Both Barrels Communications Ltd

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.

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.

[ends]

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

Enables companies to save 50% on international mobile call charges

Truphone today announced the launch of Truphone Business, a BlackBerry application enabling business users to make international phone calls from their devices at fixed line rates, typically saving 50% or more on call charges.

Truphone’s global infrastructure means that these savings are available for calls made from the UK to every destination globally, while never compromising on call quality. Truphone Business is also entirely ‘invisible’ to end users, who simply dial an international number as usual, without noticing that the call is being connected by Truphone.

Truphone Business is quick and easy to provision, being pushed to each device via the Blackberry server, instantly activating the service on every BlackBerry device. Specifically designed for business use, the service also offers centralised monthly billing with itemised and departmental reporting.

Truphone’s CEO Geraldine Wilson said: “Hundreds of thousands of consumers are already enjoying the cost savings on international mobile calls that Truphone offers. The launch of Truphone Business follows demand for a business solution from our existing customer base. The proposition is extremely compelling, particularly in this economic climate. Companies are keen to cut costs but find that an increasingly mobile and global workforce need to make international calls from mobile devices as a part of day-to-day business. Truphone solves that problem by providing international calls from mobiles at fixed line rates.”

Truphone Business works alongside existing mobile operators. Users dial a number as usual and if the number is international, Truphone intercepts the call and connects it to the international destination via the Truphone global platform. Companies only pay for the local rate call to Truphone (which is usually included in their bundled minutes) and the international leg of the call, at fixed line rates.

Truphone Business offers two tiers of rates, TruStandard and TruSaver, for a monthly subscription of £2.50 and £5.00 respectively.

(Prices are subject to change but are correct at time of announcement.)

Truphone Business is available from BlackBerry resellers throughout the UK. For more information, to be put in touch with a reseller in your area, or to request a free trial of Truphone Business, email business@truphone.com.

Showcases new capabilities at SxSW Interactive, March 13th-17th 2009

Personalised TV guidance developer Vizimo today launched an API-based service which enables any other service provider easily to add unprecedented TV personalisation and recommendation into its own products – whether on a set-top box, web or mobile.

Vizimo will showcase these capabilities for the first time at the SxSW Interactive trade show [March 14-16].

The three tiers of Vizimo’s new API-based service are:

• V-TV Free, which is open to any service provider, free of charge. A service provider can send a programme reference and V-TV Free will return recommendations based on the standard body of TV content in that particular geography.
• V-TV Plus, which offers additional layers of sophistication including personalisation. Additional functionality includes: the creation and maintenance of profiles using Vizimo’s unique profiling capability; profile-based recommendations; time-sensitive recommendations; and specification of a content source. The latter capability means a service provider can define a bias towards recommendations from specific bodies of content, such as premium or pay-per-view channels.
• V-TV OD, which is an extension of V-TV Plus. Recommendations may be drawn from on-demand sources as well as broadcast schedules. The OD option also enables service providers to specify the current device being used – such as ‘mobile’ or ‘web’ – so recommendations can include content suitable or available to view immediately.

Simon Steward, Vizimo’s CEO, said: “We’ve expended time and effort engaging with the market in order to develop a service that makes sense to the widest possible audience, is accessible to the widest possible audience and delivers unique value.”

Vizimo will also continue to offer consulting services to clients, undertaking some bespoke development aimed at helping partners achieve the most out of Vizimo’s TV personalisation capabilities. Vizimo also continues to develop and enhance its direct-to-consumer proposition under the Tioti brand name, which acts as a test-bed for innovation.

[ends]

SxSW Interactive
SxSWi takes place in Austin, Texas, March 13-17 2009. The UK Digital Mission stand is located in the Grand Ballroom, Level 4, Austin Convention Center. The trade show is open March 14-16.

About Vizimo
Vizimo develops personalised TV guidance solutions that tie together TV, the web and, increasingly, mobile devices. Its intelligent, interactive, guidance technology enables viewers to find, discover, manage and watch TV or video programmes that they are interested in.

Vizimo’s solutions make use of sources that include broadcast TV, on-demand and catch-up services, Internet TV and mobile video services, and are designed engage viewers with a genuinely personalised guide that works coherently across TV, web and mobile.

