to all your friends (provided they are also lucky owners of iPhone, iPod Touch or Blackberry).

In addition this app allows:

  • Group chats (great for business): you can send messages to as many people on your list as you want.
  • Photo exchange (especially useful if you want to share your travel experience with your family and friends). And… it’s also FREE.

Hello! uses push  notification alert to inform you of the new messages. No need to check every now and then if somebody contacted you. It’s as simple as a regular SMS, just with more options.

The application itself is also FREE and is available at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hello/id335703922?mt=8

Enjoy :)

How can you lower the SMS and MMS messages costs while traveling?

Apr 25th, 2010
by admin.
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• Use email instead of texts or MMS messages. Turn Fetch New Data ON: Check e-mail and sync contacts and calendars automatically instead of having the data pushed to your iPhone manually. To turn on the Auto-Check functionality tap on Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendars>Fetch New Data. Change Push to “On”.

• Send text messages via email. It will be for free with KeepGo International 3G data SIM cards. To send SMS text messages to any cell phone in the US using email, just use the recipient’s 10-digit phone number including area code as the first part of the email address (without any dashes or hyphens).

Use the table below to figure out the last half of the email address for each major phone carrier:

Phone Carrier SMS Text Email Address 
AT&T cellnumber@txt.att.net
Verizon cellnumber@vtext.com
Sprint cellnumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile cellnumber@tmomail.net
Nextel cellnumber@messaging.nextel.com
Alltel cellnumber@message.alltel.com
Virgin Mobile cellnumber@vmobl.com
US Cellular cellnumber@email.uscc.net
Metro PCS cellnumber@mymetropcs.com

Type your text message as the email subject and don’t worry about entering a message body, but remember there’s a 140 character limit to text messages so keep it brief just like you would if you were using your cell phone.

* Download dedicated applications that are tailored for text messaging, like WhatsApp. WhatsApp offers its users a simple and easy client that integrates with your contacts list to allow you to send texts, photos, videos, voice files, group chat (up to 10 people) and even your GPS location. As you download the app, enter your phone number and country code and the app will send you a text message to confirm your identity.

Once you complete the simple setting up stage the app will integrate your contact list and check who is already connected to WhatsApp – so you can start communicating for free with the people on your contact list. One of the best things about WhatsApp is its platform reach – iOS, Andorid, Blackberry and Symbian (even the ancient Symbian S40) are all supported. WhatsApp has become so popular, that it recently crossed the 1 billion messages per day mark, congrats!

* Consider downloading all-in-one applications that combine voice, video and chat for a full suite of communication options; like Skype, Viber, iCall, Fring, Yahoo messenger and many others.

 

And don’t forget getting a 3G internet SIM from KeepGo to enjoy 3G-ing to the full !

 

(Updated on 11/16/11)

 

Travel to Germany with iPhone: 5 useful iPhone travel apps for your trip to Germany

Apr 25th, 2010
by admin.
204 comments

Travel to Germany with iPhone: 5 useful iPhone travel apps for your trip to Germany

There are lots of iPhone travel apps for traveling to Germany, but I had a hard time finding apps with high ratings. Here are some of them:

1. German Tourist Guide

This app contain loads of information on Germany: cities, history, places of interest, maps… Besides that, it offers full updated information on visas, health care in Germany, currency, etc.
This app may help you decide where to go, what places to see, how to get there. Looking through the pictures of different places and reading comprehensive description you can decide if it’s worth seeing or… you’d rather look for something different…

This app costs $1.99 and is available at the Apple Store

2. FahrInfo Berlin

BahrInfo Berlin is a very handy app that helps you scheduling your “get-around” in case you use public transportation.
You choose your departure point and destination and get a map with alternative routes. It includes: trip planner, departure monitor and maps.
traveling in Berlin

This app is free and is available for download from the Apple Store

3. Speak German
Useful app… it’s not a dictionary or a long list of words and phrases you’d never use. Very short and to the point: 100 most important phrases a tourist may need in a foreign country (well… Germany, in this case).
On the iTunes site this app is presented as a business travel companion. However… I don’t think this collection of phrases necessarily targets business people. It’s more suitable for the needs (and vocabulary) of young tourists who want to just have a good time :)
Main features: audio recordings of a native German speaker (let your iPhone talk, why bother), 7 theme categories, easy to use.

This app costs $2.99 and is available for download from the Apple Store

4. Marcellino’s Restaurant and Hotel Report Lite

The name of this app says everything: this app provides an easy and convenient way to find restaurants and hotels that satisfy your requirements. With this app you can find not only locations of restaurants and hotels, but also rates, ratings, type of cuisine, menus, and all the other information that can be so important for a hungry homeless tourist.

The app is free and is available for download from the Apple Store

5. Berlin Unlike City Guide

A team of culture-savvy journalists and fashion, art and music professionals recommend the highlights of Berlin with constantly updated information, over 600 location listings, high-quality images and events written in punchy reviews.
Main features include: location based search, access to all “Unlike Net’s” Berlin related content, bookmarking capabilities, browsing by category or location and more.

berlin unlike city guite

This app costs $4.99 and is available for download from the Apple Store.

