Both Barrels Communications Ltd

Here is a selection of real-life ways [case studies] in which people have told us they use Palringo’s instant messaging service:

• “I use Palringo both to send myself reminders at home (I have an account for my cellphone as well as for my home connection) and to stay in touch with friends all over the world. One of our favourite things to do is have ‘movie showings’ where two or three of us all watch the same movie or tv show and use Palringo to send comments back and forth… it’s almost like having a friend there in person to share the show with you.” – RP

• “Palringo is the only way I can use Google Talk on my phone. I have a lot of friends that sit on their computers and don’t answer their phones and, if I wanted to talk to them, I had to go home and log on Google Talk – or go to their houses. Palringo has saved me a lot of gas money!” – XW
• “I was recently on a snowboarding trip to Vail, Colorado. With the nice weather on the mountain I was able to chat it up with a few online friends. I could send them instant, high-quality pictures of the snowboarding and scenery. I enabled the GPS function and my wife could get a good idea where I was on my trip! I’ve also used Palringo to send instant pictures of IT-related issues I am troubleshooting at work. I have recorded small conversations and sent them to co-workers in real time.” – MS
• “Ever since I’ve had my iPhone 3G I’ve used Palringo with my MSN account when I’m on the road for my job. Because Palringo is very stable I can always be in touch with my colleagues, no matter were I am.” – BV
• “Besides my full time desk job, I also have a part-time, ‘home health’ job. Palringo is very handy as the patients I see contact me via whichever service they use.” – KN
• “I’m a long haul truck driver from North Carolina. My wife and I use Palringo to stay in instant contact and it allows me to send her pictures from the road. Your service allows me to be 2000 miles from home but be able to say ‘hello’ in milliseconds.” – WB
• “Palringo keeps me in touch with my husband who lives in another country. With Palringo, we can manage the 4-5 hour time difference; I’m on my iphone at work while he is at home. It’s a relationship-saver.” – D
• “My daughter got married in Cancun last month and it seemed like our only option to talk to each other in Mexico was paying 59 cents per minute with a monthly additional charge from our phone company of US$4.99 for the service… until my son-in-law found Palringo. We talked to each other across the resort the whole time with no charge!” – L
• “My daughter has some health issues. We allow her to spend time on her computer, but I instant message with her often, just to make sure she’s alright. I use Palringo to continue to IM with her even when I’m out of the house. That connection makes me feel better, and I’ve not used anything else which offers me the options Palringo does.” – TR

Please contact us for further information on these.

26 Nokia devices now Truphone-compatible

Truphone has added 11 additional Nokia handsets to the list of devices compatible with Truphone, whose owners can now ring up big savings by taking advantage of Truphone’s broad range of calling plans and services.

“We first introduced Truphone on a Nokia device, so we are pleased to be able to increase the range of compatible Nokia devices and extend our loyal Nokia customer base further,” said Truphone’s CEO, Geraldine Wilson. “Nokia is still the largest mobile handset manufacturer in the world, so ensuring that we’re on as many of these devices as possible means more and more people can take advantage of Truphone’s fantastic rates to make international calls.”

With the addition of the 11 new handsets, Truphone is now compatible on 26 Nokia devices. Of those, software for 14 of the Truphone-compatible devices can now be downloaded from Nokia’s new Ovi store, with the software for 11 of the remaining 12 new devices to be added to the Ovi store soon.

In addition to the Ovi Store the Truphone application is also available for all 26 Nokia devices as an SMS over the air (OTA) download from the Truphone web site, www.truphone.com, and will always parallel the applications available via the Ovi store. The Truphone website will also include applications for other Nokia devices not currently available via Ovi, as well as the other supported mobile platforms.