Links and resources

• Vizimo press office
• Vizimo web site
• Overview of Vizimo technology (image)

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.

MOFILM, the world’s biggest global mobile short film festival, has partnered with Vizimo to help enthusiasts discover, and watch, their favourite short films during the MOFILM 2009 Festival. The festival takes place in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress this week.

Personalised TV guidance company Vizimo has created a mobile service for MOFILM which not only limits the amount of time and bandwidth spent streaming films that don’t appeal, but also enables the unexpected discovery of the ‘right’ content that the viewer might not, otherwise, have found themselves. It enables anyone to search for a film based on keywords in its synopsis and, subsequently, to discover other films from the collection that are similar – whether by genre, director or other characteristic.

Phone users may use the service simply by pointing their phone’s browser to http://mofilm.vizimo.com.

Ralph Cochrane, chief operations officer for MOFILM, said: “We’ve attracted a remarkable number of entries for the MOFILM 2009 competition from around the globe. Vizimo has made it possible for all MOFILM fans to watch their favourite films on their mobile phones by genre, and to discover exciting new content easily. We want as many as possible of these films to be seen and enjoyed, and this sort of ‘discovery’ is an elegant, natural way of doing it.”

Simon Steward, Vizimo’s CEO, said: “Vizimo employs a very sophisticated model to ensure it can recommend appropriate content when someone clicks on ‘show me more like this’. Our existing applications for TV content are already popular, but it really comes into its own when the entire collection of content is new, like this; it is unrealistic and less enjoyable to try to discover interesting content simply by watching films sequentially.”

Vizimo powers personalised TV by providing a rich, personalised ‘window’ onto the increasingly complex world of video entertainment. Working across mobile, web and compatible set-top boxes, users are given an easy-to-navigate view of the massive universe of available content – both broadcast and on-demand – and are guided towards items of interest to them.

Vizimo uses existing user behaviour for scheduled TV to stimulate take-up of new, non-broadcast services. In trials, users have employed Vizimo to discover new content of interest, to remotely set a home recorder, to set reminders and to discuss what they are watching with friends.

[ends]

About MOFILM
MOFILM celebrates the intersection of art, commerce and technology in the fast-evolving sector of mobile entertainment. The first MOFILM Film Festival will debut on February 18th and 19th, 2009 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (February 16th-19th). This unique film festival will celebrate amateur and professional film-making for movies of 5 minutes (or less) in length which would be ideal for viewing and sharing on mobile phones.

The GSMA is partnering with MOFILM to produce this unique programme, promoting short film to the global film, mobile and entertainment industries. The GSMA is the global trade group for the mobile industry, representing over 750 mobile operators from 218 countries.

The Mobile World Congress, held annually in Barcelona, is the world’s leading communications industry event. The Congress has become a focal point for the convergence of the mobile and entertainment industries, attracting leading film makers and artists – including Robert Redford, Isabella Rosselini and the Oscar nominated Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) among others in recent years – which have come to explore and contribute to the discussions surrounding short films and the opportunities of the mobile medium.

About Vizimo
Vizimo develops personalised TV guidance solutions that tie together TV, the web and, increasingly, mobile devices: intelligent, interactive, guidance technology that enables viewers to find, discover, manage and watch TV or video programmes that they are interested in.

Vizimo’s solutions make use of sources that include broadcast TV, on-demand and catch-up services, Internet TV and mobile video services, and are designed engage viewers with a genuinely personalised guide that works coherently across TV, web and mobile. For more information visit the Vizimo press office and www.vizimo.com.

Personalised TV guidance company Vizimo is one of nine launch partners announced today by mobile marketing services group Gigafone at the introduction of its Ochre digital advertising solution. Vizimo will provide targeted, profiled ad inventory within its mobile TV guides, to brands and their agencies, via the Ochre solution.

Gigafone’s Ochre tackles the issue of market fragmentation which, to date, has largely prevented the development of effective and creative digital campaigns. Ochre will unify, into a single solution, the four major parts of the mobile advertising ecosystem: campaign creation, planning, distribution and result measurement, providing brands, agencies and mobile operators a holistic and simplified view of the advertising ecosystem.