If you know of any other great iphone apps to use in Germany, please leave a commnet !


Travel to France with iPhone: 5 useful iPhone travel apps for your trip to France

Apr 24th, 2010
by admin.
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It turns out that it’s hard to find good travel iPhone Apps for traveling in France (or just Paris). Here are some travel apps that seem to be handy and got high rankings:

1. Paris 2Go quality city guide for Paris.

This iPhone Paris travel app includes offline searchable and zoomable map. Paris 2Go provides in-depth information about places of interest, historical facts, trivia and more. With this App you can search for and read articles about Paris. This App concentrates on Paris history, geography and landmarks and has very little information about restaurants, night life, clubs or events.

Paris 2Go iphone paris travel appThe App costs $0.99 and is available for download from the Apple Store.

2. Historic Paris Walk:

This app combines texts, audio and video while walking you through Historical places in Paris. It not only provides detailed information about Paris’ history, events and landmarks, but also about worthy restaurants, hotels and sights. You just need to choose the required tab. It’s not just an information container, but a real tour guide in your pocket.

paris travel iphone app historic walk
The App costs $2.99 and is available for download from the Apple Store.

3. La Parking:

This iPhone App is very useful for those who travel the France in a car. Often finding a parking turns into the worst nightmare, especially when you find yourself in a foreign country. Looking for a parking lot instead of enjoying your vacation is not fun. It’s even less fun if you’re on a business trip and may be late for an important meeting. This App is GPS based: it identifies your location and offers parking lots near you. Or, alternatively, you can search for a parking near a required destination.

iphone travel app france parking
The App costs $0.99 and is available for download from the Apple Store.

4. Paris Metro:

This app includes not only Paris metro routes, but also RER, tram and Vogueo services. It’s a geographically based map and route planner. On the map you can locate many places of interest, so that you can easily plan your route to the destination. Using the built-in GPS you can find your exact location and track or plan your trip. Tap on the map for location information, use the inbuilt search feature or choose from a list of locations. Places of interest, museums, hotels, parks, restaurant, shops, hospitals, streets, etc, are also included. The route planner will automatically suggest the nearest station to any place of interest you select.

travel iphone app paris metro
The app costs $0.99 and is available for download from the Apple Store.

5. Paris Essential Guide:

This Paris travel iPhone app includes not only historical places and landmarks, but … just a little of everything, from major monuments to nice little local shops. If you want to explore Paris as it is, to feel a Parisian for a short while, this app is very handy: cozy places to stay, historic neighborhoods, parks, outdoor markets, authentic bistros and fancy restaurants… In-built GPS tracking will help you locate close by attractions. Besides, it contains some useful information on the all those places, mass transit, city layout, etc.
Simple language guide is also included.
Every entry includes address, contact information, prices (where applicable), metro station name, etc.

iphone travel app paris essential guide
The App costs $1.99 and is available for download from the Apple Store.

***

To fully enjoy your iPhone travel esperience, having a free internet access (free data roaming) is essential. It’s just impossible to relax and us all the options this technology can provide, thinking that when you come back home you may find a bill of over $3000 for data roaming.

You can rent a sim card in Paris and get a certain amount of local rate phone calls and a data package for an outrageous price.

Or you can rent Unlimited Internet SIM Card for your locked AT&T iPhone or any other unlocked smartphone from KeepGo.com. You can also rent an iPhone with the Unlimited Internet SIM Card. This allows you to:

  • Access Internet anywhere with unlimited 3G data roaming plan
  • Make free international calls using VoIP apps over 3G data network
  • Visit different countries without replacing the SIM card (One chip for all destinations)
  • Receive and send emails abroad for free
  • No contract, no charges for receiving or sending data, no minimum call spend
  • Works with any AT&T Locked device (including iPhone and BlackBerry). No hacking, jailbreaking or unlocking required! Also compatible with any unlocked GSM handset

7 useful iPhone Travel Apps

Apr 23rd, 2010
by admin.
175 comments

Around Me. This iPhone App uses GPS information of your exact location to identify and tell you where and what nearby locations are. You can enter your search parameter (for example: restaurants, gas stations, museums, bus stops and more) and the application will show you where exactly those places are. It will search for places within a walking distance from your current location.

travel iphone app

  • This application is FREE and is available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.

Flight Status – Flight Tracking apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Flight Status app offers information on flight status from 1143 different airline companies and airport status for 4246 airports around the globe. The app provides end-to-end updated information.

iphone app flight status

  • You can purchase the App for $4.99 and it’s available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish

A truly amazing series of iPhone Apps is Lingolook. It contain a flash card dictionary of literally all the possible words and phrases a traveler may need. It also has a pronunciation guide – “talking translations” and simple friendly user interface. Moreover, it doesn’t need an internet connection. It also can say the phrase out loud… no need to embarrass yourself by wrong pronunciation. Imagine, coming to a restaurant and letting your phone speak instead of you J.

iphone app for travel translation

  • Those “language guides” are available for Japanese, French, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Hindi and German.  The App can be purchased at iTunes for $4.99.