The new Truphone-enabled Nokia devices are:

• N96
• N78
• N85 (also VoIP enabled)
• N79 (also VoIP enabled)
• 5630 (also VoIP enabled)
• 5800
• 5320
• 6210
• 6220
• 6650
• E63

After downloading and installing the Truphone application to their handsets, Nokia device owners will be able to take advantage of two calling plan options:

• Truphone Anywhere: Calls made when customers are connected to local wireless networks are handled as local calls and then passed on to the Truphone network, from where they are routed at Truphone’s fantastic rates to landline and mobile phones worldwide. This service is intended for use in the user’s home country as savings cannot be guaranteed abroad.
• Truphone Wi-Fi calling: Calls made when customers are in accesible Wi-Fi hotspots anywhere in the world, can be made for free to other Truphone users and at Truphone’s fantastic rates to landline and mobile phones worldwide.

All the new handsets are Truphone Anywhere-capable and, in addition, three of the handsets – the N85, N79 and 5630 – are also compatible with the original Truphone Wi-Fi calling service, hailing back to Truphone’s origin as the first Mobile VoIP service available on Nokia N- and E-series devices.

This means that when customers are connected to a Wi-Fi network, a call to another Truphone customer is completely free and also means they can use a Nokia handset as an alternative, inexpensive roaming solution if they choose to only make calls when connected to a Wi-Fi network when abroad or anywhere.

With Truphone Anywhere, everyone can save money when making international calls. It’s simple: international calls dialled on a Truphone Anywhere enabled handset are connected as local calls to the Truphone network, then routed to their destinations at Truphone’s low rates. This means that for the price of local calls, which are often bundled in an operator’s monthly package, customers can make calls to other Truphone users for free or to landlines and mobiles around the world for as little as 1.5p per minute.

[ends]

The full list of Nokia devices that are Truphone-compatible is:

• E51
• E60
• E61
• E61i
• E63
• E65
• E66
• E70
• E71
• E90
• N80ie
• N81
• N81 8GB
• N82
• N95
• N95 8GB
• N96
• N78
• N85
• N79
• 5630
• 5800
• 5320
• 6210
• 6220
• 6650

Resources

• Truphone press office
• Truphone web site
• Truphone screenshots (Nokia handsets)
• Truphone videos

Important information
Nokia, E50-E99, Eseries and N70-N99 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nokia Corporation. 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.

SIM4travel, a Truphone company and a leading supplier of global travel SIM cards, has appointed Data Select, one of the UK’s leading distributors of mobile phones, accessories and airtime, to extend the distribution channels for SIM4travel.

The partnership will allow SIM4travel to benefit from the extensive relations Data Select has with retailers and businesses, while Data Select benefits from the addition of the SIM4travel product to its portfolio.

A pre-paid top-up service with free inbound calls in major destinations and great roaming rates, SIM4travel is easy to set up and offers savings of up to 80% on standard network charges while people are abroad on holiday or business around the world.

“Data Select was an obvious choice as a distribution partner for SIM4travel”, said Geraldine Wilson, CEO Truphone. “SIM4travel is a compelling high quality global travel SIM and with Data Select’s heritage in distributing tech products, we look forward to extending our distribution channel.”

“Roaming charges are one of the biggest issues still affecting mobile users. Whether for business or pleasure, the worry of international call rates is now a thing of the past, thanks to SIM4travel. This is a great product for Data Select to offer our customers – and just in time for summer”, commented George McPherson, Chief Executive of Data Select.

SIM4travel SIM cards are currently available on Easyjet, British Airways and Phones4U as well as e-pay Independent Retailers around the UK.

[ends]

Links

• SIM4travel website
• SIM4travel press office
• Truphone website
• Truphone press office
  

About SIM4travel
SIM4travel is a trading name of, and Truphone is a trademark of, Software Cellular Network Limited. SIM4travel operates its own Pay As You Go global network. Using a SIM4travel international SIM card there are no charges for inbound calls in the EU, and calls home are just 25p per minute. Worldwide, savings of up to 80% are possible in most countries worldwide.

How it works
SIM4travel is a GSM SIM card service designed to be used while roaming. No contract is required so there are no tie-ins. It’s a prepaid service, and it’s easy to top-up with a credit card. Customers simply purchase a SIM4travel pack, pop the SIM card in to their mobile phone, then activate the prepaid account by registering their credit card and loading cash credit. Customers can then start making calls from the moment they land, all at a massive discount compared to standard network charges, in over 100 countries around the world.

