The Truphone Blog

New Twitter features added to Truphone for iPhone and iPod touch

Version 3.3 of our iPhone and iPod touch (2nd Gen) applications has just been released in the App Store, with some fantastic new Twitter add-ons to give all Twitterers an even better experience when using Twitter on Truphone.

The upgrade includes:

• Integration with yfrog and Twitpic, so you can post photos to your Twitter account
• Integration with bit.ly, so you can shorten links you want to tweet about
• Full Twitter search tools
• The ability to view direct messages as complete conversations
• The ability to follow and unfollow, and read the profiles of other Twitterers
• The ability to change your location, add map links and geotag tweets

This adds to the long list of great features already available, including free calls to Truphone, Skype and Google Talk users, and low cost international calling on the iPhone even if you aren't connected to Wi-Fi.

Upgrade now to take advantage of all the new features, or download if you don't have the application already, via one of the following.

Download Truphone v3.3

Download Truphone for iPod v3.3

iPod Touch is now also a phone

The 3 network in the UK has started selling an iPod Touch and a 3G Wi-Fi modem bundle (left, image courtesy of CNet). It’s on a £24 (about $40/26€) per month contract and you get the iPod Touch for free.

This provides iPod Touch with a constant Internet access and with some clever magic the almighty iPod can be easily turned into a (nearly) full-featured phone. And because iPod Touch will think it’s connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, rather than a 3G network, most of the applications that are currently restricted on 3G should work, including Truphone, BBC iPlayer and others. 

Only thing that’s missing on an iPod Touch is a microphone so if you’re not a fan of one-way communication, you can get one of the iPod Touch microphone adaptors from our shop. It’s only a few pounds and we’ll also give you an extra £5/$5 calling credit when you top up £5/$5.

If you haven't downloaded Truphone for the iPod Touch yet, why not download it now for free.

Truphone Mic Adaptor review

iAligator was nice enough to review our iPod Touch Mic Adaptor, in the video below.

For anyone with an iPod touch 2nd Generation wanting to make calls using Truphone, you can buy our low cost, great quality Truphone Microphone Adaptor from here.

Truphone OS 3.0 now available, with voicemail notification

With the recent, and much-anticipated launch yesterday of the iPhone OS 3.0 software, we are delighted to announce that a new, OS 3.0 compatible version of Truphone for the iPhone is now available.

'Truphone OS 3.0 for iPhone' uses the new push notification technology in iPhone OS 3.0 to provide Truphone users with a great new feature - Truphone Voicemail with Message Waiting Alerts.

Truphone Voicemail with Message Waiting Alerts allows you to receive a real-time alert whenever another Truphone user leaves a message on your Truphone voicemail, even if you don't have the Truphone application open on your iPhone.

Truphone Message Waiting Alerts gives you:

• On-screen Message Box - tells you who has called and left a message
• App Icon Notification - tells you how many messages you have waiting
• Real-time alerts - gives your callers confidence their message will reach you quickly

This new feature is completely free, as is receiving calls, and retrieving and listening to your voicemail message.

To personalise your Truphone Voicemail Welcome Message, or retrieve your waiting messages, dial 1571 from the Truphone keypad, or click on the Voicemail contact in TruFriends.

How do I get Truphone OS 3.0?

Truphone OS 3.0 is only compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, so you will need to upgrade to iPhone OS 3.0 first (find out more here).

For new users, once you have done this, you can get Truphone OS 3.0 from here for free.

For existing Truphone for the iPhone users, please follow these instructions:

• STEP 1 - Delete your current version of the Truphone application (touch and hold the Truphone application icon until all icons shake, then select the 'x' that appears on the Truphone icon) and restart the iPhone
• STEP 2 - Go to the App Store and install 'Truphone OS 3.0 for iPhone' (not 'Truphone OS 2.0 for iPhone'). Select 'Existing customer' and tap 'Go'. You may be prompted for your account details. If you can't remember your password, you can reset it here

Please note, if users don't upgrade to the iPhone OS 3.0 software, then there don't have to do anything. Truphone will continue working as normal. Users who upgrade to iPhone OS 3.0 but don't install Truphone OS 3.0 for the iPhone may experience some quality issues though.

