Have you heard this yet? “A little $1 iPhone app with the potential to shake up an entire industry”, as described by The
New York Times, Line2, being built by Toktumi, is an amazing new app that rivals AT&T. It not only turns your iPhone into a better phone but even better turns an iPod Touch into an iPhone where a Wi-FI signal is available.
On the iPhone, ready to hear it?, it gives you a second number with a second phone line with its own contact list, voicemail and a user interface that looks similar to the iphone. The transition of using these two user interfaces is seamless and blends into each other. The app is also available for Blackberry phones. You can transfer your current number free of charge.
Line2 operates similar manner as skype when calls are made over the internet connection saving you minutes or cutting down on the plan inorder to save minutes and your monthly phone bill. New York Times in its review has said that the biggest use for the Line2 app is at home where cellular connectivity is less.
Wifi connections are typically pretty stable and with 802.11n, its range has increased considerably to 200 meters or more depending on the wifi gateway router signal strength. If applied on a wimax enabled phone, this app would be perfect for calls over the cloud.
But wait, everything comes at a price. The app is available for .99 cents in the app store and free trial for 30 days. Android version for the app is under development and will be available soon. After the trial, there is a monthly fee of $14.95 which doesn’t really sound cheap but is worth it if you are constantly surrounded by a wifi or are a heavy phone user where you could cut down on the calls.
This app is great for users who travel abroad. Wifi calls can be placed from your hotel rooms to USA at local call charge because the calls are routed through the IP cloud and not through the cellular telephone switch, making international calls seem as local calls – A huge cost saving technique.
Early on March 26th, Toktumi servers were hit by an attack bring down Line2’s service.According to Peter Sisson, the founder of Toktumi, Line2 recently came under a denial-of-service attack and the decision was made to take if offline to not let it leave a bad memory for the first time users.
It is interesting to note how Apple approved this app and not let Google voice to be used on iPhone. Experts suggest that the reason is simple, Apple and Google are competitors in the same stream of business and they don’t want Google to invade their dear iPhones, however with Line2 coming in, Apple is not as worried as it were for Google. Analysts suspect there must be a deal between Line2 and Apple over revenue sharing. ATT seems to be happy to have users now use wifi instead of their network to make calls. Especially now where they are so over loaded on bandwidth for calls and data users.
The market trend in technology seems to be steadily shifting towards IP based networks and no longer seems to find the need to stick to traditional systems. With WiMax enabled phones from Sprint, it is clear that the future belongs to Wi-Fi smart phones.
As of now, Toktumi has released a statement saying their servers are up and good to go however new users cannot signup until they make their systems robust. You can read more here.
You can download the app here. Blackberry users can download the app from here. You can also visit Line2 here.