Both Barrels Communications Ltd

Palringo, one of the most popular instant messaging applications for mobile phones, has added live location information to the latest version of its application – Palringo Local.

Accurate to the suburb or even street-level in a city, and to the closest named town in rural areas, Palringo users can opt to display their location alongside their status, for fun, personal, social, business or any other purpose.

Palringo Local goes live today for Microsoft® Windows Mobile® users, and will be delivered as an automatic update for existing users. Roll-out will follow for other popular mobile device operating systems – including Symbian OS™-based phones, Java™, BlackBerry® and iPhone™ – completing before the end of 2008. Palringo Local for desktop/laptop editions of the Microsoft Windows® operating system also goes live from today and will be automatically updated.

Palringo enables vocal instant messaging and picture messaging, as well as text-based instant messaging. Knowing the location of contacts adds further richness to the experience and brings benefits in all sorts of scenarios. For example, it may help simply when meeting a friend, or in more sophisticated ways such as assessing whether a conversation will be cheaper to conduct via Palringo than by phone, if to call someone will clearly cause them to incur roaming charges. Palringo is extremely cost-effective to use, even from abroad.

Kerry Ritz, Palringo’s CEO, said: “Since the dawn of the mobile phone era, we’ve all listened into or been part of mobile phone conversations in which the two parties have asked each other where they are – or, with SMS, spent a message establishing those facts. Now, people won’t need to do that; provided someone wishes to ‘show’, then the basic instinct to ‘know’, even if it doesn’t matter, is satisfied.”

“But there are also quite practical reasons for showing your location: if you’re part of a group all meeting in one place, like a sports team; or you want to know where your delivery drivers are without investing in expensive systems. Whatever your reason to show your location, now you can,” he explained.

Anyone using Palringo Local must specifically opt in to display their location; users can opt in and out at will. Even opted-in, users retain control over which contacts can see their location. Location may also be set manually.

The popular instant messaging services with which Palringo integrates are: AOL® Instant Messenger®, Google Talk™, Yahoo!® Messenger®, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ®, Jabber® and Windows Live. People can also use Palringo to contact their friends using iChat®, Apple’s IM application.

Palringo is free to download from www.palringo.com. There are no subscriptions or other hidden charges.

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Microsoft, Windows Mobile, Windows 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.

Links and resources

• Palringo Local screenshots
• Palringo press office
• Palringo website
• Video: Kerry Ritz describes Palringo

Notes to editors
To calculate location, Palringo Local uses a proprietary algorithm that picks up cell site (2G, 3G, etc) locations, Wi-Fi access points and other identifying signals. There is an element of triangulation in the calculations, but the algorithm makes a significant level of adjustment to identify the location accurately. The algorithm also ‘learns’ over time, through the addition of new location data that is added to the database.

About Palringo
Palringo makes instant messaging work on mobile. The Palringo service combines walkie-talkie style voice (vocal instant messaging) with the real-time text chat functionality of instant messaging and also enables picture-sharing within the context of a discussion. It 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. The Palringo service also supports connections to other popular instant messaging services. Palringo is a privately held company based in Newcastle, UK.

Vocal instant messaging now available for the iPhone

‘Push-to-talk’ — the voice equivalent of text messaging (SMS) — has come to the iPhone™ for the first time.

Promised as ‘soon’ when it launched its service for the iPhone on July 29, Palringo has added the vocal instant messaging functionality to its rich messaging application available from Apple’s App Store.

Kerry Ritz, CEO of Palringo, said: “We’ve completed the suite of ways in which people can communicate with each other using an iPhone, adding voice, text-based and picture instant messaging to the standard phone call, SMS and e-mail functionality of the phone. This functionality really adds value to the already-terrific iPhone experience.

“When we launched Palringo for the iPhone, we said that our vocal IM functionality would be added imminently. We’ve kept the promise we made to the thousands and thousands of iPhone users who downloaded Palringo and made us one of the most popular free applications from the App Store,” he added.