What about Truphone for the iPod touch?

The latest Truphone for the iPod touch application (v3.0), which launched on May 31, is already compatible with the OS 3.0 software, so users who have downloaded or upgraded the app since May 31 will not be affected. Download the iPod Touch OS 3.0 compatible version here.

Truphone 3.0 launches on the iPod touch

Following hot on the heels of the launch of Truphone 3.0 for the iPhone, our iPod touch customers will be happy to find out that we have now launched Truphone 3.0 for the iPod touch (2nd Gen) as well.

The new version dramatically builds on the success of previous versions of the iPod application, enhancing the instant messaging and account management experience, making the application faster than ever before and delivering a new standard for call quality.

Among the many improvements in Truphone 3.0 are increased ease of use, speed of function response, intuitiveness and simplicity – all designed to enhance the user experience.

Voice quality has also greatly improved, making this app better than it’s ever been before.

Using Truphone’s integrated messaging tool that unifies all IM communities in a single place, users can now simply manage all their IM communication from a single page within the application, eliminating the need to constantly jockey between different applications or even different pages within an application. IM services currently supported include Skype, MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. 

“Following the successful launch of Truphone 3.0 for the iPhone we were keen to follow-up as quickly as possible for all our iPod touch customers. That’s what we’ve done to ensure that they can take advantage of all our new improvements: improved UI, account management and call quality. We believe Truphone 3.0 sets a new benchmark in terms of quality and performance”, said Geraldine Wilson, CEO Truphone. “With these improvements, we believe Truphone 3.0 is the best application to turn your iPod touch into a Wi-Fi phone and staying in touch with all of your IM communities.”

If you already have Truphone for the iPod touch, you can upgrade to Truphone 3.0 from within the App Store on your iPod.

New users can download Truphone for the iPod touch from here.

Don't forget, to make calls with Truphone for the iPod touch, you will need a headset with microphone, or a microphone adaptor. You can purchase the great quality (and great value!) Truphone Mic Adaptor here for just £9.99 plus postage ($14.99 plus postage for non-UK and non-EU residents). Every Adaptor pack comes with a special bonus too!

Truphone Microphone Adaptor for iPod touch now available

To start making free and low cost calls using Truphone for the iPod touch, you need a headset with microphone, or a microphone adaptor. If you don’t have one of these already, we have the answer - the Truphone Microphone Adaptor, designed for the 2nd Generation iPod touch.

The Truphone Microphone Adaptor is a simple device that works by plugging one end into the iPod touch, and the other end into your iPod headphones. It even comes with a button to answer calls and stop/start music. Find out more here.

It is available NOW for just £9.99 ($14.99 for non-UK and non-EU addresses) plus postage. Stocks are limited, so get in quickly before they run out, by buying now from our secure on-line site.

The Truphone Microphone Adaptor even comes with a special scratch card. By entering the scratch card code in the promotional field when you top up £5 credit on the Truphone website, we will give you another £5 call credit for FREE (for non-UK accounts, when you top up $5, we will give you another $5).

(you can download Truphone for the iPod touch for free from here)

AIM launches on Truphone's iPhone and iPod touch apps

We are excited to announce the launch of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), into the iPhone and iPod touch applications.

Now Truphone customers on both devices can reach their AIM friends via their AIM identity.

With the addition of AIM Truphone customers can now keep in touch with over 800 million addressable accounts for free.

The integration of this messaging service reinforces Truphone as the “all-in-one conversations hub” for iPhone and iPod touch users.

Truphone has already integrated Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger into its applications for these devices, blending a combination of voice and Instant Messaging across multiple IM platforms within one application.

