Tag Archive for Skype

Here’s a rival to Skype called Tox. Its makers say it’s completely secure from prying eyes

Posted on September 6, 2014 by

new Instant Messaging service

The Edward Snowden after-effects continue to affect our Online lives. Many of you may have not heard of the web forum, ‘4chan’. After Snowden’s damaging revelations, this forum’s tech cell decided it needed to develop a more secure alternative to the video conferencing platform Skype, now owned by Microsoft, which would be far away from the prying eyes of surveillance programs like those of the National Security Agency of the United States. And so was born, Tox.

Apparently, these guys started off by posting their idea in a chat room, later creating an account on the code hosting, & in collaboration with GitHub, began uploading the code, & that’s how Tox came to life.

Tox claims to be an instant messaging service, a video conferencing service & “much more”. It is built on a “privacy goes first” agenda, & offers leading-class encryption.”Your safety is our top priority, and there isn’t anything in the world that will change that,”is one of its mottos.

Unlike other secure messaging solutions, Tox does not require you to be a computer programmer to use it. Tox comes out-of-the-box with an easy-to-use interface that allows you to focus on your conversations.

What makes this new Instant Messaging platform even more interesting is that it is not only free to use, but users can even change or modify it. Furthermore, these guys have assured everyone that they will “never harass you with ads, or require you to pay for features.”

Tox is part of a widespread effort to create secure Online communications. So, if you are the types who guards his Online privacy like a dog would guard a bone, & who hates the very idea of government agencies snooping around his Online communications, perhaps Tox is for you.

Image Credit: Tox

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Comments Off on Here’s a rival to Skype called Tox. Its makers say it’s completely secure from prying eyes Posted in Internet Startups, New Internet Startups

Web not required to make int.calls. Ringo is here, claims to be even cheaper than Skype

Posted on May 22, 2014 by

Who needs the Internet? This app does not require a Web connection for users to make international calls. Ringo is an international calling app for iOS, Android & Windows Phone devices, launched a couple of days ago.

Whether you are a business user, an international traveler, or simply living abroad, Ringo claims to provide you with “affordable & easy to use” call service. It says it offers landline call quality at a fraction of the cost when compared to traditional long distance calling and VoIP services.

Ringo, HQd in the UAE, does not use the Internet, Wifi or data. Making a call using the Ringo app is identical to making a call through a wireless carrier in terms of quality, yet costs lower than even popular calling apps, & significantly lower (up to 1/10th) than traditional carrier prices, claim its developers.

The free Ringo app routes calls in a similar fashion to a regular carrier, without using the Internet, & the origination number continues to appear as the caller ID.It uses the regular phone circuits used for regular calls. This means calls are not affected by fluctuations in Internet connectivity that often lead to audio delays, loss of quality & dropped calls.

“Staying connected with colleagues and friends abroad should be convenient, reliable & most importantly, low-cost,” said Bhavin Turakhia, CEO of Ringo.

For those who want to understand how this app works out to be so cheap, here’s a slightly techie explanation:

Ringo uses dedicated phone circuits for all its calls. An incoming call to its “switches” are carried over the same voice circuit used to make local calls. Once your call reaches the switches, Ringo does not transmit the international call from one country to another over the public internet. Instead, the app employs the same high speed submarine cables that are used for all carrier to carrier international voice traffic to transmit the voice to the destination country. Finally in the destination country, the call is connected once again over the same voice circuit that is used for regular phone calls.

Additionally, Ringo will launch with an 80% discount on calling rates to United States mobile phones. Ringo will offer an unprecedented rate of $0.003 per minute to US mobile phones, which is 90 % cheaper than popular calling apps.

At launch, Ringo will be available to users in the following 16 countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom & the United States.

Here’s a video explaning how the app works:

 

Image Credit: Ringo
Video Credit: YouTube/Ringo

 

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Comments Off on Web not required to make int.calls. Ringo is here, claims to be even cheaper than Skype Posted in Android Apps, Android devices, iOS app, New Smartphone Apps, Smartphone Apps, Windows 8 apps
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