Both Barrels Communications Ltd

Introduces flat-rate calling plans to both landlines and mobile phones

Low-cost calling just got lower with TruUnlimited, a robust, flat-rate, worry-free, calling plan announced today by Truphone. People around the world can now call more places, both landlines and mobiles, more often – all for one, low, fixed price.

Using TruUnlimited, customers enjoy the freedom to make calls around the world, at any time of the day and on any day of the week, without worrying about mounting call charges. The customer is also always in control: TruUnlimited plans do not require customers to enter into long-term contracts and may be cancelled at any time.

“Many of our customers have asked us to help simplify their lives by providing the peace of mind that comes with the ability to make unlimited calls without having to worry about checking balances or fear of bill shock when they receive their statement,” said Geraldine Wilson, CEO at Truphone.

TruUnlimited for Landlines
For people who need to communicate regularly with colleagues, friends or family around the world, the TruUnlimited for Landlines monthly plan gives unlimited calls to landlines in 38 countries for just £10 per month. As a bonus, the plan also permits calls to mobile phones in some top destinations such as the USA, Canada, China, and Hong Kong at no extra charge.

TruUnlimited for Mobiles
For people calling mobile phones more frequently, the TruUnlimited for Mobiles monthly plan provides subscribers with unlimited calls to mobiles and landlines in 64 countries for just £25 per month.

Both plans are available immediately both to existing Truphone customers and new subscribers via the easy installation of the Truphone application software. This is available as a free download for iPhone™ and iPod touch®, and for certain Nokia N-series and E-series devices. Truphone Anywhere is available on the Google™ Android G1 and on Blackberry® smartphones.

The new TruUnlimited plans are not replacements for other popular Truphone programs. Customers that do not need a Truphone Unlimited plan can still make great savings on Truphone’s standard rates.

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Notes to editors
Countries included in the TruUnlimited for Landlines plan are landline numbers in: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea (South), Malaysia, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK, Venezuela.

In addition to landline numbers, mobile numbers in the following countries are also included with the TruUnlimited Landlines tariff: Canada, China, Guam, Hong Kong, Macau, Mariana Islands, Singapore, Thailand, USA.

Countries included in the TruUnlimited for Mobiles plan are landline and mobile numbers in: American Samoa, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Cyprus (North), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Mariana Islands, Mayotte, Mexico, Mongolia, Monserrat, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkmenistan, Uganda, UK, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela, Uzbekistan.

Links and resources

• Truphone videos
• Truphone pictures
• Truphone web site

Apple and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States and other countries. Google is a trademark of Google Inc. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Google and Android are trademarks of Google, Inc. Nokia is a trademark of Nokia Corporation. The BlackBerry trademark is owned by Research in Motion Limited and is registered in the United states and may be pending registration in other countries. Truphone is a trademark of Software Cellular Network Ltd. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.

Popular mobile instant messaging application Palringo is now available on the Android Market. Using Palringo, Android users can chat to their friends on Google Talk, MSN, Facebook, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, iChat, QQ and other popular messaging services and social networks.

Key points

1. Palringo also enables Android owners to send photo messages to their friends in just two clicks [see video].
2. Android users can share their location with friends on Palringo: buddies see each others’ location and proximity (distance away) right beside their status in the Palringo contact list. Users may also view a map showing the whereabouts of all of their contacts who have chosen to share their location.
3. Using Palringo’s Group capability, people can chat with all of their friends at the same time. Groups also offer the opportunity to meet new people who share similar interests.
4. The Palringo application is designed specifically for mobile. This means that it takes account of limitations such as smaller screen size, and is considerate of battery life issues.
5. Palringo for Android runs in the background on the phone and notifies the owner when they receive new messages from their buddies. This means they need never miss a chat message.
6. Palringo for Android is built by the same, experienced team that has already made Palringo popular on the iPhone, Windows Mobile, Java, Symbian, as well as Mac, PC and Linux desktop environments.
7. Palringo for Android will be available as a free download through the T-Mobile G1 phone via the Android Market.

