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MagicJack Moving To Smartphones
robo45h writes "The late night infomercial VoIP company magicJack is moving into the smartphone space. The competition there is really going to be interesting. We have the likes of Skype and other VoIP companies competing against the wireless carriers still selling over-priced voice calls. It's such a big battle that the recent Verizon / Google Proposal specifically excludes (provides a loophole for) wireless. This has been brewing since cell phones added data capabilities, but it's coming to a head now." Free calls sounds nice, but it's worth noting that not everyone's happy with MagicJack's EULA.
It's about time the phone companies recognized that phone calls are just data passing through their networks.
I know they don't want to be seen as purely "bit carriers" which don't add much value, but that's what they are.
The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
Unfortunately, being roaches isn't really a distinguishing characteristic in the telcomm sector. It's just that MagicJack is the sleazy looking guy in the cheap suit, with his Hawaiian shirt open to show gold chains nestled in greasy coils of chest hair, while most of the established operators are no more honest; but can afford a decent tailor and a storefront that isn't in a scamhole like Florida.
Abusive EULAs, mandatory binding arbitration kangaroo courts, spying for commercial and other purposes, are all standard features in the telcomm field. MagicJack just has no taste at all about it and can't seem to afford the veneer of respectability and impenetrable legal verbiage that their better established competitors can.
"We have the likes of Skype and other VoIP companies competing against the wireless carriers still selling over-priced voice calls."
I didn't realize these were wireless services. I thought they required a computer to work. I currently pay $0/month and 18 cents per minute (VirginMobile) - is Skype really cheaper than that, once you include the cost of the bits used?
Wireless internet costs me about 7 cents per megabyte streamed. How many megabytes does the Skype use per minute? 1/2? So about 3.5 cents per minute of Skyping, plus 2.1 cents charged directly be Skype == 5.6 cents.
6 18.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
My buddy uses MagicJack and his voice goes in and out constantly. It's like calling someone on a cell phone that is in a dead spot. Anyone else experience this?
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
the article: ... in Palm Beach, Florida."
MagicJack, a cheapie $20-a-year internet phone service, comes with a shriveled and shaking devil EULA: "Any claims, legal proceeding or litigation arising in connection with the magicJack device or Software will be resolved by binding arbitration
These kinds of clauses are nullified by law. Paypal discovered that during their litigation, when huge sections of their EULA were struck by the court as being over-ruled by consumer protection laws.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
considering the EULA stuff, plus the amout of first posts I've seen in the past few days on slashdot, I would call this both funny and insightful.
new sig
http://www.fcc.gov/cib/consumerfacts/numbport.html
Background
Under the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) "local number portability" (LNP) rules, so long as you remain in the same geographic area, you can switch telephone service providers, including interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, and keep your existing phone number. If you are moving from one geographic area to another, however, you may not be able to take your number with you. Therefore, subscribers remaining in the same geographic area can now switch from a wireless, wireline, or VoIP provider to any other wireless, wireline, or VoIP provider and still keep their existing phone numbers.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
where can you get a data only plan? on a smart phone in usa any ways? without pay high fees? and even then 5gb or lower cap and after the cap it's like $10 a gig and some ports are blocked as well.
I think you're missing the point. The point isn't whether it's worth $40, but what they're doing in addition to providing the obvious service. There was a time when party-lines were cheaper than single-service lines. But the trade off was that your neighbors could hear all your business. At the time, people were up-front about that. If Magic-Jack's business plan is to allow you to trade your privacy for cheaper phone service and a bombardment of ads, good for them. As you say, more competition. Let the market decide. But they need to be up front about the whole cost including the non-monitary compromises you're making using their service.
But what is the point if you are being capped on data? What incentive is there for the phone companies to even care since they control the data? What incentive is there for me to use it and burn up bytes towards my cap instead of just using cell minutes? ( well, in my case i have been grandfathered in with unlimited, but you get the point )
---- Booth was a patriot ----
No I'm talking about the case Paypal already lost sometime around 2004 (which was before Ebay acquired them). The court set-up three tiers of award: ~$75 for class 1 which included everyone, ~$250 for class 2 that had documentation showing Paypal stole the client's money, and class 3 for people who lost thousands. Their claims would be reviewed individually by the court.
Hopefully I'm remembering the details correctly. I fell into class 1 and had about 75 dollars deposited to my paypal account, which I then withdrew to my bank account.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
considering the ... amout of first posts I've seen in the past few days on slashdot
You'd think every single article would have a post that came before all the others.
When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
VirginMobile sells pure data plans for phones or computers (via a USB antenna). $20 for 300 megabytes or $40 for 5 gigabytes
Cricket Broadband - their plan is $40 for 5 gigabytes of high speed, and unlimited dialup speed
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Wouldn't it be easier if their EULA just stated "You agree that any claims, legal proceeding or litigation arising in connection with the magicJack device or Software will be resolved by us ignoring you."