The concept of push-to-talk varies in popularity around the world. Currently, in the United States, both Verizon and Sprint are promoting their push-to-talk services as alternatives to each other. However, both of these options lock customers into both a specific device and a specific network.

Palringo does neither of these things, being entirely operator-independent and also working on almost every handset released in the last two years. Most recently the company added RIM’s BlackBerry platform to a list that already includes Windows Mobile, Symbian and Java-based devices from manufacturers including Nokia, Motorola, LG, Samsung, HTC, HP and Sony Ericsson.

“Some of the big carriers tout their PTT services, but they have the ‘carrier barrier’ limitation of locking their customers into their networks and only the handsets the carriers support,” Ritz said. “That sort of lock-in is a 20th century business model and it doesn’t wash with savvy mobile users today.”

Palringo integrates with several existing popular instant-messaging services: AOL’s AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Gadu Gadu, ICQ, Jabber and Windows Live Messenger. People can also use Palringo to contact their friends using iChat, Apple’s IM client.

Palringo for the iPhone is free and easy to download and install from Apple’s App Store. There are no hidden costs, catches or other charges.

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Apple, iPhone, and Apple Store are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States and other countries. All other product or service names mentioned in this announcement may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

iPhone owners can now download Palringo’s rich messaging service (RMS) application from Apple®’s new App Store. Palringo enables picture messaging, text-based messaging and, soon, vocal instant messaging over the iPhone’s data connection.

Palringo integrates with several existing, popular instant messaging services: AOL’s AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Gadu Gadu, ICQ, Jabber and Windows Live Messenger. People can also use Palringo to contact their friends using iChat, Apple’s instant messaging (IM) client.

Palringo offers two unique advantages to iPhone owners:

• people can stay connected to the most popular messaging services at the same time, without the need to switch between applications or use web-based messaging services
• in the current absence of MMS capabilities on the 3G iPhone, Palringo offers the ability to send and receive picture messages using the iPhone’s data connection

Palringo launches and connects within seconds, with a single screen-tap. Palringo then presents a person’s IM contacts in a single, combined, presence-aware list, whichever IM service their contacts are using. Sending a voice, picture or text-based message, whether to an individual or a group, are also single screen-tap operations.

Vocal IM, which is already available on all other Palringo-supported platforms, will be added in the second release of Palringo for the iPhone.

Kerry Ritz, Palringo’s CEO, said: “Just as Apple has changed people’s view of what it should be like to use a mobile phone, so Palringo aims to change the way people see messaging. Billions of people already use instant messaging on their home or work computers to communicate with each other. Palringo has added vocal instant messaging and picture messaging and has put IM on the iPhone – that’s a great combination.”

Using Palringo will barely make a dent in an iPhone customer’s data usage: just one megabyte is sufficient for Palringo to send/receive the equivalent of about 4,500 SMS messages, send/receive about 32 picture messages, or send/receive up to 15 minutes of vocal instant messages.

The service is available worldwide, which means conversations can incorporate people from across the globe, on any mobile network or connected PC or Mac. This makes it very attractive for multi-national corporate users or extended family use.

Palringo for the iPhone is free, and is easy to download and install from Apple’s new App Store. There are no hidden costs, catches or other charges.

As well as the iPhone – both the original and new models – Palringo works on almost all models of mobile phone released in the last two years – visit www.palringo.com.

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Apple, iPhone, and Apple Store are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States and other countries. All other product or service names mentioned in this announcement may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Additional links/resources

1. Screenshots: Palringo on the iPhone
2. Alternative picture: Kerry Ritz, Palringo CEO

Texting too expensive and just too basic says instant messaging expert, as EU prepares to act on prices

As Europe’s mobile firms hit the EU’s deadline yesterday to cut the cost of sending an SMS from abroad, mobile instant messaging company Palringo has urged people to kick the texting habit and move on to more flexible, more natural and cheaper ways to stay in touch while abroad.

