AOL to Enter the VoIP Ring 93
FiveDollarYoBet writes "Looks like AOL is entering the VOIP racket. The service is free but it's really a Skype clone with a copper local number. They're also going to offer an unlimited version for $14.95 a month but you have to make the calls from your computer. It'll be interesting to see if it's more of a IM live chat or a true VoIP. The article also outlines their plans to take on MySpace in the near future."
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:1)
MODS (Score:2)
I don't like POV summaries. (Score:2, Informative)
Of course, then again, I'm a Wikipedia Editor.
And, of course, I need more negative karma.
I can hear it now (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I can hear it now (Score:3, Insightful)
Based on this [slashdot.org] article from earlier today, I would think it'd be more like "You've Got Wiretap!"
Ya! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Ya! (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm old enough to remember the days when Compuserve (before being bought by AOL) had real TCP/IP that allowed Minix users to connect over a modem while AOL had some hacked up custom protocol that worked by replacing all network related apps on windows.
Look who's still around...
That's Marketting with a capital M
or maybe just lazy/ignorant users.
OT: Re:Ya! (Score:3, Interesting)
As a former employee of CompuServe which was absorbed by AOL, I think I should weigh in on this issue. CompuServe is still around in
Re:Ya! (Score:3, Interesting)
Never underestimate the stupidity of your average netizen. There are people I get calls from where I am left wondering how the fuck they are sufficiently intelligent to succesfully sign up for the service, or how their much smarter friend
Re:Ya! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's also the reason we have to put up with the concerted effort to take over your browser, spam your inbox, ect. People actually buy shit from random pop-ups and emails. AOL will happily promise to shield you from all the "hackers" for a fee. From what I can tell, (I'm not from the US), they are basically aimed at people who (for whatever reason) cannot use a browser for more than five minutes without calling a help desk.
If AOL suddenly had a change of heart and tried to educate their users about "the tricks of the trade" they would loose their (sizable) section of the market, it is in their interest to "help" their users and at the same time treat them as mushrooms.
"The average net use cannot figure it out in 15 minutes."
I agree. Whatever your opinion of AOL, there are plenty of people who are willing to pay for someone else to "work it out" for them Many of them don't want educating, they want a device like a preset home theater where they only have a few buttons to remeber to get what they want. Push the wrong buttons (like 'mute' or 'AV3') and they simply call in a TV repairman (or pester a relative) to "fix it".
"People are fucking stupid."
I don't see that behaviour as automatically stupid, sometimes it is just willfull ignorance. All through the 80's I repaired my own cars and bikes, now my car looks like a dishwasher under the hood and tells the mechanic how badly I have neglected it (error codes). I have a good enough idea of how my car works to spot bullshit, but spare me the details, what's it going to cost and how long will it take?
OTOH: Browse at -1 to see the stupidity of people on the net. While doing so remeber the 'netizens' who created the often nonsensical, bottom-dwelling posts were at least smart enough to work out how to post them.
Re:Ya! (Score:1)
I used to live next door to an oldish lady who had (for reasons I don't pretend to understand) about 8 VCRs in her living room, along with a slightly larger number of remote controls. I was endlessly getting called in to help her because, "My video doesn't work". Every time I'd find she'd been fiddling with the cables and had muddled up the remotes. I'd wire up just one VCR to her telly
Re:Ya! (Score:2)
Re:Ya! (Score:2)
Re:Ya! (Score:5, Interesting)
> to get absolutely free and legal! Pity time and warner.
According to TFA you get an inbound phone number with this sucker, for free. That's kind-of spiffy, that's almost worth running AIM. Think about it, your stuck at an airport abroad but you have your laptop and WiFI. You need to contact your non-technical person so you hit the website and msg their mobile, and boom "you've got a phone call".
Now color me ignorant, but show me another service that would permit free incomming calls without a monthly fee.
Re:Ya! (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.gizmoproject.com/ [gizmoproject.com] has a nice softphone application which, from looking at the Mac OS X 2.0 test version, will soon allow you to set it up for 3rd party SIP services. There are other softphone apps out there, but Gizmo's is the nicest cross-platform one IMO.
Re:Ya! (Score:2)
http://www.gizmoproject.com/ [gizmoproject.com] has a nice softphone application which, from looking at the Mac OS X 2.0 test version, will soon allow you to set it up for 3rd party SIP services. There are other softphone apps out there, but Gizmo's is the nicest cross-platform one IMO.