I've spent time cleaning up systems infected (yes, infected) due to MJ's mandatory advertising.
Having an attacker exploit an ad system is something all advertising networks have to deal with at one time or another.
Magic Jack is simply much less stringent about their requirements and have almost no followup
As such, Magic Jack may as well be classified a trojan.
I won't say that I wouldn't install their software if you paid me.
Fact is, I would, if the sum was large enough.
VMs are cheap afterall.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
We've had MagicJack for about 6 months.
I have it running on our entertainment center PC. Voice quality is OK. Sometimes people will call and noone is there, and there are other slight flakiness problems, but it is definitely worth $20 a year for unlimited long distance and local calling. I ditched Vonage, which was costing me $29 a month, for the service, and it is saving me roughly $300 a year.
My biggest complaint is that when you get a call or make a call the magicjack software interface pops to the foreground, interrupting whatever television happens to be being watched on the PC at the time. Kinda neat as you get caller ID that shows up, but annoying when the kids are watching TV and you have to go and push the media player to the front again whenever there is a call.
Another problem is frequently a Microsoft update will reboot my computer but the magic jack doesn't start unless I actually log in, which means people can't call us until I go and log into the computer.
All in all, I think it's a good service. Well worth $20 a year.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
I'm making the switch from Comcast to MagicJack for my so-called pseudo "land line."
I have it running on a cheap Fit-PC Slim that is running the MagicJack software only, nothing else. I figure the $235 I spent for the Fit-PC Slim will be paid for pretty quickly due to (a) saving $25/month when I get rid of my Comcast line, and (b) running the MagicJack on a dedicated PC that sips power (it runs on only 10 watts!), rather than on my main PC that is an i7 behemoth with tons of cooling, etc. I can turn off my main PC when I'm away from it.
I have MagicJack voice mail messages e-mailed to my Gmail account, and from there I have a Gmail filter set up that sends a text message to my cell phone when a MagicJack voice mail comes in.
My Fit-PC Slim is remotely controlled from my main PC, so does not need a mouse, keyboard, monitor attached.
The MagicJack interface and the ads on the side of the window don't bother me because (a) I'm not using the interface at all; the MagicJack PC just sits there and does its job, functioning as a phone, and (b) I installed MagicBlock and MagicWho? to make it as invisible as possible.
So far, so good. The sound quality is at least as good as my Comcast line if not better. I'm hanging onto my Comcast line for a little while pending some more testing, but am expecting to get rid of it soon. Looking forward to the cost savings.
I've never used a consumer level voip service/program that sounded that great or surpassed even cell phone quality. Good maybe 90% of the time, but the 5 was filled with stutter/hiccups/dead silence.
Honest question here though. Has anyone used a good VoIP solution over 3G? Any have a blackerry/android/iPhone app?
Anybody have experiences to share?
>>and a full years of unlimited phone service.
It's not unlimited. Believe me. I bought 2, one for me and one for the wife. Within 2 days they suspended her account for over usage. Their terms say they can do so if you exceed the average callers usage by a factor of 20. Of course, they don't tell you what the average is. No warning, just cut her off. Then, mine starting not working unless I restarted the software every time I wanted to make a call. Coincidence? I wouldn't know but since we share the same IP address I believe not. No problem, we took hers back, got our money back and I use mine to connect my cordless phones to Skype. Would not recommend that anyone buy Magic Jack.
I have a little bit of experience with the Magicjack system. First my son-in-law had one. Since it is connected to a computer, it will not work unless the computer is turned on. I do not know how many times I called and his computer was not powered up and working. I can just see someone whose house is on fire or a medical emergency waiting for the computer to boot so they can call for help. Why can't they make one that is a stand alone device that works on cat 5 so one can connect it to one's router and eliminate the computer. Second is the man I work for. He has one and has a old computer that he runs 24/7. He has an area code that is hundreds of miles away so if his neighbor wants to call him the call is a long distance call for that neighbor. He has a phone line from that computer to a phone with more than one lines so he can use the magicjack by pressing its line on the phone. Anyway I guess it is okay for calling out and for people who would have to use long distance to call you. I do not know how they can charge so little since I use my Charter for my phone company. The cost seem to be attractive until one adds all the fees and taxes. The real cost is not that much better than Verizon's phone service. How do they get away without paying for 911 services? How about federal and state taxes too? That is why I do not use vonage since they will never quote the true cost since taxes and fees are always added to the quoted price and after one does that the true cost is not worth not having someone to call and complain to if there are any problems. I have used Charter for about 3 years now and have not had any problems with it. It has a adapter with a coaxial line to it. I have a cordless phone connect to the adapter and I have 3 other cordless phone in other rooms that use that system and it works fine. But since the first year has expired the cost is not any better that Verizon and I have that adapter box which will not work if there is no power so if I lose power I will have no way to call for help. I have a old cell phone that I keep charged for that purpose since I can call 911 on it if I lose power or if Charter goes down.
