I've been pretty busy lately. A lot of assignment, projects and presentations.
Oh BTW, you may wanna try Office 2007. This new version really rocks. I wouldnt had believe that I would have to say that one day to a microsoft software but, Congratulations.
But I'm digressing. The problem is that I've been away of my Netvibes for 3/4 days and I have to cope with this 300 news waiting for me>
Even when you skip those which are not so interesting around 50 remains.
The problem here is the connection speed. It takes ages to open a simple page.
Even if you learn to be patient (in general, you have to learn to be patient AND cool in Thailand, otherwise you dont last long), it's still quite irritating from times to times.
Some interesting news:
Techcrunch talks about jajah here, they reached their 2 millions users.
For the french audience, I'm translating the post in french for TechcrunchFR, it will be posted as soon as Ouriel will come back from his holydays.
I'm glad for them. It is said that they focused on Quality. It a very smart decision.
But they need to address the same issues in the southeast asia region as well.
Cause i'm starting to think about have a glance at the competition.
You can find my posts on Jajah et other VOIP here.
If you read the comments on techcrunch article you will notice that i'm not the only one who start to complain.
If you want a comparison of VOIP, check this article
Going back to my netvibes page. Wish me good luck
Showing posts with label telephone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label telephone. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Avoid International Roaming...
Unless you are insanely rich (or using a company telephone).
I've foolishly called France a couple of times using my french SIM card.
You may wanna know before you do that,that you will be charge 2.6 euros /minute if you call from Thailand.
I wish somebody has told me that before I placed this 20 min call.
It was for a good cause (saying Happy birthday), but I would have make it slightly shorter.
So now you know how much it costs to place a call from Thailand to France using a french SIM card.
BTW my mobile provider is Bouygtel.
I've foolishly called France a couple of times using my french SIM card.
You may wanna know before you do that,that you will be charge 2.6 euros /minute if you call from Thailand.
I wish somebody has told me that before I placed this 20 min call.
It was for a good cause (saying Happy birthday), but I would have make it slightly shorter.
So now you know how much it costs to place a call from Thailand to France using a french SIM card.
BTW my mobile provider is Bouygtel.
Jajah Mobile and its shortcomings
I've already blog about Jajah.
Two days after my first post on Jajah, they send me a mail to tell me that they appreciate my post.
They also respond to one of my wish which was, being able to download Jajah mobile application for a Windows Mobile 2003 device.
This is what I'll talk about.
So, my request was actually to be provided with a way to use jajah when I'm not at home.
Their answer was actually the best one: Jajah mobile A web based form accessible with a simple browser.
So I jumped to the URL they gave me, log in and start using this system.
Needless to say that I was delighted to find all my profile informations and contacts on this mobile-specific website.
I bookmarked it, so I was able to place an international call for as low as 3cts (euros) within 2 clicks. And that's just great!
But they are some shortcomings.
First, I definitely think that Jajah need to really work on the quality of the communication. This stands for every calls no matter what mean was used to initiate the call.
I don't say that the quality is bad, but it's sure not constant enough.
Some calls do have a great voice quality, but some others are not so great.
The biggest disappointement I have is the fact that most of the times, it takes 2 or 3 attempts to get an actual communication.
Too often the first attempt fails because one end doesnt ear the other one.
If this is Ok when I call a europe landline number (around 3cts/min), it's almost intolerable when I'm calling a mobile in Africa ( 18cts thrown away for each attempt).
When I just want to pass an information, which typically will last 2 min, spending 1.5 euros, 70% for nothing is just not an option.
So Jajah if you read this, fix it. And you will enjoy happy customers who will spend more money using your system.
Secondly, they have a problem which is mobile specific.
When you initiate the call with the browser, you are using the GPRS connection which cannot be carry on along with a call.
So what happen too many times, at least here in Thailand, is that when Jajah will call you, they will fall in your voicemail because the GPRS connection is still active.
It's funny because they problem is due to the fact that Jajah is actually too fast.
So I suggest that they implement a kind of short timed delay before placing the call.
Overall Jajah mobile is an interesting service, especially in Thailand, where the prices are the same for mobile and landline calls (that's a topic I'll cover later).
But they are still some issues that needed to be adressed, rather sooner than later.
Two days after my first post on Jajah, they send me a mail to tell me that they appreciate my post.
They also respond to one of my wish which was, being able to download Jajah mobile application for a Windows Mobile 2003 device.
This is what I'll talk about.
So, my request was actually to be provided with a way to use jajah when I'm not at home.
Their answer was actually the best one: Jajah mobile A web based form accessible with a simple browser.
So I jumped to the URL they gave me, log in and start using this system.
Needless to say that I was delighted to find all my profile informations and contacts on this mobile-specific website.
I bookmarked it, so I was able to place an international call for as low as 3cts (euros) within 2 clicks. And that's just great!
But they are some shortcomings.
First, I definitely think that Jajah need to really work on the quality of the communication. This stands for every calls no matter what mean was used to initiate the call.