Quotes

Martin Rosinski, Palringo’s CTO, said:

• “Android is a 21st century platform and it deserves a 21st century messaging application that’s not confined just to text messaging. Palringo is that application.”
• “If you’re on a bus or in a library, then by all means stick with typing. But if you want them to see something, then it’s one click to take the picture and one to send it – and they’re receiving the photo already.”
• “By integrating the messaging capabilities of popular IM applications and social networks into a single application, Palringo has created a messaging community that runs to hundreds and hundreds of millions of users.”
• “We’ve brought all our experience to bear on Android in order to make it available to people as soon as possible. We’re delighted to be the first to all users to connect to all of their friends no matter what IM or social network they use, as we were for the iPhone last year.”

Video: Palringo for Android

Links and resources

• Video: Palringo for Android (YouTube)
• Other Palringo videos (YouTube)
• Screenshots: Palringo for Android (Flickr)
• Palringo press office (previous news releases)
• Palringo web site

New service aims to make every call local

Truphone™ today announced plans to launch, later this year, Truphone Local Anywhere™: a single-SIM, multi-country mobile service that will make any mobile call within the set of supported countries into a local call.

The introduction of Truphone’s multi-country, single-SIM service will change the current experience of people with an international lifestyle. Their mobile experience is currently characterized by frustration, brought on by constantly having to juggle multiple SIM cards and mobile phones in order to minimize their mobile costs.

The company announced its plans today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain [Stand 7C38].

As the world’s first true commercial multi-country mobile service, Truphone Local Anywhere will deliver low rates on their Truphone plan in any supported country – eliminating the need to maintain separate phones, switch between multiple SIMs or incur expensive roaming charges.

The new service also provides savings to people calling Truphone Local Anywhere customers as well. Friends, family or business associates can call whichever number is most convenient to the caller – making every call cost the same as a local call.

Additional Truphone Local Anywhere features and cost savings include:

• number portability of existing mobile and landline numbers to Truphone;
• full service multi-language customer support;
• ability to manage their Caller ID (CLI);
• competitive rates on domestic calls, SMS, and data in home country;
• low-cost international calling to the world from any Truphone Local Anywhere-supported country;
• up to 80 per cent savings on roaming charges when visiting other countries;
• no roaming surcharges to receive calls in most major destinations;
• TruFriends™ – providing even lower calling rates to call to other Truphone Local Anywhere customers;
• additional “virtual” country mobile numbers to seem ‘local’ in another country so friends/colleagues can call at local rates.

Meeting the unique needs of people with an international lifestyle
The Truphone Local Anywhere service is designed to meet the needs of people living an international lifestyle, such as:

• travel industry workers such as airline cabin crew, cruise ship workers and tourism professionals who travel from one country to another and who need to be in touch with people locally, in other countries and back home;
• second home owners who want a local mobile number in both locations so they can talk to friends and family in different countries at local rates;
• professional expatriate workers and their families who want a local mobile number in both locations so they can talk at local rates to families, friends and colleagues;
• international students who want to avoid roaming charges, but wish to maintain contact using a single phone number; and
• international business people who want a unified solution for their international communications needs as they roam from country to country.

“Until now, the only way to avoid the massive cost of mobile roaming is to carry multiple phones and multiple SIM cards, one for each country you frequent,” stated Truphone CEO Geraldine Wilson. “This means juggling multiple devices and phone numbers to avoid paying the high roaming rates traditionally associated with travel.

“Our customers tell us that they value our current services to make low cost international calls when at home and when roaming. Now they’re asking us to bring it all together. They want one phone, one SIM and one plan. Truphone Local Anywhere delivers this all-in-one solution by providing the first fully-integrated multi-country mobile service for personal users and business professionals. Now these internationalists can enjoy all the benefits of home wherever they may be.”

Truphone seeking strategic partnerships
In addition to launching this year in several key territories, Truphone announced that it is seeking to rapidly expand its international network and customer base via a global franchise model.

Operators and retailers who partner with the Truphone Local Anywhere program can appeal to highly targeted groups of international customers and increase their network traffic. Other partners will also be able to connect to the service with minimal infrastructure requirements. For more information or to become part of the development process, contact truphonepartners@truphone.com.

Price and availability
The first implementations of Truphone Local Anywhere will be available in the second half of 2009.