By using the exclusive SIM4travel mobile number (+44 UK) calls are also free to receive in 36 countries. SIM4travel will save money for anyone who uses their mobile while abroad: business people, holiday makers… everyone can benefit.

Data Select – overview
Data Select is the UK’s leading distributor of mobile phones and accessories. Part of The Phones International Group, Data Select is owned by Peter Jones of BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den fame. In 2009 Data Select won both the Mobile News and Mobile awards for ‘Best Distributor’. This repeated the achievements of 2008.

Since its formation in 1998, Data Select has consistently grown each year. The company has direct distribution agreements with all major UK manufacturers including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung and airtime distribution agreements with all networks.

Data Select supplies to a range of customers including specialist retailers including Phones 4u and Carphone Warehouse and non-specialist retailers including Tesco, WHSmith and Argos.
www.dataselect.co.uk

New architecture delivers improved user experience, simplified management and performance boost

• User experience now slicker and more intuitive than ever before
• Account management outpaces anything else available
• Application faster than ever before – now native on the handset
• Radically improved call quality

Following hot on the heels of the launch of Truphone 3.0 for the Apple® iPhone™, Truphone today launched Truphone 3.0, a major new upgrade to its mobile VoIP application for the Apple® iPod™ touch.

The new version dramatically builds on the success of previous versions of the VoIP application for the iPod, enhancing the instant messaging and account management experience, making Truphone faster than ever before and delivering a new standard for call quality.

Among the many improvements in Truphone 3.0 are increased ease of use, speed of function response, intuitiveness and simplicity – all designed to enhance the user experience. Truphone has also improved voice quality making the app for the iPod better than it’s ever been before.

Using Truphone’s integrated messaging tool that unifies all IM communities in a single place, users can now simply manage all their IM communication from a single page within the application, eliminating the need to constantly jockey between different applications or even different pages within an application. IM services currently supported include Skype, MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk.

“Following the successful launch of Truphone 3.0 for the iPhone we were keen to follow-up as quickly as possible for all our iPod touch customers. That’s what we’ve done to ensure that they can take advantage of all our new improvements: improved UI, account management and call quality. We believe Truphone 3.0 sets a new benchmark in terms of quality and performance”, said Geraldine Wilson, CEO Truphone.

“With these improvements, we believe Truphone 3.0 is the best application to turn your iPod touch into a Wi-Fi phone and staying in touch with all of your IM communities.”

[ends]

Resources

• Additional screenshots: Truphone for iPod touch, v3.0
• Truphone press office
• Truphone web site

Truphone already enables…

Free calls when in Wi-Fi to:

• Other Truphone users
• Skype and Google Talk users

Free Instant Messages when in Wi-Fi to:

• Skype
• MSN Messenger
• Google Talk
• Yahoo! Messenger
• AIM

Incredible savings on calls to:

• Call landlines and mobiles around the world at cheap rates

Great account management:

• See rates for calls before initiating a call
• Display recent call history, showing the Truphone customer exactly how much a call just cost and how long it lasted with the ability to see a summary of calls made month by month
• Top-up from within the application, without the need for web windows to open separately
• Top-up in a variety of ways: credit card or PayPal
• Change calling tariffs within the application

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

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. 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.

Palringo’s Webby Award-winning, multi-service, Instant Messaging application is newly available in the BlackBerry App World.

Palringo users exchange voice, picture and text-based messages with contacts on many popular messaging services including Microsoft’s Windows Live/MSN Messenger, Facebook™, AOL® Instant Messenger®, Google Talk™, Yahoo!® Messenger®, Apple’s iChat®, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ®, Jabber® and QQ. This means that Blackberry users can chat, and share photo and voice messages, with all of their friends on many different IM and social networking services using just one application instead of switching between multiple, single-service applications.

Palringo first became available on BlackBerry devices in April 2009 [see here].

Video demonstration: click here.