I don't say that the quality is bad, but it's sure not constant enough.
Some calls do have a great voice quality, but some others are not so great.
The biggest disappointement I have is the fact that most of the times, it takes 2 or 3 attempts to get an actual communication.
Too often the first attempt fails because one end doesnt ear the other one.
If this is Ok when I call a europe landline number (around 3cts/min), it's almost intolerable when I'm calling a mobile in Africa ( 18cts thrown away for each attempt).
When I just want to pass an information, which typically will last 2 min, spending 1.5 euros, 70% for nothing is just not an option.
So Jajah if you read this, fix it. And you will enjoy happy customers who will spend more money using your system.
Secondly, they have a problem which is mobile specific.
When you initiate the call with the browser, you are using the GPRS connection which cannot be carry on along with a call.
So what happen too many times, at least here in Thailand, is that when Jajah will call you, they will fall in your voicemail because the GPRS connection is still active.
It's funny because they problem is due to the fact that Jajah is actually too fast.
So I suggest that they implement a kind of short timed delay before placing the call.
Overall Jajah mobile is an interesting service, especially in Thailand, where the prices are the same for mobile and landline calls (that's a topic I'll cover later).
But they are still some issues that needed to be adressed, rather sooner than later.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Send Free SMS from your cell phone
So I wrote about sending SMS for free here.
Nothing new is this post, I just want to remind you that since it's a web based form which requires no software you can use it on your cell phone.
So you need a data plan, a browser ( Opera mini is the way to go without any doubt) and the adress www.gizmosms.com and you are set to go.
Given the prices of data plan and the amount of data required to send a SMS via gizmo, send an sms would cost you less than 1 cent.
That's a service I'm gonna use heavily when I'll be back in France.
There is a downside though to the use with your mobile, you have to input the phone number digits manually, something I'm not use to do at all since I use the phonebook.
But I do have a PocketPc phone running on Windows Mobile 2003 so I will use copy-paste.
However most of you will have to do the input by yourself. Sorry, nothing is perfect in life :-)
Nothing new is this post, I just want to remind you that since it's a web based form which requires no software you can use it on your cell phone.
So you need a data plan, a browser ( Opera mini is the way to go without any doubt) and the adress www.gizmosms.com and you are set to go.
Given the prices of data plan and the amount of data required to send a SMS via gizmo, send an sms would cost you less than 1 cent.
That's a service I'm gonna use heavily when I'll be back in France.
There is a downside though to the use with your mobile, you have to input the phone number digits manually, something I'm not use to do at all since I use the phonebook.
But I do have a PocketPc phone running on Windows Mobile 2003 so I will use copy-paste.
However most of you will have to do the input by yourself. Sorry, nothing is perfect in life :-)
Send unlimited SMS for free
Thanks to my friend Maxime for this tip.
So we can send SMS for free using GizmoSMS which is a service provided by Gizmo an SIP-based alternative to Skype which allows you to place ToIP (Telephony over IP) calls without any software. You just initiate the call from your browser.
Unlike Jajah you still need an headset since the voice stream still goes through you personal internet connection.
According to Maxime the calls are cheaper than Skype. I'll check it by myself later.
I od have a concern on the quality though. Since they don't use P2P I'm wondering how they ensure the quality of calls.
Anyway my focus is on their free SMS service which works in several countries.
Unfortunately it doesn't work in Thailand so you can't use it to send me SMS.
But it works in France and in several others western countries, so it's a great way for me to send SMS for birthday or whatever events when I don't need an answer.
By the way if you do want to call me just copy and paste this in your browser :
http://gizmocall.com/0066811001201
So we can send SMS for free using GizmoSMS which is a service provided by Gizmo an SIP-based alternative to Skype which allows you to place ToIP (Telephony over IP) calls without any software. You just initiate the call from your browser.
Unlike Jajah you still need an headset since the voice stream still goes through you personal internet connection.
According to Maxime the calls are cheaper than Skype. I'll check it by myself later.
I od have a concern on the quality though. Since they don't use P2P I'm wondering how they ensure the quality of calls.
Anyway my focus is on their free SMS service which works in several countries.
Unfortunately it doesn't work in Thailand so you can't use it to send me SMS.
But it works in France and in several others western countries, so it's a great way for me to send SMS for birthday or whatever events when I don't need an answer.
By the way if you do want to call me just copy and paste this in your browser :
http://gizmocall.com/0066811001201
Friday, February 02, 2007
Skype vs Jajah
Everyone knows Skype. It's the most popular VoIP (Voice over IP) software for making calls all around the world.
Skype was not the first software of VoIP, actually it's quite young regarding the history of VoIP. I remember trying to place my first call in 1999 using a soft I don't even remember the name (was it Soft2phone). Back then, I was in Douala using a now obsolete 56K connection, the one with the regular phone line+ modem. The quality was awful. That's probably why the concept didn't take off.