With demography requirements and purchasing characteristics changing on a campaign by campaign basis, Ochre has been designed to address the issues associated with mobile advertising. Advertisers will be able to switch delivery channels at the click of a button, making sure content-rich information gets to the right person at the right time. In turn this means consumers will receive relevant and timely information about products that they are interested in, and advertisers can reduce wastage generated from blanket campaigns.

This dovetails neatly with Vizimo’s mobile capabilities, whose personalised TV guide enables Vizimo to build up a profile of each user’s personal viewing preferences. Simon Steward, Vizimo’s CEO, said: “In conjunction with Vizimo, the Ochre solution will enable advertisers to effectively target people who watch TV, but without the inherent wastage of normal TV advertising. Instead, content delivered will be personalised and targeted, based on user preferences, and provide a high degree of measurability.”

Vizimo also white labels its capabilities to TV guide publishers. “The combination of three elements – the quality of our profiling, the highly personal nature of TV viewing and what TV guide publishers know about their own readers – means that together we can build up an even better profile of a user. So ultimately, via Vizimo, such publishers will own their own ad inventory which they can populate with highly targeted, contextual adverts, via Ochre,” added Simon Steward.

[ends]

About Gigafone
Gigafone, the mobile marketing solutions group, enables operators to monetise mobile marketing. It employs more than 100 mobile technology and marketing experts around the world with offices in Russia, Asia-Pacific and Europe. It is a member of the Mobile Marketing Association and an Associate Member of GSMA. For further information, visit www.gigafone.com.

Rich messaging service Palringo is one of nine launch partners announced today by mobile marketing solutions group Gigafone at the launch of its Ochre digital advertising solution. Palringo will provide targeted, profiled ad inventory to brands and their agencies via Ochre.

Ochre provides brands, agencies and mobile operators with a holistic and simplified view of the advertising ecosystem. The intention is for Ochre to tackle the market fragmentation which, to date, has largely prevented the development of effective and creative digital campaigns. The aim is to unify, into a single platform, the four major parts of the mobile advertising ecosystem: campaign creation, planning, distribution and result measurement.

Palringo’s role in the ecosystem is as a distribution mechanism. Kerry Ritz, Palringo’s CEO, said: “The location and profile information of the Palringo user base will enable Gigafone and its Ochre solution to provide content that our users will find both relevant and useful. Palringo inventory is a real alternative to the failed experiment of replicating the banner advertising of the web in the mobile environment.”

With demography requirements and purchasing characteristics changing on a campaign basis, Ochre has been designed to reduce the risk of mobile advertising. Advertisers can now switch delivery channels at the click of a button, making sure content-rich information gets to the right person at the right time. In turn this means consumers receive relevant and timely information about products that they are interested in, and advertisers can reduce wastage generated from blanket campaigns.

“Palringo has always been more than simply a messaging service; it has always been a marketing platform-in-waiting. During 2009 we expect to be making real progress towards targeted, contextual content,” added Kerry Ritz.

“We’ll design its insertion carefully so that our partners’ attractive marketing content is consumed, but we’ll also be ensuring that we don’t detract from the usability of the service. Usability is one of the reasons that Palringo has been successful to date,” said Ritz.

“The fact that content will be targeted will, if it changes anything, add to our users’ enjoyment of Palringo. This personalisation is why mobile is different: people will look at content if it’s engaging and interesting and relevant,” he concluded.

[ends]

About Gigafone
Gigafone, the mobile marketing solutions group, enables operators to monetise mobile marketing. It employs more than 100 mobile technology and marketing experts around the world with offices in Russia, Asia-Pacific and Europe. It is a member of the Mobile Marketing Association and an Associate Member of GSMA. For further information, visit www.gigafone.com.

About Palringo
Palringo makes instant messaging work on mobile. The service combines walkie-talkie style voice (vocal instant messaging), the real-time text chat functionality of instant messaging and the ability to share pictures, all within the context of a discussion. The service supports both one-on-one and group discussions, and enables real-time dialogue that can incorporate users from across the globe, on any mobile network or connected PC. Palringo supports connections to other popular instant messaging services. The application is available for free from www.palringo.com.

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.