[ends]

Additional resources

• Truphone press office
• Truphone website
• Geraldine Wilson (Flickr)
• Truphone photos (Flickr)

About Truphone
Founded in 2006, Truphone is a global mobile communications provider in the business of innovating how people converse in our globally connected world. As the industry’s first mobile Internet operator, the company makes it easy and affordable for users all over the world to keep in touch with friends, family and business contacts overseas or while roaming.

Truphone is the trading name of Software Cellular Network (SCN). SCN is privately owned, funded by both venture capital investment and angel investors.

Truphone, Truphone Local Anywhere and TruFriends are trademarks of Software Cellular Network Ltd.

Truphone today added PayPal to the list of ways in which its customers can easily add credit their Truphone accounts.

Payments may already be made with variety of credit and debit cards, but the addition of PayPal now makes it easy for people who don’t have such accounts to benefit from Truphone’s low priced calling rates to more than 200 countries around the globe.

Customers can already easily top-up [refill their credit] while on the move, via either handset screen-optimised web pages or an automated IVR (Interactive Voice Response) based telephone top-up service, as well as via the Truphone web site (customer management page).

“As Truphone adds more new offerings to our suite of mobile services we wanted to increase the convenience factor for consumers by expanding the number of ways they can pay for those services,” said Geraldine Wilson, Truphone CEO.

She continued: “With PayPal we found not only a payment processing service provider, but also an addressable community that matched up very nicely to the typical Truphone customer.”

Customers may also set their account to ‘auto top-up’ so their credit is refilled when credit has fallen to a specified level.

[ends]

Additional resources

• Truphone website
• Truphone press office
• Geraldine Wilson (alternative picture)
• Truphone photos (Flickr)

Notes to editors

1. PayPal allows any business or consumer with an email address to securely, conveniently and cost-effectively send and receive payments online.
2. Both Truphone for iPhone and Truphone for iPod touch are free to download from the Apple App Store. Neither application has any rental, subscription or other hidden charges.
3. Making a Truphone call on an iPhone or iPod touch couldn’t be simpler: Truphone displays a virtual keypad for dialling the number.
4. Wi-fi hotspots are commonplace in offices, schools, campuses, at home, and even across entire town and city centres. Truphone uses the Wi-fi connectivity of the iPhone/iPod touch to carry instant messages over the internet to its destination.

About Truphone
The first true mobile internet network operator, Truphone allows users of Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phones to make and receive regular telephone calls, and to send and receive SMS [text] messages, using only a Wi-Fi connection and the internet. It has users in 149 countries. Truphone is the trading name of Software Cellular Network (SCN). SCN is privately owned, funded by both venture capital investment and angel investors.

Apple, iPhone and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States and other countries. Wi-fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Truphone is a trademark of Software Cellular Network Ltd. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.

Truphone today integrated AOL® Instant Messenger® (AIM) into its iPhone™ and iPod™ touch applications. Now Truphone customers on both devices can reach their AIM friends via their AIM identity.

With the addition of AIM, Truphone customers can now keep in touch with over 800 million addressable accounts for free.

The integration of this fifth messaging service reinforces Truphone as the “all-in-one conversations hub” for iPhone and iPod Touch users. Truphone has already integrated Google Talk™, Skype™, Windows Live Messenger™ and Yahoo!® Messenger into its applications for these devices, blending a combination of voice and instant messaging across multiple IM platforms within one application.

“Our goal is for mobile phone users to be able to reach any contact in their address book or on their buddy list, in a low cost way, at any time, using just one application,” said Geraldine Wilson, Truphone CEO. “Today’s announcement means that iPhone and iPod touch users gain a great way to stay in touch with AOL Instant Messenger users.

“We will continue to integrate further services and functionality, on other platforms too, giving people everything they need to stay in touch all within the Truphone application,” she stated.

Using Truphone to communicate with any of the five supported IM services is free over the Internet. When not in Wi-fi, Apple iPhone users can also make and receive calls and messages to and from Skype and Google Talk for the cost of a local call*, using the Truphone Anywhere feature. Voice calling functionality will be added to AIM, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger in the coming months.

[ends]

*Operator roaming charges will apply if users are abroad.