Key information

1. Palringo’s Groups Gallery is a browsable directory that makes it easy for people to find Palringo groups they’d like to join and participate in.
2. The addition of Groups Gallery means that Palringo groups are significantly more useful than before: until today there was no way to find out about specific groups other than by word of mouth or guesswork.
3. Now, the Groups Gallery enables people to meet others who share similar interests, all in the same virtual place.
4. Groups are also a useful way for groups of friends or colleagues to stay in touch. Businesses are using Palringo groups as well as the location functionality to enable better communications between staff and to respond more quickly to customer needs.
5. Using a Palringo group for messaging enables voice, text and photos to be shared simultaneously with everyone in the group.
6. Statistics: there are more than 21,000 groups on Palringo, and 50,000 Palringo users are members of at least one group. More than 4 million group messages were sent last month. The largest group has 1,995 members.
7. Group owners manage how their group is seen in the Groups Gallery by editing the description, adding a photo and selecting the most appropriate category for the group. For privacy, group owners may designate their group as ‘ex-directory’, ensuring their group is excluded from the Groups Gallery.
8. Group owners also have tools to manage their community of group members, by promoting other members to help them administer the group or removing rowdy group members.

Quotes
Martin Rosinski, CTO of Palringo, said:

“The number and variety of groups in existence on Palringo is fabulous. Because it’s easy and free to create a group, if you can’t find what you’re looking for you can simply create your own group. Then you can promote your group in the gallery to attract new members.”
“The versatility of Palringo, the way it works across all sorts of mobile phones and operating systems, means it’s extremely inclusive – no-one is excluded because they’ve got the wrong handset, for example. The group functionality takes that a step further because everyone in a group can communicate with everyone else yet only needs to send one actual message. Now, by adding the Groups Gallery, Palringo has just made it a million times easier for new members to find and join any group.”

Links and resources

• Palringo Groups Gallery
• Screenshots
• Palringo press office
  

About Palringo
The Palringo service combines walkie-talkie style voice (vocal instant messaging), the real-time text chat functionality of instant messaging, the ability to share pictures, location and presence – all within the context of a discussion. Supporting connections to other popular instant messaging services, it enables both one-on-one and group discussions, and enables real-time dialogue, for users from across the globe, on any mobile network or connected PC. Palringo is a privately-held company based in Newcastle, UK.

Free replacement SIM, £5 free credit when you top up £10, free P&P

SIM4travel, a Truphone company and the leading supplier of global travel SIM cards, is offering United Mobile customers affected by the termination of the United Mobile service a free SIM4travel SIM with free £5 credit when they top-up £10.

United Mobile customers have been left without service just as many are preparing to go away for Bank Holiday weekends or as they prepare for their summer holidays.

SIM4travel is able to offer a continuation of service for those customers affected by what has happened recently with United Mobile to ensure that, as much as possible, they are not left out of pocket and out of service. Customers interested in the offer should visit www.sim4travel.com/replace for more information.

SIM4travel and Truphone are committed to helping consumers manage the costs of using their mobiles abroad – by offering great call rates back home and the ability to receive calls for free in most countries. SIM4travel prides itself on the call quality, reliability of service and the value for money its SIM card offers, and is committed to maintaining its position as the premier global network.

SIM4travel guarantees:

• Customers will receive calls for FREE in 36 countries
• Great rates in 100+ countries
• Customers get a UK number starting +44 7509
• No tie-ins or lengthy contracts, just pay as you go
• 24/7 customer support from anywhere in the world, 365 days of the year

“It’s never a nice thing to see a business struggle, particularly in these tough economic times, but we’re keen to ensure that as many customers as possible continue to make great savings on their roaming charges – and with SIM4travel quality offering that’s what they’ll get”, said Geraldine Wilson, CEO of Truphone.

[ends]

How it works
SIM4travel is a GSM SIM card service designed to be used whilst roaming. There’s no contract required so there are no tie-ins. It’s a prepaid service, and it’s easy to top-up with a credit card. Customers simply purchase a SIM4travel pack, pop the SIM card in to their mobile phone, then activate the prepaid account by registering their credit card and loading cash credit. Customers can then start making calls from the moment they land, all at a massive discount compared to standard network charges, in over 100 countries around the world. What’s more, by using the exclusive SIM4travel mobile number (+44 UK) calls are free to receive in most major destinations around the world. SIM4travel will save money for anyone who uses their mobile whilst abroad – business people, holiday makers, everyone can benefit.