“There are simply smarter alternatives,” argues 23 year old Martin Rosinski, Palringo’s founder and chief technology officer. “Rich messaging on mobiles offers vocal instant messaging, picture messaging and text-based messaging, making it a better option, and does so at a fraction of the price of texting – making it an even smarter option.”

“And many millions of people in the UK already use instant messaging [IM] on their home or work computer,” he said.

Rosinski cites simple facts to back up his point. Using Vodafone UK, sending and receiving data costs up to £5 per megabyte (MB) of data while travelling in the EU. One megabyte [1MB] is sufficient for Palringo to send and receive:

• around 100,000 words by text-based message. This approximates to roughly 4,500 SMS messages and means that, using Palringo, it costs about 0.11 PENCE to send the equivalent of an SMS message [at £5 per MB]
• up to 15 minutes of vocal instant messages. This is equivalent to about 33 pence per minute [at £5 per MB] – but means a personal, vocal instant message can be sent for just 5 pence
• about 32 picture messages using a typical cameraphone – i.e., just under 16 pence per picture [at £5 per MB]

By way of comparison, Vodafone UK’s standard charges to a customer using their phone within the EU are:

• 25 pence per text message
• 38 pence per minute to make a phone call and 19 pence per minute to receive a call
• 36 pence per MMS [picture] message PLUS the data charges

“So why stick to ordinary text messages?” asks Rosinski? “IM is a better way of messaging and it’s better value. You can indulge yourself and your friends in the luxury of a sending and receiving picture messages or vocal instant messages, for less, even when you’re abroad.”

Anyone using social networking sites such Facebook, MySpace or Bebo probably uses instant messaging. There are one and a half BILLION instant messaging accounts worldwide, almost 1 in 4 of the world’s population. Popular services include Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger, AOL’s Instant Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.

So while instant messaging isn’t itself new any more, what is new is that people can do it on their mobile phones – meaning they can, for example, keep down the costs of using their phone while on holiday in Spain, Greece or France – or even the USA – this summer.

Mobile instant messaging service Palringo works on almost all models of mobile phone sold in the last two years. Palringo is free, and is easy to download and install from www.palringo.com. There are no hidden costs, catches or other charges.

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All product or service names mentioned in this announcement may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Text, voice, and images can be sent as Instant Messages from the Blackberry® to users of many IM services

Palringo, a messaging service that extends to mobile devices all the powerful functionality of PC-based IM services, has released its software client for BlackBerry® smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM). Palringo’s Rich Messaging Service (RMS) is available for the BlackBerry® Pearl™, BlackBerry® Curve™ and BlackBerry® 8800 series smartphones.

BlackBerry smartphone users can now easily chat using voice and picture messages as well as traditional text. Further, they can do so with other users of many of the popular PC-based IM services – such as AOL’s AIM, Windows Live Messenger and Google Talk – through one, easy-to-use Palringo interface. Equally important, they can do so whether sitting at a computer, tapping with a smartphone or Pocket PC stylus, or using a Blackberry.

Palringo presents a user’s contacts from all services into a single, combined, presence-aware list, eliminating the need to continually switch between multiple IM tools. In addition, Palringo combines walkie-talkie style vocal instant messaging, the real-time text functionality of IM and the ability to share pictures, all within the context of one ‘threaded’ discussion.

Palringo lets the user set up an unlimited number of groups and send a voice, text, or picture message to all group members at once – a feature with obvious value for corporate as well as social use – such as fellow employees, project team members, alumni, sports team players. Neither does it limit recipients to simply those on the same wireless network.

Palringo does not charge at all, unlike other wireless-carrier-supplied text messaging services that charge for each recipient and in some cases per message. While a mobile data plan or Wi-Fi access is required to use Palringo, the service’s instant messages take up very small amounts of data, minimising costs.

Palringo’s service is also available worldwide, which means discussions can incorporate users from across the globe, on any mobile network or connected PC. This makes it very attractive for multi-national corporate users or extended family use.