And this one is funny… until you need it! Sit or Squat iPhone App – enter an address, zip code or intersection and find all the public toilets near you.

iphone travel app funny

  • The app is FREE and available for download from iTunes.

Cheap Gas – this app makes use of iPhone 3G and 3GS’s GPS capabilities to help you locate gas stations near you, immediately see their prices and directions (including map) how to get there. This app’s search results are very accurate.

iphone travel app gas stations

  • The app is FREE and available for download from iTunes.

Another really cool app is Postcard Express. You travel far from home, see stunning places… why not to take a nice picture, customize it, make a postcard from it and send it your family and friends?

With this app you can make and send high quality postcards. It’s integrated with iPhone Mail and Contacts apps and several zoom levels.

sent postcards from iphone travel app

  • The app costs $1.99 and is available for download in the Apple store.

My Gate Maps – this app contains maps of the terminals of all the international airports worldwide. No need to running around a huge airport building, sweating and trying to find a shop, registration desk or your flight gate.

iphone travel app airports gates

  • The app costs $2.99 and is available for download in the Apple store.

How to make twitter posts using iphone while abroad

Apr 21st, 2010
by admin.
148 comments

When you are abroad and you use your own AT&T locked iphone  then your data roaming switch is off. It is better be this way, because otherwise you just can encounter enormous data roaming charges. It also means that you can not post tweets from anywhere like you are used to do in the USA using AT&T 3G internet. So, how you still make posts on twitter and how much it could cost you ?

You can post by sending sms to local twitter number. Because you are outside of USA each sms will cost you $0.5, meaning if you do 15 twitter updates per day on average and you travel for 1 week you will pay total $52 just for updating twitter. When you are traveling there are so many new exciting things you want to tweet about, to remember, to let your friends know so why limit yourself? Just use keepgo.com service and you have unlimited twitter capabilities everywhere and thousand other things you can do from iPhone.

iPhone OS 4.0 Overview

Apr 16th, 2010
by admin.
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08.04.2010 in San Francisco Apple has announced its new iPhone OS. Throughout the media this OS is generally referred to as a “Next Generation OS.”

Apple promises over 100 new user features to be introduced by the OS 4.0, among them are:

  1. Full scale multitasking – possibility to perform various tasks “on the background” while actively using other features and apps. For example, the user will be able to check his e-mail while listening to his MP3’s or making a VoIP call.
  2. iAd – mobile advertising platform that allows iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch apps feature rich media ads.
  3. Background GPS!
  4. New iBook features that enrich the possibilities to browse, buy and read books on your OS 4.0 compatible mobile device. It will also have a huge searchable eBook store and will allow reading reviews and sample pages before deciding to buy or not to buy.
  5. Another useful feature (especially considering the amount of available apps) is the possibility to organize apps into folders. It will be possible to manage above 2000 apps (as compared to today’s limit of 180 apps).
  6. Unified e-mail box that makes it possible to display messages from different e-mail accounts in one inbox (plus you’ll be able to open attachments using 3rd party apps.)
  7. And many more…

Those who have already had a chance to take a look at iPhone OS 4.0 claim that its user interface reminds that of Mac OS with the Expose function. The same kind of multitasking is supposed to work on iPhones. To launch the feature one will need to use a certain buttons (icons) combination (as in Expose function). The applications will be presented as small icons.

The most appealing characteristic of the new feature is that the simultaneous use of multiple apps won’t influence the device’s operating speed and won’t reduce battery life.

Apple’s solution for multitasking is based on an advanced system of switching between the tasks instead of just using the usual method of keeping all the active tasks in the cash memory, which makes it possible to preserve the processor’s speed and battery life.

Working on some document you may need to switch between various apps, such as, for example, mail, notes and browser. Today this means a lengthy process of closing one application, finding on your screen the next one, opening it, closing it again, going back to the previous app and so on. With the new iPhone OS, this “traveling” from one app to another will be much easier. You’ll just need to press Home button twice to open a new window with a list of currently used applications.

This, strictly speaking, is not multitasking per se. However, with iPhone OS 4.0 Apple introduces yet more “true” multitasking features, i.e. the OS 4.0 enables apps to work on the background. For example, during the demonstration of the new OS, Apple demonstrated how Internet Radio Pandora continues working even in the background mode.

Very important for travelers is that with iPhone OS 4.0 it will become possible to run GPS apps on the background. Travelers can now use, for example, their mobile tour guide application, while still receiving navigation instructions from GPS. iPhone will be able to receive data from GPS receiver and “communicate” it to the user in the background mode.

iPhone OS 4 Compatibility

According to Apple, iPhone OS 4 will work with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, 2nd and 3rd generations of iPod touch and with iPad. However, multitasking will only be available with iPhone 3GS and 3rd generation iPod touch.