Additional resources

• Truphone web site
• Truphone press office
• Geraldine Wilson (alternative photo)
• Truphone photos (Flickr)

Notes to editors

1. AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) has more than 100 million users worldwide.
2. Both Truphone for iPhone and Truphone for iPod touch are free to download from the Apple App Store. Neither application has any rental, subscription or other hidden charges.
3. Making a Truphone call on an iPhone or iPod touch couldn’t be simpler: Truphone displays a virtual keypad for dialling the number.
4. Wi-Fi hotspots are commonplace in offices, schools, campuses, at home, and even across entire town and city centres. Truphone uses the Wi-fi connectivity of the iPhone/iPod touch to carry instant messages over the internet to its destination.

About Truphone
The first true mobile internet network operator, Truphone allows users of Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phones to make and receive regular telephone calls, and to send and receive SMS [text] messages, using only a Wi-Fi connection and the internet. It has users in 149 countries.
Truphone is the trading name of Software Cellular Network (SCN). SCN is privately owned, funded by both venture capital investment and angel investors.

AOL and AOL Instant Messenger are trademarks of America Online, Inc. Apple, iPhone and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States and other countries. Google and Google Talk are trademarks of Google Inc. Skype is a registered trademark of Skype Limited. Microsoft and Windows Live are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Yahoo! is a trademark of Yahoo, Inc. Wi-fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-fi Alliance. Truphone is a trademark of Software Cellular Network Ltd. Skype and SkypeIn are trademarks of Skype Limited. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.

See me/see you; message me/message you

iPhone users looking for their nearest friends need only to glance at their screen, thanks to the addition today of location functionality to Palringo’s popular rich messaging application.

From today, a user looking down their contact list sees not only the location of his or her Palringo contacts – typically a town name – but also how far away that contact is.

In the next update [due soon] a further click will bring up a map showing the location of that contact and also the location of any other Palringo contacts within a 10km radius.

In the same update, the location function will allow a user to display his/her own location on a map – highly convenient if visiting somewhere for the first time.

Location and proximity information adds an interesting new layer of social network connectivity. A Palringo user can choose to reveal location to any, all or no contacts, changing this selection at any time. Location can be set manually by the user, or Palringo can detect location automatically, keeping it continuously updated.

“Just knowing where someone is can be really useful, and knowing how far away they are is even better. The prospect of knowing where someone is before you start adds a whole new dimension to your conversation,” said Kerry Ritz, Palringo’s CEO. “It can eliminate worry and will probably mean the end of a lot of unnecessary ‘Where are you?’ calls. And soon you’ll pretty much be able to watch your friend, a few minutes late for your rendezvous, approaching on a map,” he added.

Location and proximity information complement Palringo’s rich messaging service, which already provides the option to send/receive vocal instant messages, picture messages and text-based messages. The Palringo service is designed for use on mobile phones, but versions are also available for Mac OS and other desktop environments.

[ends]

Resources

1. Screenshot: Palringo with location on iPhone
   
2. Screenshots: Palringo on other platforms
   

Notes to editors

1. While the iPhone has its own location service (and Palringo on iPhone takes full advantage of it), Palringo on other platforms calculates location using all available radio signals, including those from mobile network base stations and also from Wi-Fi access points known to Palringo’s database. The database is updated with new information constantly, so Palringo’s location algorithm becomes more accurate every day. Location can be calculated accurately to within a single street in towns and cities.
2. Palringo integrates with most popular IM services: AOL® Instant Messenger®, Google Talk™, Yahoo!® Messenger®, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ®, Jabber® and Microsoft’s Windows Live. People can also use Palringo to contact their friends using iChat®, Apple’s IM application.
3. Palringo is free to download from the App Store. There are no subscriptions or other hidden charges.

About Palringo
Palringo is designed specifically to make instant messaging work on mobiles. It combines walkie-talkie style voice (vocal instant messaging) with the ‘chat’ functionality of instant messaging and offers the ability to share pictures too. Both one-to-one and group discussions are enabled, on any mobile network or connected PC. Palringo connects with other popular instant messaging services. For more information visit the Palringo press office.