About SIM4travel
SIM4travel is a trading name of, and Truphone is a trademark of, Software Cellular Network Limited. SIM4travel operates its own Pay As You Go global network. Using a SIM4travel international SIM card there are no charges for inbound calls in the EU, and calls home are just 25p per minute. Worldwide, savings of up to 80% are possible in most countries worldwide.

For more information visit www.sim4travel.com and www.sim4travel.blogspot.com.

Improved user experience, simplified management and performance boost

Truphone today launched Truphone 3.0, a major new upgrade to its mobile VoIP application for the Apple® iPhone™. Truphone 3.0 dramatically builds on the success of previous versions of the iPhone’s first ever VoIP application, enhancing the instant messaging and account management experience, making Truphone faster than ever before and delivering a new standard for call quality.

Among the many improvements in Truphone 3.0 are increased ease of use, speed of function response, intuitiveness and simplicity – all designed to enhance the user experience. Truphone has also improved voice quality, making the app for the iPhone better than ever before.

Truphone’s integrated messaging tool unifies all IM communities in a single place, meaning users can manage all their IM communication from a single page within the application – eliminating the need to constantly jockey between different applications or even different pages within an application. IM services currently supported include Skype, MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk.

“Customers tell us they want three things: simplicity, quality and a good deal. Those principles drive our innovation, and Truphone 3.0 delivers on all three. We’ve dramatically improved our UI and account management tools. We’ve eliminated the need for compression through new advances in signal processing, making calls crystal clear. And, just as we always do, Truphone 3.0 sets a new benchmark in terms of quality and performance that competitors will have a tough time matching,” said Geraldine Wilson, CEO Truphone.

“With these improvements, we believe Truphone 3.0 is the best application on mobile for our customers’ international calling needs as well as staying in touch with all of their IM communities, in or out of Wi-Fi.”

Similar improvements to Truphone for the Apple iPod® touch will be announced soon.

[ends]

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

Resources

• Truphone press office
• Truphone web site
• Picture: Geraldine Wilson, Truphone CEO (Flickr)
• Screenshots: Truphone 3.0 (Flickr)

What Truphone already does

Free calls when in Wi-Fi to:

• Other Truphone users
• Skype and Google Talk users

Free Instant Messages when in Wi-Fi to:

• Skype
• MSN Messenger
• Google Talk
• Yahoo! Messenger
• AIM

Plus: incredible savings on calls to landlines and mobiles around the world.

Most importantly all these communication opportunities are also available outside of Wi-Fi by using Truphone Anywhere for calls (charged at a local rate in your home country and then routed over Truphone’s network – not for use when roaming), and 3G for Instant Messaging.

Account management:

• See rates for calls before initiating a call
• Display recent call history, showing the Truphone customer exactly how much a call just cost and how long it lasted with the ability to see a summary of calls made month by month
• Top-up from within the application, without the need for web windows to open separately
• Top-up in a variety of ways: credit card or PayPal
• Change calling tariffs within the application

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. 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 is not a replacement for an ordinary telephone service and emergency calls cannot be made using Truphone. However Truphone does not prevent emergency calls being made via a handset’s normal cellular service provider. Truphone cannot advise on the legality of VoIP services in specific territories or jurisdictions. It is the user’s responsibility to confirm that use of the Truphone VoIP software and service is permitted in the location in which they use it.

Fans can vote online to help Palringo win internet’s top honour

Palringo has been nominated in the Best Use of GPS or Location Technology category in the 13th Annual Webby Awards. Hailed as the “internet’s highest honour” by the New York Times, the Webby Awards is the leading international award honouring excellence on the Internet.

“Webby nominees set the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards. “It is an incredible achievement to be selected among the best from the nearly 10,000 entries we received this year.”

Palringo’s founder and CTO Martin Rosinski said: “Being shortlisted for a Webby Award is a sure signal to our users and customers that the outstanding location functionality we’ve built into Palringo is at the leading edge of what’s currently possible and useful in a messaging service.”