“As users increasingly expect to take their applications with them wherever they go, they also expect to pack them into fewer devices,” said Kerry Ritz, CEO. “By putting our rich messaging service on the BlackBerry platform, we at Palringo increase messaging reach and depth for the greatest number of users. We also reduce the number of installed applications they need to have on their mobile device or PC.”

Palringo’s Rich Messaging Service for BlackBerry smartphones is available now for free download at www.palringo.com. The service is also compatible with Windows Mobile, Symbian and Java-based clients, including devices from Nokia, Motorola, LG, Samsung, HTC, HP and Sony Ericsson.

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Additional media resources

1. Palringo web site
2. Video: CEO discusses Palringo
3. Pictures: Palringo screenshots and executives
4. Palringo press office

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.

British company Palringo today brought multi-platform instant messaging to mobile phones for the first time. Palringo users can exchange not only text and picture messages but also vocal instant messages with users of seven other popular PC-based instant messaging services: AOL’s AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Gadu Gadu, ICQ, Jabber and Microsoft Windows Live Messenger. Palringo is the first independent vocal IM service available in Europe.

Until now, instant messaging on mobiles has been limited to support for a single IM service. The Palringo user simply sees a single, easy-to-use interface, eliminating the need to continually switch between multiple IM tools.

Palringo is led by seasoned executives experienced in bringing ground-breaking mobile products and services to market. These include Kerry Ritz, former president of Vonage UK and now CEO of Palringo.

“Today’s IM services are held captive within inoperable technology silos, offering limited cross-platform functionality – this is frustrating to users,” he said.“As people increasingly substitute their mobile devices for their desktop computers, they want to extend all of the rich functionality of PC-based services onto those devices; they certainly don’t want to be hindered by the operating system, network or wireless operator. In short, it’s all about messaging the way people communicate in real life – whether that’s through sending text, voice or picture messages,” he continued.

Palringo describes its service as a Rich Messaging Service – RMS – and says it’s the natural evolution of messaging. Kerry Ritz said: “Palringo is the first service to bring together the ability to exchange text, voice messages and pictures – together these elements constitute a rich messaging service. The experience will only get richer as we add more functionality and layers to what people can do – but we will always keep it stunningly simple to use.”

One and a half billion instant messaging accounts across the major platforms, worldwide, testify to the popularity of instant messaging. As a result of IM’s availability on mobile devices, Palringo foresees significant changes in mobile messaging behaviour.

Ritz said: “Firstly, instant messaging on mobiles is clearly going to be highly attractive to those who enjoy its rich functionality on desktops and laptops. Second, it will bring messaging choice to people who find SMS difficult for some reason or who just don’t like it. Thirdly there is an element of discovery: people who currently send text messages will quickly realise that Palringo is often a better, more convenient way to send a message on a mobile – people especially love the vocal IM functionality.”

Palringo has been piloting its service quietly and has made many improvements based on user feedback during this time. Already compatible with Windows Mobile, Symbian and Java-based devices, the company will soon introduce compatibility with Apple’s Mac OS and the popular iPhone. BlackBerry users will also be able to take advantage of Palringo’s Rich Messaging Service soon, as will Facebook users.

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Notes to editors

1. The service is compatible with Windows Mobile, Symbian and Java-based clients, including devices from Nokia, Motorola, LG, Samsung, HTC, Sony Ericsson and HP.
2. Palringo is free and easy to download and install and there are no hidden catches or other charges.
3. Users pay their mobile operator (GPRS/EDGE/3G) or service provider (Wi-Fi) only for the data used to send/receive messages.
4. All product or service names mentioned in this announcement may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Additional media resources

1. Palringo web site
2. Video: CEO discusses Palringo
3. Pictures: Palringo screenshots and executives
4. Palringo press office
   

About Palringo

Palringo makes instant messaging work on mobile. The service combines walkie-talkie style voice (vocal instant messaging) with the real-time text chat functionality of instant messaging and enriches communications further by offering the ability to share pictures 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. The application supports connections to other popular instant messaging services and enables mobile users to send voice and picture messages as well as text-based chat.

The application is available for free from www.palringo.com.