Looks like gizmo is $3.00/month for inbound calls. Not a bad deal.
The "sipgate" is saying "Customers who sign up with sipgate for g
Re:Ya! (Score:1, Interesting)
Yeah, Gizmo charges. What i was saying is that Gizmo makes the nicest softphone application. At the moment it's hardcoded to use Gizmo accounts, but the 2.0 version that's currently in testing (for Mac OS X) seems to support 3rd party SIP/IAX providers.
Since Sipgate only providers Windows software once the 2.0 release of Gizmo is out they'll be a consistent softphone out for Windows/Linux/Mac that'll work with any SIP provider.
> The
Re:Ya! (Score:2)
I was unaware of these options, and I thank you for sharing them. I might even take the time to sign up for one as a UK number "may" be handy for dealing with people in the UK. However, I presume what AOL is offering is a US based number. That would be "so" ultra handy for someone like my self in North Americ
Re:Ya! (Score:2)
www.voipuser.org
Infact, pretty much all of the SIPPSTN gateways do freebee DDIs.
Re:Ya! (Score:2)
I said "airport abroad". Cellphones are ultra handy, when they work. Mine did not in Monterey. But WiFi did.
Re:Ya! (Score:1)
That would be awsome... But in my location (Comer Georgia USA) I only have one option for land line phone service (AllTel). And only one option for high speed internet (AllTel DSL). In order to get the DSL, I must also buy the local phone service. Even if I had AOL this would still cost me out the ass.
Local Phone: $35.00
DSL: $29.95
AOL: $X
AOL VoIP: $14.95
-------------
Total: $79.90 + X
Re:Ya! (Score:1)
Strangely enough, this does not dissuade millions of people of going with the clones instead of the real deal.
Re:Ya! (Score:5, Interesting)
Why don't they do the same in the US ?
In France having a lot of stuff included is the norm for ADSL offerings and I know the US lags a bit because of the low population density, but adding a handset to a modem isn't that hard. Or do they target dialup users ?
And for 6.90€ extra, you can change the colour of the modem! Yay!
The ISP that typically sets the trend for bundling gadgets here is "Free". Currently their ADSL2+ offering comes with a kit consisting of the ADSL2+ modem with 1 USB port, 5 Ethernet ports, a WiFi Mimo interface, a phone interface. Then there is the multimedia hub with the TV tuners (including HD), a terrestrial digital tuner, a number of connectors (SCART, etc, including HDMI, S/P DIF), WiFi link to the ADSL modem and a remote. All of this is actually Linux based
You can also stream your computer's content to your TV on your LAN through VLC via the multimedia hub.
The kit comes with the TV (through ADSL in a VLC like stream), free phone and ADSL2+ for 30€ per month.
Why anybody would pick AOL over something like that is beyond me...
Re:Ya! (Score:2)
So free phone calls from mobile to land line.
Now if you live in Paris, where many users have Free, the VoIP grid is getting big and you get you don't get to pay your landline phone calls (almost) wherever you are.
AOL France and DSL (Score:1)
The AOL Box is a key part of the service in France. The broadband market in France is sufficiently differen
Re:Ya! (Score:3, Insightful)
How is this different to almost any other consumer-level paid-for thing in computing? Lets see:
1. SkypeOut is a single closed service with vendor lockin. There are hundreds of SIP->PSTN gateways out there where you are *not* locked in and can get a better deal. However, many people still use Skype because of marketting and lazyness. I was talking to someone (who is Pro-open-stan
Re:Ya! (Score:2)
1. SkypeOut is a single closed service with vendor lockin. There are hundreds of SIP->PSTN gateways out there where you are *not* locked in and can get a better deal. However, many people still use Skype because of marketting and lazyness. I was talking to someone (who is Pro-open-standards) the other day who was telling his parents to use SkypeOut rather than a SIP service - the reasonsing was that because Skype is locked into a single vendor it's easier than deciding which vendor to use and e
Re:Ya! (Score:2)
What makes you say that? I can see no evidence that the parent poster knows anyone on Skype. Infact the parent doesn't mention *anything* about Skype at all.