Microsoft and Windows Live are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Symbian and all Symbian-based trademarks and logos are trademarks of Symbian Software Limited. Java™ and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. iPhone and iChat are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. ICQ is a registered trademark of ICQ Inc., a division of America Online, Inc. JABBER is a registered trademark of Jabber Inc., and its use is licensed through the XMPP Standards Foundation. Other product or service names mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Truphone available in US and UK and at launch in Germany and Austria

Truphone today announced the immediate free availability of its Truphone Anywhere application for Android-enabled mobile handsets, including T-Mobile’s recently released G1 phone. The application is available now as a download from the Android Market in the UK and the US.

To coincide with T-Mobile’s announcement earlier this week of the availability of the G1 mobile phone in March 2009, a German version of Truphone Anywhere for Android is available and will be the first native language multi-communications application in the Android Market in Germany and Austria when it launches at CeBIT 2009.

Truphone Anywhere for Android delivers an all-in-one conversations hub that allows customers to take advantage of Truphone’s low international call rates, in addition to the cost of a local call*.

As well as being able to make low-cost international voice calls, Truphone customers can also easily Instant Message their friends across a variety of networks including MSN, Yahoo!, Google Talk and Twitter from within one Android application. Customers can also call friends anywhere in the world on Google Talk for the price of a local call, and similarly will soon will be able to Instant Message and call their friends on Skype.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to have conversations with their communities around the world in whatever form they choose,” said Truphone CEO Geraldine Wilson.

She continued: “We passionately believe in devices like the Android and iPhone which offer easy user access to applications through the Android Market and the App Store in Apple’s iTunes. The G1 and the entire Android platform is an obvious and important distribution channel for us.”

Truphone is now available on Android, the Apple iPhone, the Apple iPod touch, Blackberry and Nokia devices.

[ends]

* Operator roaming charges apply if the caller is abroad.

Notes to editors

1. Screenshots: Truphone Anywhere on a T-Mobile G1 handset
2. Truphone Anywhere works in 33 countries around the world, saving Android users from those countries money on international calls made from their home country. The easy-to-use service works alongside domestic service providers, but reduces international call costs to as little as £0.03/$0.06 [UK/RoW] per minute.
3. Unlike a ‘calling card’, Truphone Anywhere doesn’t require a user to remember what to do. Whenever an international number is dialled Truphone Anywhere simply asks whether he/she wants to make a Truphone call. The user simply accepts, and Truphone connects the call.

Apple and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States and other countries. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc. Skype is a registered trademark of Skype Limited. In the United States and/or other countries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Truphone is a trademark of Software Cellular Network Ltd. Google and Android Market are trademarks of Google Inc. Skype and SkypeIn are trademarks of Skype Limited. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.

Definitely not the Queen’s speech, it seems

iPhone users appear to be avid BBC watchers, according to unusual statistics from next-generation guidance company Vizimo. The company – whose Tioti TV+ application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch devices enable people to remotely programme their Sky+ box to record programmes – found that no less than 39 of the 50 most-recorded programmes over the Christmas holidays were screened on BBC channels.

Seven places were taken by Channel 4 programmes with just four ITV1 programmes making up the top 50. Only one non-BBC programme – Harry Hill’s TV Burp Review of the Year, shown on Boxing Day on ITV – made the Top Ten.

The most recorded programme was the Doctor Who Christmas Special, which aired at 6pm on Christmas Day on BBC1. All of the Top Five were BBC1 programmes, with all of the top four airing on Christmas Day.

Half of the Top 20 most frequently recorded programmes were broadcast on Christmas Day and eight of those – the exceptions were Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (4.30pm) and Top of the Pops Christmas Special (2pm) – were broadcast after 6pm.

The Queen’s Christmas Message, broadcast at 3pm on Christmas Day as always, did not make the Top Fifty.

“The Top 20 contains several instances of conflicting, popular programmes. One possibility is that people used Tioti TV+ on their iPhone to programme their Sky+ boxes in order to avoid an argument with another member of their household – a perfect use of Sky+. Or, some people may have recorded a programme simply because they didn’t want to spend their Christmas Day watching TV, but just wanted to watch the programmes later,” said Simon Steward, Vizimo’s CEO.

“The presence of Doctor Who in first place might be down to the show’s popularity, or it might be down to the fact that at 6pm on Christmas Day many families are still only halfway through their turkey so are recording it. Anonymous statistics get us so far, but more qualitative research would be needed to establish more detail,” he added.

