Vopium has come to the Android – G1 and Magic!

Yesterday, Vopium (Which I reviewed previously and which I used in London to call Singapore / Netherlands) had a press release for it to be released to Android Phones….

To download the application, users simply search for Vopium in the Android Market. Once downloaded, Vopium seamlessly integrates with the address book and intelligently recognises international numbers, automatically re-routing calls via the Vopium gateway. Using 3G, GSM, and GPRS networks, Vopium ensures that all international calls are made using the cheapest method available while also preserving the highest level of call quality. Users who download and register Vopium from Android Market will receive 30 minutes of free calls and 30 free text messages (SMS).

Which is very similar to the process for the iPhone… although I don’t have an Android. Maaike just bought one though, a white G1… and although its not as pretty as a white iPhone, I think its also a very girly phone – if you put a ton of Swarovskis on it!

Anyway, since I would recommend Vopium for cheap calls, and you just have to make use of the sign-up bonuses, you can check them out here.

Recently, the online marketing lead of Vopium contacted me, apparently from my many Skype / VOIP posts. Since Vopium is a Copenhagen based company and I like reviewing tech startups from Europe I decided to give it a shot even though a few reviews ago I stated that I would use Fring (with an SIP) and Skype to call aboard. I tested this on an iPhone.

I think the name rocks btw.

Vopium.

All signups get the first thirty minutes of calls free (more on this later) as well as 100 free sms (this one is very nice). So I signed up on the website and as promised they gave me two smses, one to click a link to bring me to the login page, and another with the username (which is your number) and your password. I didn’t like the password because I didn’t set it, and I had to remember a few letters, and for some reason it did not work on the website when I tried to log in? But whatever, the link brought me to a webpage with all the numbers on it, it looked alot like Fring, Skype, Truphone etc in terms of Interface, but it was not as the website said, a link to the App Store, which would be much nicer actually. But we’ll give Vopium the benefit of teh doubt as it just went on beta on February 2009.

So this review is based solely on a Web Interface. I tried searching for Vopium on the App Store but it was not there, and on the website it states that it was ready for the Netherlands, but apparently not in the Dutch App Store. Nonetheless, here’s what I think, totally unbias…

Sms: Despite the Web Interface, which I did not exactly like, I thought that the sms was decent, although I was not sure why the tiny words Austria was on the top left of the dial screen even though I was sending an sms to the Netherlands. I learnt that you could change the settings in the setting zone although I’m not sure why it was set that way because when I registered I registered it as the Netherlands as my default country. However, sending an sms worked great because I received the sms and it was sent “from the Netherlands and from my cell phone”, even though it was via the web, the UI was clean and fast and I received the sms fast as well. A slight integration to actually look into the contacts of the phone would be great, but maybe that was available as an actual app on the iPhone. So thumbs-up for it!

Calls: Well, I had some weird difficulty with this at first, because I’m not familiar with this as opposed to Skype. Alot of instructions on the screen for some reason, and I’m a software person so I’m used to it but I can’t imagine my mom even bothering to read the instructions. Vopium actually You pay your mobile provider for a local call and Vopium for the international add-on, its the same kind of structure many SIPs work on, like VoipStunt where you are able to call a local landline and then your call gets rerouted to a global traffic carrier. However, the bad thing is, my default country was set as Austria, and what my phone did was call a +43 number which definitely is not a dutch number! Super bad! It made me uneasy so I didn’t bother trying to make the call to test the call quality.

So what do I think. I think Vopium is an okay piece of software which requires a little bit more polish. However, they are offering a nice interface (web at least) which many SIPs like VoipBlaster are not offering thus far. The set-up required more work (passwords which didn’t work) and the defaults for the users need to be set right as well.

Otherwise, the sms works very nice and I liked it alot. The call quality I cannot determine (as yet) because I prefer to make my calls over WiFi and not via my carrier T-Mobile because I think T-Mobile offers too little minutes for my plan, and the default settings of Austria is kind of creepy because I think I just made an International call, as a user you don’t want to feel that way.

Would I use this product again? Well, ye, but only for SMS. Maybe once the real app is out and the link I press does not lead me only to the Web Interface would I give this another shot.

Check it out: here for the trial.

I am currently an App Store whore.

I’ve been downloading insanely lately in hopes that I become the one billionth downloader and win an Apple TV and the works. And of course Skype and Fring has been one of them, especially, check this out: EU considering ban on Carrier VOIP filtering.

But I call back to Singapore almost every day, so this really helps me save alot.

(1) Skype… of course!

Skype was released to much fanfare, it being one of the most well-known VOIP solutions. With Skype, over WiFi, you can:

- Make Skype-to-Skype calls

- Make SkypeOut calls

- Message your contacts in Skype

And everything is done such that you can even check out your contacts in your address book to call! I tried making a few calls, and for some reason when my other VOIP fails me, Skype is always almost the most reliable thing to count on. Of course there is a tiny charge to call to Singapore, but 0.02USD/minute isn’t too much.

(2) Fring

Fring, kind of integrates everything, from MSN to Twitter to Skype to ICQ to.. everything! How horrified I was when I realized that of all the networks listed, I actually had everything! Well, it was kind of funny to sign on to everything, something like Trillian or Meebo or the all-in services. No seriously. I think it just means how connected I am to the Web.

Not all the “add-ons” as they call it are supported with Voice Calls though, Only Skype, MSN and Google Talk, which is fair enough for most people. Similarly, it allowed chatting to your buddies on your buddy list, having a history and the works.

Now, I finally saw two things which were super awesome which I didn’t notice before. In the UI of the Dialer as you can see above, there are three buttons!

Which means: They support a whole list of SIP, including VoipStunt, which is insanely cheap because for the fact that I call for free to landlines and mobiles in Singapore for a huge number of days for only 10EUR (You get to spend this 10EUR as well, on other things like sms, or calls to paid countries). Now VoipStunt isn’t the greatest, because they like to change their call charges and policies without telling, but as long as you check on that often you would probably not incur too big a charge. Furthermore, their sister sites, which all belong to the same company, like VoipBlaster, SmartVoip, probably has something to the country you are calling to. So technically I could call over WiFi, for free!

The other two buttons are cellular and SkypeOut. Of course there is only one qualm about this, which is you could enter an expensive international number, and press cellular instead of SIP or SkypeOut. By accident. Quite unfortunately, I couldn’t find access to the address book from the UI, but since most of the time people call less than five common numbers all the time it should not be a great issue to just check history.

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In the quest for the search for the great VOIP App, I also checked out TruPhone and iCall. Since TruPhone was something like Skype I decided to just now get onto another VOIP provider. And since I already had an SIP, Fring was the way to go. With Skype as the sort-of backup. Now if only they supported a better sms system so that I could contact my brother who’s in army camp with a cameraless good-ole’ fashioned phone. Yeah, back then, phones were only meant to make calls.

Winner: Fring (then Skype, a close second)