If they were using a SIP service, they would not be able to call those people, or indeed the millions of other people using Skype.
And indeed noone on Skype can call people using SIP. I'm not sure what your point is here, you seem to be arguing against a statement I didn't make
Already? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Already? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Already? (Score:1)
When I started using SIPPhone, voice on Yahoo IM was still pretty unusable (YIM 4.? - 5, IIRC). That made a substantial jump in quality in 6, but that w
Triton (Score:4, Insightful)
I can't imagine that AOL would make this a standalone product.
So it will be ad supported, one way or another, if for no other reason than AIM already has ads built in.
TANSTAAFL, unless you block the ads, which the vast majority of the user base has no clue how to do.
Re:Triton (Score:1)
Re:Triton (Score:1)
Whut? Whut? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Whut? Whut? (Score:1)
Decent headstart to compete against MySpace (Score:3, Insightful)
Whether a service like that will get them anywhere near as big as MySpace is anyone's guess, but it would definately take advantage of both the current concern over MySpace's complete openness and AOL's current image. Plus, if the government really does require sites like MySpace to raise their minimum age to 18 and enforce age verification, there will be an entirely new market (12-17 year olds) for a kid-friendly MySpace, one that AOL could fill quite well for the reasons stated above.
Re:Decent headstart to compete against MySpace (Score:2, Insightful)
"Skype clone"? (Score:2)
I can see it now... (Score:3, Insightful)
well DUH (Score:3, Insightful)
You could say that about more or less ANY VoIP-system.
Skype does VoIP, so any VoIP-system is bound to be more or less a clone of it.
duh
Re:well DUH (Score:3, Insightful)
Skype does VoIP, so any VoIP-system is bound to be more or less a clone of it.
Actually, I'd say that Skype is the clone - SIP and H.323 have been around a lot longer than Skype. The only reason Skype have succeeded is marketting - open protocols have been doing the same job years before Skype came along, Skype just marketted their closed clone to the general public.
Skype NAT Traversal was superior tech feature (Score:2)
The closed protocol
Re:Skype NAT Traversal was superior tech feature (Score:2)
Anything that can use STUN (almost all SIP clients) will traverse (most) NATs. However, there are rare situations where the NAT cannot be traversed and Skype works around this by proxying your traffic through random othe
Its a good thing its Unlimited (Score:4, Funny)
Will this really change anything? (Score:1)
Re:Will this really change anything? (Score:1)
VOIP is a racket? (Score:2)
Re:VOIP is a racket? (Score:1)
Re:VOIP is a racket? (Score:1)
They simply have their own VoIP networks, and put a plug for any regular POTS phone on the router box.
And if you need an extension on each floor of your house for "emergency" purposes, then what?
except you can't use a modem or a fax on the line
For people who rely on fax, do the telcos offer an add-on fax service?
Re:VOIP is a racket? (Score:1)
You use DECT phones (and pray power doesn't fail), or you stick with real POTS lines. Anyway, I don't see the difference with the VoIP-in-computer approach: both have the same problems wrt reliability ; but the integrated VoIP approach it a lot easier for the end user.
It ain't perfect, but communications don't come much cheaper than free...
For people who rely on fax, do the telcos offer an add-on fax service?
Pay extra for fax-email gateways? (Score:1)
The ADSL providers target private individuals who don't need a fax, not businesses
O rly? I've seen advertisements for "business DSL" service [google.com] with service levels for home offices and small businesses.
And e-mail is a lot better than fax anyway <geek smirking>
Unless you need to interoperate with businesses that use the legacy fax system. Then you have to pay extra for a fax-email gateway. I was hoping that VOIP phone companies would offer such a gateway at a discount to their subscribers.
