Both Nokia E Series and N Series Wi-Fi Enabled Phones Tested, Showing Not Only Voice but IM, Video and Conference Calling.

Barablu, the free calls community, demonstrated the world's first free calls between several Symbian Series 60 based Nokia GSM mobiles and Microsoft Windows Mobile based GSM mobiles. Barablu's announcement extends VoIP interoperability to two of the largest and fastest growing categories of Wi-Fi enabled mobiles. Using its small footprint download, Barablu also enables IM sessions, video calls and conference calling all for free within the Barablu community.

Any Barablu enabled device (PC, PDA or Mobile) can also be used to make Barablu Out calls outside of the Barablu network at rates competitive to Skype.

The company believes that the benefits of interoperability, mobility and presence awareness will drive greater traffic to the network that first offers it as a complete package. The combination of free mobile-to-mobile cross-platform calls, free chat, and a unique PC-to-mobile instant messaging service, delivers Barablu a substantial competitive advantage. Barablu plans to drive growth by strategically linking with Wi-Fi network providers, manufacturers, mobile operators and PC and IP phone[1] manufacturers to offer more choice, therefore appealing to the widest audience.

Barablu CEO, Pascal Isbell, says "Millions of people globally now benefit from free PC-to-PC calls via VoIP. Now they want to add mobility to this facility. Barablu is the first company to provide consumers with this technology interoperably in the mobile arena by offering free mobile-to-mobile cross-platform calls, utilising VoIP, via a Wi-FI standard."

Getting Started

Download the dialler from www.barablu.com on your mobile and register your username and password to start making calls.

Add all your usual contacts using the 'Search Contacts' function and call them from wherever and whenever on their PC, mobile or IP phone. If they are busy on another call or are not online, your call can be diverted to voice mail; which is also free if leaving a message for another Barablu user. Receiving incoming calls is equally easy; an alert box will appear on your mobile screen, simply click 'Yes' to pick up the call and 'No' to reject.

Barablu Chat

With Barablu Chat you can chat in real-time with any other Barablu user whether via PC or mobile phone. It is the first service to bring Instant Messaging directly to a mobile phone.

Making Wi-Fi Enabled Mobile Calls Outside of the Barablu Network

Barablu users can make reduced-rate calls outside the network using Barablu Out. Signing up is free and a EUR10 credit allows you to start making Barablu Out calls. Rates are as low as 1c a minute, to the UK, US and many parts of Europe.

Receiving Calls on a Wi-Fi Enabled Mobile From Outside of the Barablu Network

To receive calls you need to set up MyNumber - a local number that you can be contacted on. You pay only EUR2/month to start receiving calls for free.

[1] IP phones are an alternative to mobiles phones and utilise SIM cards to access the GSM network. IP telephony enables data and video to be routed via a single cable over a LAN, WAN or Internet Voice over IP.

About VoIP

VoIP means Voice over Internet Protocol and is a technology for transmitting ordinary telephone calls over the internet using packet-linked routes. It is also called IP telephony. VoIP is quite simply a way of utilising the internet for telephone conversations. The primary motivations for doing so are cost and convenience as VoIP is significantly less expensive than typical telephone long distance packages. VoIP also offers the advantage of allowing one high speed internet connection to serve multiple phone lines. You can use VoIP to make and receive calls using your ethernet broadband Internet connection. The sound quality of calls is just as high as a call made from an ordinary phone.

About Barablu

Established in 2005, Barablu is based in the Docklands, in London, UK. It was the first company to offer free mobile to mobile (Wi-Fi enabled) calls using VoIP technology over Wireless LAN and also offers free calls from IP phones and PCs along with instant messaging on mobiles and PCs.