netTALK.com announces the release of its Unlimited SMS texting service using your DUO home phone number. netTALK customers can now send and receive SMS text messages from the netTALK Text Android app by logging in with their DUO credentials for SMS texting. Even while traveling internationally customers can still send and receive SMS text to and from the U.S. & Canada (where Wi-Fi or 3G/ 4G access is available).

“The addition of this app further enhances the entire netTALK experience and our innovation underscores why we are the fastest growing company in the nation’s fastest growing industry,” said Cedric Guillory, netTALK’s Senior Director of Marketing. We’re always looking to add feature packed products at an affordable price. With our new netTALK Text Android app with unlimited SMS texting, no contracts and no monthly bills, we are doing just that!” Guillory did emphasize that at this time the app is for SMS texting only and does not work with images or attachments, but it comes with the following features and that an iOS (Apple) version will be released soon.

Rebtel announces the private beta launch of its new SDK for iOS and Android. The Rebtel Voice Platform introduces a powerful yet simple tool that will now allow developers to integrate voice capabilities into any app in 15 minutes.

Now any app developer looking to add a live calling feature has the ability to stream voice to their customer base. Gaming apps like Poker and apps that offer social networking features such as picture sharing comprise the bulk of apps developed today, and are prime examples of specific use case scenarios where smartphone users could benefit from free app to app calls.

Using Rebtel's Voice Platform for in-app calling means game developers can offer players the opportunity to phone a friend for strategy tips without ever having to leave the game environment, and dating apps can now offer the ability for real-time voice calls for better matchmaking possibilities.

Fraunhofer IIS will showcase how its Full-HD Voice codec, Enhanced Low Delay AAC, supercharges the communication quality of any VoIP app, be it for smartphones, tablets or televisions at CES 2013.

Natively supported in iOS and Android, the AAC-ELD codec is now readily available to app developers and service providers to offer superior VoIP applications that run at the Full-HD Voice quality level. This delivers a completely new same-room communication experience to the end-user.

"From mobile phones to TVs, consumers expect the highest audio quality from their entertainment experiences. There is no reason the expectations for VoIP communication should be any different," said Harald Popp, head of the Multimedia Realtime Systems department at Fraunhofer IIS. "By providing developers direct, native access to the best codecs to deliver Full-HD Voice VoIP apps, consumers can expect the best quality possible."

Fraunhofer's Full-HD Voice technology is already widely used to provide CD-like audio quality for professional video conferencing systems, as well as consumer video telephony applications, such as apple FaceTime. With AAC-ELD now available in iOS and Android, this same level of professional communication quality can be readily deployed in consumer VoIP apps.

VoX Mobile VoIP calling application is now available on the Samsung app store for Android devices, which are projected to exceed one billion in service in a short period of time. Users of Samsung devices are now able to download the VoX "Pay and Go" subscription-free calling plan, or other VoX calling plans directly to their Samsung devices.

The subscription-free VoX plan called "Pay and Go" can be topped up with amounts as little as one dollar and enables calling anywhere in the world without paying a recurring monthly fee.

VoX's Chief Information Officer, Mark Richards, noted, "We are highly encouraged by the increased conversions brought to us by our newly-launched Pay and Go plan, so we decided to broaden the reach of our app by making it available on Samsungapps.com. We note that the Samsung store is ranked in the top 5,000 sites in the world and the app store icon is now installed on every Samsung smartphone and tablet that is shipped globally."

Vopium announced its Windows Phone app, that let's users with Windows-based phones enjoy the benefits of extremely low-cost mobile communication. The company has made major news recently after a plethora of app launches for key platforms including iPhone, Android and an industry-first Blackberry WiFi app.

The free app, available from the Windows Phone Marketplace, runs on the Windows Phone 7.5, 7.8 and 8.0 versions, and comes with 5 free minutes after sign-up. One of the most exciting aspects of Vopium's service offering has been popular unlimited call plans , as well as "Pay as you go" call credits to help consumers economize their communication budgets.

VoX Communications announces that its mobile VoIP application for Android devices has exceeded 100,000 downloads from the Google Play store.

The VoIP application was launched in October of last year and is available for both Android handsets and tablets. The Company recently released a subscription-free prepaid “Pay and Go” version of the app, which allows customers to top up their accounts for as little as $1.00 through a credit or prepaid card.

“We are excited to surpass this milestone of downloads on the heels of the new prepaid launch last week. We believe the number of downloads will continue to rise because our new prepaid app allows users to dial any country in the world and yet does not require a monthly subscription to enjoy our low international calling rates,” said Mark Richards, CIO of VoX Communications. “An incredible amount of time has been put into the details of our product and we are continuing to make the user experience better with each plan and updates that are added. Our average 4.6 star rating from more than 850 reviews in the Google Play store indicates that our customers feel the same way.”

VoX Communications has now added fixed priced calling plans to Vietnam and Pakistan via its Android mobile voice app available in Google Play. The fixed priced plans include calling to mobile phones in both Vietnam and Pakistan at a price of only seven cents a minute, which is significantly lower than prices charged by other wireless carriers.