Skype was a huge success because it brings normal phone quality at incredible low prices. And comunications between two PCs were free. But PC to PC calls need some kind of synchronisation because the two people have to be in front of a computer with headphones and stay there as long as the communcation last.
But when I arrived here, I found that Skype doesn't fit to my need. Mainly because Skype is prohibited on the campus network. It's mainly because of the bandwith usage. You might not be aware of thaht but Skype use quite a lot of your bandwith even you are not placing any call. If you want to know more on how it works and what are the principles strengths and weaknesses click on this link to Wikipedia (french version here)
So I looked for an alternative, and decided to give a try to Jajah, a service I discovered several weeks ago thanks to fellows at techcrunch
(french version available here).
Jajah is almost perfect for me. First I don't have a micro and I don't want to buy one. This is how it works:
Can't be simpler. You see the main advantages : no need for a headset, no need for your correspondant to be a user of the service and most important YOU BOTH USE YOUR REGULAR PHONE. That means that once the call has been initiated you don't need to stay in front of your PC.
You gonna laugh when I tell you that Jajah is cheaper than Skype. But it's simply true. And when I say cheaper, I mean it. Call between France and USA/Canada are for example free (if you dont use mobiles; folks don't ask too much)whereas skype charges you 1.7 cts/min.
French people are gonna say that they've already have free calls for europe and north america with Free/Neuf etc. But don't forget that this also works at Work since there's no software to download. It also works with mobile but it's more expensive (nothing to do with what you will be chaged by your regular mobile service provider though).
For me here in Thailand, things are even better. Calls between my cell and home lines in france have a ridiculous 3,5cents/min toll. Compare to the 30cts AIS ( my mobile service provider MSP in short) charges me for every single SMS sent to France and you see what I mean.
But the best part is almost unbelievable. I've discovered that if my correspondant is also a registered Jajah user calls are simply FREE between our home lines. Yeah, you read well it's FREE.
Thailande for some strange reasons is one of the countries in Group A, France is group B so calls between Jajah users is free on home/work lines. It works with basicly every european and north america countries
So if you wanna call me just sigh me, add me to your contact. My user name is tntresor [at] yahoo.fr and leave a comment anywhere on my blog to get my phone numbers.
Skype was not the first software of VoIP, actually it's quite young regarding the history of VoIP. I remember trying to place my first call in 1999 using a soft I don't even remember the name (was it Soft2phone). Back then, I was in Douala using a now obsolete 56K connection, the one with the regular phone line+ modem. The quality was awful. That's probably why the concept didn't take off.
Skype was a huge success because it brings normal phone quality at incredible low prices. And comunications between two PCs were free. But PC to PC calls need some kind of synchronisation because the two people have to be in front of a computer with headphones and stay there as long as the communcation last.
But when I arrived here, I found that Skype doesn't fit to my need. Mainly because Skype is prohibited on the campus network. It's mainly because of the bandwith usage. You might not be aware of thaht but Skype use quite a lot of your bandwith even you are not placing any call. If you want to know more on how it works and what are the principles strengths and weaknesses click on this link to Wikipedia (french version here)
So I looked for an alternative, and decided to give a try to Jajah, a service I discovered several weeks ago thanks to fellows at techcrunch
(french version available here).
Jajah is almost perfect for me. First I don't have a micro and I don't want to buy one. This is how it works:
- You sign-in and enter your phone numbers (mobile, home, work)
- You enter the phone number you wanna call
- You wait. 5 second later, your phone ring, you pick up and get connected with your friend.
Can't be simpler. You see the main advantages : no need for a headset, no need for your correspondant to be a user of the service and most important YOU BOTH USE YOUR REGULAR PHONE. That means that once the call has been initiated you don't need to stay in front of your PC.
You gonna laugh when I tell you that Jajah is cheaper than Skype. But it's simply true. And when I say cheaper, I mean it. Call between France and USA/Canada are for example free (if you dont use mobiles; folks don't ask too much)whereas skype charges you 1.7 cts/min.
French people are gonna say that they've already have free calls for europe and north america with Free/Neuf etc. But don't forget that this also works at Work since there's no software to download. It also works with mobile but it's more expensive (nothing to do with what you will be chaged by your regular mobile service provider though).
For me here in Thailand, things are even better. Calls between my cell and home lines in france have a ridiculous 3,5cents/min toll. Compare to the 30cts AIS ( my mobile service provider MSP in short) charges me for every single SMS sent to France and you see what I mean.
But the best part is almost unbelievable. I've discovered that if my correspondant is also a registered Jajah user calls are simply FREE between our home lines. Yeah, you read well it's FREE.
Thailande for some strange reasons is one of the countries in Group A, France is group B so calls between Jajah users is free on home/work lines. It works with basicly every european and north america countries
So if you wanna call me just sigh me, add me to your contact. My user name is tntresor [at] yahoo.fr and leave a comment anywhere on my blog to get my phone numbers.
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