Re:Pay extra for fax-email gateways? (Score:1)
My bad ; what I really meant whas that the ADSL providers who target individuals expect them not to care for fax. And it is this subset of providers which actually offers unlimited free communications to some foreign countries, including the USA. I have no doubt that there's other kinds of offers (maybe including unlimited calls) made to businesses, but they're not comparable to the AOL of
Overuse of fighting metaphors? (Score:3, Interesting)
What about protocol ? (Score:1)
Re:What about protocol ? (Score:1)
I am less concerned about AOL/Skype/etc. proprietary systems and what they could do with information that they glean from my use, than I am about the FCC and the US Government. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/ DOC-265221A1.pdf [fcc.gov]
As technology has proven over the last few years, eventually an open-source solution will exist
Haven't I seen this somewhere before (Score:2)
SIP? (Score:2)
Re:SIP? (Score:1)
Re:SIP? (Score:2)
Another thing is there's a lot of hardware out there right now that supports SIP and allows you to use a regular phone for VoIP, so I'm curious if AOL's service will require you to be strapped to your computer or purchase their proprietary hardware (i.e. Skype) or would they actually be "nice" and use a well-suppor
Re:SIP? (Score:1)
"Still, it's the first offer of a free number. To get a number that can be called on Skype costs about $4 a month."
The $4/month is a comparison (free AOL tel # vs $4/mo Skype tel #). AFAIK there's no $4 Skype-compatible product. I'm fairly certain that AOL's using SIP, given that their previous VoIP effort used Level 3 as infrastructure.
Road Runner VOIP VS AOL VOIP (Score:2)
Time Warner owns AOL and AOL offers VOIP for $14.95.
As if we couldn't already figure out why the AOL Time Warner marrage didn't work out, the are apparently under cutting their own product.
Re:Road Runner VOIP VS AOL VOIP (Score:1)
This defines the lowest common denominator (Score:2)
God bless low the quality that the average American demands and respects.
Yet another proprietary VoIP solution (Score:4, Insightful)
It saddens me that VoIP is going the way that IM went. I want something that will interoperate with everything else --including the traditional telephone network -- transparently. I don't want to have to care whether the person I'm calling uses Skype, or AOL, or Google Talk, or whatever. I just want to pick up my phone (software or hardware) and call them, like I can on the traditional phone network. Why does every new technology seem to degenerate into a mess of competing and deliberately un-interoperable implementations? How long will it be before the hacks of the IM world are repeated, and we end up patching up this mess with complicated multi-protocol client software?
Re:Yet another proprietary VoIP solution (Score:2)
If we were starting from scratch then yes, I'd say that XMPP is the right place to put VoIP (and many other private communication methods such as email). However, we're not starting from scratch - SIP has a lot of weight behind it and as the dominant and industry standard protocol it's not going away and things like Jingle just seem
Re:Yet another proprietary VoIP solution (Score:2)
Well, not entirely true - on the traditional PSTN you have to know that people use the PSTN and not something like Google Talk. But the PSTN is so ubiquitous that
Re:Yet another proprietary VoIP solution (Score:1)
Cold Calling on Voip is pretty close then (Score:2, Interesting)
Conflict of interests (Score:1)
I know it's been said before, but it's still shocking that it isn't seen as the main issue. Seriously, I don't give a shit about the quality of the service compared to Skype. If Toyota started selling petrol, the issue wouldn't be the quality of the petrol, it'd be "OMG TOYOTA IS SELLING PETROL". This is little different. Similarly, if Hitachi created its own TV channel, I wouldn't be asking how good the programs were, I'd be mentally noting not to buy any Hitach
Taking on MySpace using paranoia (Score:3, Interesting)
My bet is that "taking on MySpace" means a huge marketing campaign to 'warn' parents of the supposed 'dangers' of MySpace and how their expensive & restrictive system will be so much safer. Thereby getting the parents to force teenagers and such to switch.
If AOL are lucky they may even be able to get the parents to pay a monthly fee to switch and 'ensure' their childs safety. Such is the paranoia spread by the mainstream media these days.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Taking on MySpace using paranoia (Score:1)
At least they're original. (Score:1)
So basically they're offering VOIP (like MSN/WLM) and linking blog updates to your IM profile (like MSN/WLM). IT'S MAGIC!
VoIP humor (Score:1)
You've equipped the Ring of VoIP.
What kind of stats would it have? Mind Reading?
Don't knock it till you try it. (Score:2)
well... (Score:1)
Great! (Score:1)
This is a perfect excuse to add more boot-time background processes to provide users with an even slower, more popup-and-reminder-filled computing experience!
Re:Great! (Score:1)
(un) restricted ?? (Score:1)
Re:(un) restricted ?? (Score:1)
None of these guys support Canada! Who does? (Score:2)
What software VoIP services do offer Canadian phone numbers?
Typical AOL Style (Score:1)
"Goodbye!" (Score:1)