Individual shows aside, the heavy presence of Auntie in the top fifty could also have a number of explanations. “This data doesn’t confirm what people are watching per se, but it does give a good idea of what people really don’t want to miss,” explained Steward. “The recording bias seems to suggest that the BBC has more unmissable content than other broadcasters – or perhaps that it got the scheduling wrong and aired its most popular content when people wanted to be doing something else.”

More than 400 TV channels are now available in the UK, and more than 90% of households now have at least one form of multi-channel digital TV service – digital TV receiver, satellite or cable.

Steward concludes: “Given the choice available it seems astounding that the BBC all but cleaned up where recording programmes is concerned. It’s also slightly ironic that people are using their Sky+ box to record programmes, yet not a single programme made the top fifty that wasn’t free-to-air in some form.”

[ends]

Apple, iPhone and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States and other countries.

Top 20 programmes (recorded using Tioti TV+ on an iPhone or iPod touch to set a Sky+ box)

1. Doctor Who, BBC1, Christmas Day, 6pm
2. Wallace and Gromit, BBC1, Christmas Day, 8.30pm
3. The Royle Family, BBC1 Christmas Day, 9.30pm
4. Blackadder Rides Again, BBC1, Christmas Day, 10.30pm
5. Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special, BBC1, Christmas Eve, 10pm
6. Harry Hill’s TV Burp Review of the Year, ITV1, Boxing Day, 7pm
7. Top Gear Vietnam Special, BBC2, December 28th, 8pm
8. Madagascar, BBC1, Boxing Day, 4.10pm
9. Match of the Day, BBC1, Boxing Day, 11.05pm
10. Top Gear, BBC2, Christmas Day, 9.30pm
11. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, BBC1, Christmas Day, 4.30pm
12. Dragons’ Den Around the World, BBC2, Christmas Day, 8.30pm
13. The 39 Steps, BBC1, December 28th, 8pm
14. Top of the Pops Christmas Special, BBC1, Christmas Day, 2pm
15. Shrek the Halls, BBC1, Christmas Eve, 7.30pm
16. 8 Out of 10 Cats Christmas Special, Channel 4, Boxing Day, 10.50pm
17. Wallace and Gromit, BBC HD, Christmas Day, 8.30pm
18. Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2008, BBC1, Christmas Day, 7pm
19. Fonejacker Christmas Special, Channel 4, Boxing Day, 11.40pm
20. Have I Got News for You Christmas 2008, BBC1, Christmas Eve, 9.30pm

Notes to editors

1. Tioti TV+ Screenshots
2. Tioti TV+ for iPhone and iPod touch, from Vizimo, helps to work out how best to see everything that you want to watch, and enables discovery of new content that you may also be interested in but didn’t know about. Launched in December 2008, Tioti TV+ may be downloaded from the App Store for just £1.79.
3. Users of other mobile phones may use the service by visiting wap.tioti.com on their handset.
4. The software displays programme schedules for the week ahead across dozens of channels. Choose the programmes you’re interested in, channel by channel, without having to remember what you’ve chosen. Then, when you’ve explored as many channel listings as you want, choose ‘My TV’ – and the software produces what is, in effect, a personalised TV channel for you, telling you which channel you need to be watching and at what time.
5. With just a couple of clicks, iPhone and iPod touch users can even programme their Sky+ box to record specific shows, helping to resolve schedule conflicts: watch one channel while recording another. Vizimo’s iPhone and iPod application will programme your Sky+ box over the internet so you can do it from anywhere, anytime.
6. No individually-identifiable data was collected by Vizimo.

Truphone today debuted the ability to make and receive Skype™ calls and instant messaging to the entire Skype user base from its iPhone™ and iPod touch™ applications. The service is scheduled to be available to all customers during the week of January 12th.

This represents one more step toward making Truphone the open “all-in-one conversations hub” for iPhone and iPod touch users.

Truphone customers on both Apple devices can now reach their Skype friends via their Skype IDs. This further expands the universe of people with whom Truphone customers can stay in touch.

Separately, Truphone also announced today the availability of well-known instant-messaging services using the Truphone application on the iPod touch™ and the iPhone™.