I especially find statements in a EULA that say it's illegal to do this or that. Since when have the commercial segment of society became the legislative branch of the government? Companies can't make laws, law makers make laws. I rarely read through a Eula, They are ridiculous e-Tomes that look like they were run through some crazy software that just takes every word in a sentence and spits out bloated sentences with every possible synonym for every word in the sentences. Mind-Numbing and the worst sleeping pills I ever read.
www.Migrainesoft.com - Computer giving you a headache? We can fix that!
I switched two family members from landline services to Ooma last year, and have been extremely pleased with the results. You buy a ~$240 Analog Terminal Adapter to connect analog phones, and never pay again for US calls. The sound quality is better than Vonage, it's certainly a lot cheaper, and if you Upgrade to their Premier service, you get 2 lines, call screening, an iPhone app that lets you make calls using your Ooma account, and some other things that weren't really worth it for us. It seems like their business model is more solid than MagicJack, without the annoyance of being tied to a PC. My recommendation is to purchase the older Hub/Scout package as opposed to the newer models - there are fewer fees (I think all new users have to pay something like $12/year for regulatory charges), and you can use whatever devices you like. The primary downside is what to do when the device dies (which thankfully hasn't happened yet). Their customer service isn't bad, either. Had to call them about porting a number, and it took a while, but they got it right without bouncing me from person to person in India.
T-mobile has a data-only SIM for $40/month with a $35 activation fee. They claim "No overages! (After 5 GB, data speeds may be reduced)."
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/cell-phone-plans-detail.aspx?tp=tb1&rateplan=Even-More-Plus-webConnect-Overage-Free
Are you sure about that? Their website says $40 for 1GB, $60 for 5GB:
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-broadband
I'm sorry, I'm having a lot of trouble understanding this.
Magicjack, a VOIP provider, is now going to allow users to make VOIP calls through their smartPHONE? Why the fuck would you use this if you have a smart PHONE. Given that most data plans for smartphones are way more expensive than the talk and text part of the plan, wouldn't it make more sense to... oh, I don't know, just make a fucking phone call?
I fail to see how this could serve any purpose whatsoever.
-1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
The problem is that the wireless phone companies have built themselves into a trap. They charge for phone calls with the assumption that they are going to get the bulk of their money from that. As people move to VOIP usage, the phone calls will end and they will be left with far less revenue.
Same thing with wire line providers - as Vonage and other data-driven systems take over the idea of a "phone" will be quaint and obsolete. Of course this means you have Verizon providing service so Vonage can eliminate Verizon from the marketplace.
What a lot of people don't seem to understand is there will likely be a day of reckoning coming along. T-Mobile is paid by voice calls and charges little for data plans. If the voice calls stop and everyone has few or zero minutes they will be faced with some tough choices, as will every other carrier. They can raise prices on data plans to recover the revenue. They can scale the company back drastically to continue operation with the smaller amount of revenue. The last choice would seem to be pretty obvious - they can just fold up operations and find some new business to invest in.
I expect most of the wireless companies to either scale back drastically (no more stores, just online sales for example) or cease operation entirely. If there isn't any money in it, and there will never be any more money in it, there isn't any point in continuing. Same thing with the wire line providers. Once the revenue reaches a low enough point, I don't think they are going to be able to continue.
Of course, what nobody ever asks is what happened to people that actually needed a buggy whip after automobiles came out?
He has one and has a old computer that he runs 24/7.
... which costs him how much in electricity every year? Sure that he saves money with MagicJack? Or would it not be cheaper to get a dedicated SIP or Skype phone?
So how many people have noticed that in their "instead of paying $X a month, pay $Y a year!" commercials, the savings is actually only like 24 cents a year? Wow, that's totally enough to motivate me to switch RIGHT NOW.
example
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
awesome!
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
This used to be a desktop machine, and I had multiple accounts for various family members.
Now that it is the "TV computer", I will delete the other accounts and take the password off of the default account.
Still like the MagicSilence application though.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
Hmm, this doesn't jive with what I've heard on the dedicated (though unofficial) forums. You can use 2000 minutes before there's any AUP issue. I recall they did have a limit on the number of different numbers you could call in an hour because they were getting telemarketers buying them and their TOS was home use, not business.
These complaints are very rare, and usually because someone has very unusual usage patterns. That said, they do the same thing ISPs were getting in trouble with, calling limited service unlimited.
Opera, Proxomitron-Grypen,GPG 0x0A1C6EE3