Firefox VoIP Client

libocannici writes "Abbeynet Labs has released the first version of a Firefox VoIP extension which is a full featured SIP user agent plugin for Firefox." The Firefox extension is completely stand-alone, with all VoIP functionality built directly into it. From one-click calling to SMS sending, this promises to be quite handy. All Internet calls are currently free, just requiring an abbyphone account, while PSTN calls have a small charge.

Comments

Ticked Off Ma Bell

[neonprimetime]

I betcha if this every caught on ... it could really tick off the big phone companies.

Re:Ticked Off Ma Bell

[vishbar]

Remember the lack of net neutrality? Now, Ma Bell just calls up her ISP division, and oops--VOIP transmissions are suddenly shaped into 1kb/s oblivion...

Re:Err, why?

[Yvan256]

Really, plug-ins and extensions are one thing, over-doing it is another.

Why not a WoW client or GameBoy emulator extension for FireFox while we're at it?!

Re:AMD

[qbwiz]

What are you complaining about? This is an extension. The firefox developers had nothing to do with it.

All in One ... Not always Good?

[AWhiteFlame]

Firefox Plugins: Why run anything else?

I'll just run Skype in my tray, thanks..

Crap stuffed into firefox is not crap anymore ?

[file-exists-p]

This is a non-free windows VOIP application. There are zillions of similar things already on the market. Why is this one noticeable ? Because it was stuffed into firefox-the-free-software ?

Re:AMD

[gEvil (beta)]

perhaps firefox should include its own version of solitaire?

No, but it sounds like a great idea for an extension!

Re:Err, why?

[misleb]

Good question. It isn't like it is cross platform or anything. So not only is it limited to Firefox, but also Windows. Seems like a silly set of restrictions just to get the "convenience" of clicking on a phone number and calling or whatever it does. How often does that happen, anyway? Calling tech support from a vendor support page?

-matthew

Remember when Firefox was a web browser?

[stratjakt]

How about a FORTRAN compiler plugin or a plugin to catalog the users collection of anal beads?

Seriously, can we say feature bloat?

The next firefox news I want to here is the news that firefox 1.5 isn't a memory leaking bloated piece of shit under linux. I'm not joking when I say that running IE under wine is faster and more stable on my machine. FF is leaking memory just sitting there doing nothing -- I can see it happen with top.

Re:Remember when Firefox was a web browser?

[SmellTheCoffee]

Seriously, can we say feature bloat?

Not really...this is an EXTENSION which means it is not built into the firefox code base. You have to put extra effort to actually download and install it. If you download and install then obviously you know what you are doing and the extension is worth something to you. Other could care less and can simply chose to ignore. I don't see how that is a feature bloat.

I'm not joking when I say that running IE under wine is faster and more stable on my machine. FF is leaking memory just sitting there doing nothing -- I can see it happen with top.

I have never used wine and I'll certainly never use IE with Wine under Linux. I'm perfectly fine with Firefox or Epiphany or Mozilla or Konqueror or Opera.

Re:Remember when Firefox was a web browser?

[Anonymous Coward]

And Opera is free and open source too? KICK ASS

Extensions are great.

[dubmun]

I'm just not sure I want to open Firefox everytime I want to make a phonecall ;)

Seriously, I don't think phone companies are going to care too much about this. They are more concerned with cellphone and how to continue to be profitable in the rapidly changing telecommunications marketplace.

Home telephone service is dying. (Please excuse the redundancy of that last statement. It just seemed like it needed to be said.)

Re:Extensions are great.

[PFI_Optix]

Home telephone service is dying.

Home telephone will die when:

1) Cellular coverage is complete and solid. There are still large chunks of rural areas with no service at all.

2) Cellular service becomes reliable. I run into "network busy" at least once a month; I've never had such a problem with my land line.

3) cellular service becomes truly affordable. I can get a land line with unlimited long distance for somewhere around $60-70. If I go with the most basic service, I can get it unlimited local for under $40. My cell phone plan with 600 "any time" minutes costs more than either. First cell company to unlimited minutes for $50 a month wins my cash vote.

4) DSL is available without telephone service. That's where the phone companies like AT&T are already going: they see a severe decline in landline subscriptions coming and are trying to dig into the cable market. "Fiber to the home" is becoming quite the popular phrase.

Re:Err, why?

[wfberg]

Why does this have to be a Firefox extension? Why can't I just use Skype (or at least make it standalone)?

There are a zillion stand alone SIP applications, which is beside the point.
From the company's perspective this is great for 3 reasons;
1) one-click install; no setup.exe, no .zip files people can't open, no folders they shouldn't delete; it's all hidden away, much like it's pretty hard to fudge up your macromedia flash "install".
2) silly browser integration; it recognizes phonenumbers and makes them clickable,
3) guaranteed coverage on slashdot and other firefox-crazy websites.

If it's really that useful, Opera will have it integrated in 3 months time anyway ;-)

Re:Almost makes you feel sorry for IE users

[stratjakt]

Knew what? How to double click on the icon that launches skype?

I'll get the word out. Thanks.

<EVERYTHING> extensions.

[OverDrive33]

Is it just me, or is it getting more and more possible to do away with Windows completely and just use a plethora of Firefox extensions to accomplish the same goals?
The more I think about it, there certainly are enough extensions out there to just have Windows boot firefox.exe rather than explorer as a default shell. Forget the start menu! Everything you need is built into your web browser!! As for office apps, there's a good range of "Web 2.0" office suites that you could use.
I can't decide if this is a good or a bad thing.

But does it work in linux?

[Se7enLC]

... No, it doesn't work in linux

Saying "firefox plugin" is not enough if you don't plan on supporting ALL versions of firefox. You need to specify "windows only" so we can lump it in with the rest of the windows VoIP crap.

aw, geeze .....

[Gorshkov]

Somehow, I don't see me trusting the technical excellence of anybody who is going to try to talk me into trying something on a webpage with a dark blue background and small, light grey text

VoIP in a browser?

[mnmn]

Forgive me for asking but what part of the browsing experience makes up voip? How is voip browsing?

Things like xmms and mplayer are more 'browsing' than voip. Things like email clients, voip, financial applications, spreadsheets, idsoftware games are all non-browser software and should not be a part of the browser. A browser should include things that are required for browsers, and wont go anywhere else like shockwave flash players.

And I've seen other comments before, people dont like their firefoxen growing fatter.

Flock

[tecker]

This seems like something that would be better suited for Flock rather then Firefox. Wouldnt it make more sense for You to be able to see who was on and then be able to call them for free. Im guessing that someone will do this.

s/EMACS/Firefox

[anothy]

Eighty Megabytes And Continually Swapping?

Firefox is my operating system; linux is its device drivers?

Future, meet the past. Past, the future.

The New New New Thing

[Doc Ruby]

I hope that the wide deployment of Firefox makes this SIP client catch on fast and replace the proprietary Skype clients that created the market.

And I hope this SIP client pushes Firefox into even further deployment.

Simple integration of voice into the Web has the power to be the "new Netscape", combining multiple related functions into a single integrated experience among hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Calling the PSTN for a charge might become like the mid-1990s paying small dialup prices to access the rest of the Net for "free".

compatibility

[DrYak]

Why can't I just use Skype ?

Maybe because Skype uses some closed proprietary protocols, and is only compatible with Skype,
whereas this extension use the SIP protocol (documented and open), and therefor is compatible with the gazillion of other SIP-compatible VoIP applications (e.g.: Ekiga - H323/SIP VoIP software).