“The introduction of Skype calling and instant messaging represents yet another breakthrough for Truphone,” said Geraldine Wilson, Truphone CEO. “What this means for Truphone’s customers is that they can now call or message all their Skype friends using their iPhone or iPod touch. This allows iPhone and iPod touch users to have a choice in how they stay in touch with friends and colleagues around the world—all within the one application.”

Truphone-to-Skype communications are free over the internet, and iPhone users can also place and receive Skype calls and messages when not in a Wi-Fi-accessible location for the cost of a local call*, using the Truphone Anywhere feature.

Today’s announcement was made at “ShowStoppers @ Macworld 2009” [San Francisco, USA] and will be showcased on the Truphone stand (#3228) at Macworld for the remainder of the week.

[ends]

*Operator roaming charges will apply if users are abroad.

Additional resources

• Screenshots – iPhone
  
• Screenshots – iPod touch
• Truphone web site
• Current Truphone pricing
• Geraldine Wilson – alternative picture

Notes to editors

1. Skype reports more than 300 million downloads of its software. Typically, upwards of 13 million users may be online at any one time.
2. Both Truphone for iPhone and Truphone for iPod touch are free to download from the App Store. Neither application has any rental, subscription or other hidden charges.
3. Making a Truphone call on an iPhone or iPod touch couldn’t be simpler: Truphone displays a virtual keypad for dialling the number.
4. Wi-Fi hotspots are commonplace in offices, schools, campuses, at home, and even across entire town and city centres. Truphone uses the Wi-Fi connectivity of the iPhone/iPod touch to carry instant messages over the internet to its destination.

Apple and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States and other countries. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc. Skype is a registered trademark of Skype Limited. In the United States and/or other countries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Truphone is a trademark of Software Cellular Network Ltd. Skype and SkypeIn are trademarks of Skype Limited. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.

Truphone today introduced full two-way instant messaging over MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk on the iPod touch™ and also announced that availability on the iPhone™ would begin the week of January 12th.

Customers can also make and receive voice calls on Google Talk; calling functionality will be added to MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger in the coming weeks.

Truphone has also integrated Twitter into the TruFriends view so users can see what friends are talking about and post from within the Truphone application.

“We understand that customers increasingly want more integrated communications and like to switch between chat and voice,” said Truphone CEO Geraldine Wilson. “With these new features, Truphone customers can now choose which mode of communications they want to use at any moment—all from within the one application. This represents another step towards making Truphone the open ‘all-in-one conversations hub’ for iPhone and iPod touch users.”

Separately, Truphone also announced today the introduction of Skype calling and instant messaging when using the Truphone application on the iPhone and iPod touch.

Customers of Truphone for both the iPhone and iPod touch can now very simply import all their contacts from these accounts to Truphone and chat with them from the Truphone interface. The Truphone client on both devices shows who is online with its built-in presence functionality.

Instant messages are always free of charge to send and receive when in a Wi-Fi environment. iPhone users can also instant message when out of Wi-Fi range; data charges will be covered in the customers unlimited data package*. Truphone will also add the same functionality to other leading instant messaging services throughout the year.

Today’s announcement was made at “ShowStoppers @ Macworld 2009” and will be showcased on the Truphone booth (#3228) at Macworld for the remainder of the week.

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*Operator roaming charges will apply when abroad and not using a Wi-Fi network.

Links and resources

• Screenshots – iPod touch
• Screenshots – iPhone
• Truphone press office
• Truphone web site
• Current pricing

Notes to editors

1. Both Truphone for iPhone and Truphone for iPod touch are free to download from the App Store. Neither application has any rental, subscription or other hidden charges.
2. Making a Truphone call on an iPhone or iPod touch couldn’t be simpler: Truphone displays a virtual keypad for dialling the number.
3. Wi-Fi hotspots are commonplace in offices, schools, campuses, at home, and even across entire town and city centres. Truphone uses the Wi-Fi connectivity of the iPhone/iPod touch to carry instant messages over the Internet to their destinations.

Apple and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States and other countries. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc. Google Talk is a trademark of Google Inc. Google Talk is not a telephony service and cannot be used for emergency dialling. Microsoft and Windows Live are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Yahoo and Yahoo Messenger are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Yahoo Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Truphone is a trademark of Software Cellular Network Ltd. Skype and SkypeIn are trademarks of Skype Limited. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.