A VoX user can subscribe entirely on the phone and choose a U.S. phone number without leaving the interface, which makes the sign up process more elegant than many competitors. The Mobile VoIP paid plans for Vietnam and Pakistan start at $6.95 for the 100 minute plan, which is a low cost of entry for a high quality and reliable VoIP service offering. VoX also offers 250 minutes for $15.95 and 500 minutes for $29.95. These plans include calls to mobile phones, which are typically a higher price than calls to land lines. New subscribers can download the app for a free 60-minute trial and make calls to any country on the unlimited calling list or sign up for the Vietnam or Pakistan specific plan.

Nimbuzz has become one of the largest mobile and Web communications platforms, with more than 100 million users worldwide. Nimbuzz addresses a growing global demand for communication services within emerging markets around the world. Nimbuzz provides a single tool to make voice and video VoIP calls, send instant messages and share data between all major communications platforms -- on any mobile device or desktop -- for free.

As one of the only multi-language solutions on the market, Nimbuzz has seen massive growth within the emerging mobile App market across Asia and the Middle East, and continues its tremendous growth within the U.S., amassing more than 6.5 million users that communicate daily with friends and family overseas. The company has also built strong developer channels with local carriers and global OEM device manufactures.

Viber announces the release of Viber 2.2. The new version brings multiple new features and improvements to Viber users including group messaging, improved call quality and multiple user interface enhancements. The new version is being released simultaneously on iPhone and Android and the beta version of Viber for BlackBerry has also been updated with the new text messaging features.

This is a feature-packed release that brings many of the most requested features to Viber’s growing community of users. Over 90 millionViber users are making over 1.5 billion minutes of calls every month and sending over two billion text messages.

Rebtel announces the launch of Rebtel for Windows Phone. The app is available for free starting today on the Windows Marketplace and enables anyone to make high quality cheap international calls to friends and family thanks to Rebtel’s local number network available in more than 50 countries. Today’s introduction of the Windows Phone app joins the fleet of existing Rebtel app offerings currently available for iPhone, Android, iPad, Android tablet.

Vonage announced the grant of U.S. Pat. No. 8,223,720 titled "Systems and Methods for Handoff of Mobile Telephone Call in a VoIP Environment." This invention allows a mobile handset user who is on a voice-over-IP call to seamlessly move between multiple wireless data connections without dropping the call. The '720 patent was granted approximately 7 months after filing under the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's new Prioritized Examination Procedure.

The grant of the '720 patent reflects Vonage's ongoing innovation supporting its mobile growth initiative, including its new Vonage Mobile app for Android and iPhone smartphones which enables free high-definition calls and texts to other app users worldwide, as well as low-cost international calls to phones without the VoIP app. This is Vonage's third patent to issue in six weeks (see previous release), reflecting Vonage's commitment to develop and protect useful and innovative technologies to better serve the needs of Vonage's customers.

VoX Communications has developed its mobile VoIP app for use on the iPhone and iPad.

"We have begun making test calls with our iOS application and are very pleased with the performance and call quality," said Barry MacCheyne, CMO of VoX Communications. "This achievement is a significant step in reaching our goal of being on both Android and Apple devices. We now have to make the app ready for commercial use and integrate it into our back-office systems for automated downloads, provisioning and billing functionality."

MacCheyne continued, "Both enterprise customers and consumers have been asking us to make our mobile VoIP app available to iPhone and iPad users, and we are pleased to announce our progress with this project. We are eager to begin marketing this app to the large audience throughout the world and capitalize on the fast growing number of iOS users."

Voiceserve announces that it took Vippie less than a month, following its launch into the market, to cross the 100,000 downloads threshold. The new "Vippie" Mobile dialer is an application for both Android and Apple smart phones and tablets.

Besides the standard free Audio-calls and text messaging, Vippie offers free Video-calls - a feature shared only by few other competitors. As a standard SIP application, the softphone also gives users the possibility to make VoIP calls, with very cheap rates, to any mobile or landline devices around the world.

Dell Canada and Fongo announce the availability of the free mobile VoIP application, Dell Voice, for BlackBerry users. The announcement follows the successful launch of Dell Voice for Android and iOS smart phones in February. Dell Voice, developed with Fongo, enables BlackBerry owners to receive and place calls to landline and mobile phones using their data plan, without using air-time minutes.

Dell Voice for BlackBerry includes many of the advanced free features found in the other versions of this application such as Voicemail, Caller ID and more. It enables users to make free local and long-distance calls to most of Canada, as well as free unlimited incoming calls. Users can choose a local Canadian phone number for their Dell Voice for BlackBerry line, as well as place emergency VoIP 911 calls.

VoX Communications has now added an unlimited Canada calling plan to its Android mobile voice app available in Google Play. VoX's Chief Marketing Officer, Barry MacCheyne, noted, "We continue to add creative and very competitive calling plans to our Android app. With both Yahoo and our UK marketing partner launching marketing campaigns, we are very excited by where we are as a company today. With summer travel and the London Olympics coming, we intend to heavily market our app in July. We are also happy that Google recently reported that more than one million new Android devices are activated each day and we predict that this number will rise to over three million units a day by 2015. People are finally seeing the attraction of mobile VoIP apps that allow them to avoid massive roaming charges when travelling and to make a Wi-Fi call from anywhere in the world. They can now use VoX without using their carrier minutes or worrying about roaming charges."