Nomination also makes Palringo eligible to win a Webby People’s Voice Award, voted for online by the global Web community. From now until April 30th, all admirers of Palringo can cast their votes in The Webby People’s Voice Awards at http://pv.webbyawards.com.

[ends]

Notes to editors
The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-person judging academy whose members include Internet co-inventor Vinton Cerf, R/GA’s Chief Bob Greenberg, “Simpson’s” creator Matt Groening, Arianna Huffington, and Harvey Weinstein.

Winners will be announced on May 5th, 2009 at a ceremony in New York City on June 8th hosted by Seth Meyers. Winners will be able to share one of the Webby’s famous five-word speeches with the world. Past Webby Award winners – and their speeches – include Al Gore (“Please don’t recount this vote.”), Beastie Boys (“Can anyone fix my computer?”), and Stephen Colbert (“Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.”).

About Palringo
The Palringo service combines walkie-talkie style voice (vocal instant messaging), the real-time text chat functionality of instant messaging, the ability to share pictures, location and presence – all within the context of a discussion. Supporting connections to other popular instant messaging services, it enables both one-on-one and group discussions, and enables real-time dialogue, for users from across the globe, on any mobile network or connected PC. Palringo is a privately-held company based in Newcastle, UK.

About The Webby Awards
Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honouring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 13th Annual Webby Awards received over 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft Silverlight; The Creative Group; .ORG; Getty Images; The Barbarian Group; Digital Kitchen; Wired; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.

A new gold edition of Palringo for Blackberry® was launched today adding location functionality and support for Facebook™, iChat® and QQ.

Key points

1. Palringo for BlackBerry now includes the option to share your location with other Palringo users. Location and proximity [distance] of contacts are shown, both on the buddy list screen and on map displays for even greater precision.
2. User feedback on the initial beta version of Palringo for BlackBerry has been instrumental in refining the gold version. In particular, the connection issues identified in the beta version have been resolved.
3. Palringo is available now for the BlackBerry Pearl™, BlackBerry Curve™ and BlackBerry 8800 series. The application is free and downloadable from http://www.palringo.mobi/.
4. Palringo users can exchange voice, picture and text-based messages with contacts on many popular messaging services including Microsoft’s Windows Live/MSN Messenger, Facebook™, AOL® Instant Messenger®, Google Talk™, Yahoo!® Messenger®, Apple’s iChat®, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ®, Jabber® and QQ. This means that Blackberry users can chat, and share photo and voice messages, with all of their friends on many different IM and social networking services using just one application.
5. Palringo enables users to form and administer groups. Many businesses use Palringo Groups as an additional tool to enable communication with staff, whether they’re out in the field or in the office.
6. There are presently thousands of active groups on Palringo, ranging from entire businesses to special interest groups to sports clubs. There is no need to be online to receive messages; the conversation history can be read whenever a user logs in.
7. Palringo is designed for use on mobile phones, but versions are also available for Windows-based PCs and for Mac OS.
8. At the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona [February 2009], Palringo was shortlisted for a 2009 GSMA Global Mobile Award – the most prestigious annual awards in the world of mobile. The shortlist of five, in the Best Mobile Internet Service category, also featured Nokia and Bharti Airtel.

Quotes

Martin Rosinski, CTO of Palringo, said:

“We know of businesses using Palringo to gain a business edge over their competition, simply because it enables them to react more quickly to a situation: they either get to the customer first, or they keep the customer happier. Palringo shows [via status] which staff members are available and their location indicates whether they’re near or far away – so colleagues can send the right person the right message at the right time.”

“Getting Palringo right on BlackBerry is obviously an important step because so many business users have a BlackBerry and the device itself is the ‘permanent fixture’.”

“The new version of Palringo is a huge improvement on the previous beta version. Some elements of the application have been completely rewritten, particularly where we were unhappy with the quality of the original user experience. We’re confident that BlackBerry users will find it a valuable, useful, and fun addition to their device.”

Links and resources

• Screenshots (Flickr): Palringo for BlackBerry
• Video (YouTube): Palringo for BlackBerry

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.