“Our goal is for mobile phone users to be able to reach any contact in their address book or on their buddy list, in a low cost way, at any time, using just one application,” said Geraldine Wilson, Truphone CEO. “Today’s announcement means that Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users gain a great way to stay in touch with AIM users. We will continue to integrate further services and functionality, on other platforms too, giving people everything they need to stay in touch all within the Truphone application,” she stated.

Using Truphone to communicate with any of the supported IM services is free over the Internet. When not in Wi-Fi, Apple iPhone users can also make and receive calls and messages to and from Google Talk for the cost of a local call*, using the Truphone Anywhere feature.

You can download Truphone for the iPhone for free from here, and Truphone for the iPod touch for free from here.

 *Operator roaming charges will apply if users are abroad.

Instant Messaging and more announced at Macworld

We have been at Macworld (stand 3228 if you are there too) for a few days now, and were very excited to announce some rather exciting new features to our iPod touch and iPhone apps.

As you may have heard already, we have just launched Instant Messaging on the Truphone for the iPod touch app, meaning users can now have two-way IM conversations with MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk users. You can also now make and receive Google Talk calls, with the call functionality for MSN Messenger to be added in the coming weeks.

IM and Google Talk calling will also appear in the Truphone for the iPhone app from the week commencing January 12.

As well as IM, we have launched Twitter on the iPhone app, meaning that you can now tweet, and follow what your Twitter contacts are tweeting about, from your phone!

But on top of these new features, we announced something that seems to have generated a real buzz on-line.

And that is the announcement that very shortly we will be launching Skype calling and IM on both the iPhone and the iPod touch apps. This means that you will be able to use Truphone to make and receive Skype calls and instant message. 

All of these new features move Truphone closer to being what we like to call an 'all in one conversations hub', and allow you to have the freedom to speak with all of your contacts from within the one application.

We are very excited about every one of these new features, and can't wait to hear what you think of them.

If you have an iPhone or 2nd Generation iPod touch, and don't yet have Truphone, you can download them for free from iTunes. Download the iPhone app here, or the iPod touch app here.

Call landlines and mobile phones with your iPod touch

The blogosphere and the news world have been buzzing about the release of Truphone for the iPod touch.

To keep the excitement going, today we have launched a brand new feature.

2nd generation iPod touch users can now make cheap international calls* to any landline or mobile phone around the world, when in Wi-Fi.

This new feature means that not only can you keep in contact with other Truphone users, but anyone you like.

If you haven't downloaded the app yet, you can do so now for free at iTunes.

There will be more new features coming very soon to Truphone for the iPod touch, so stay tuned!

*Truphone for the iPod touch does not yet enable you to receive calls for landlines or mobile phones

Turn your iPod touch into a phone

Described by Apple itself as the ‘funnest’ iPod ever, the iPod touch may now be the ‘useful-est’ too thanks to the release of Truphone for the iPod touch, which effectively turns one into a mobile phone.

The application is free to both download and use, just in time to save precious cash when making those Christmas calls to friends and family.

Once installed, and with the addition of microphone adaptor (which you can get from the Apple Store, or from us very shortly), an iPod touch owner can make free calls - no matter where they are in the world - to other iPod touch owners, to customers of Truphone’s Internet telephony service, and to users of the Google Talk™ instant messaging service.

Truphone for the iPod touch will become a one-stop-shop social hub with the following features coming soon:

·        Making and receiving calls to and from landlines (PSTN) at low cost (simply set yourself up with a Truphone account)

·        Instant messaging to Skype and MSN (free)

·        Calling to Skype users (free)

·        Calling to MSN users (free)

·        Check and set facilities for Twitter (free)

·        Check and set facilities for Facebook (free)

Truphone for iPod touch is easily downloaded from Apple’s App Store in exactly the same way as any other iPod touch application.

The application uses the iPod touch's Wi-Fi connection to carry calls over the Internet to its destination. There is no monthly line rental, no subscription or other hidden charges.

So, what type of calls can you make?

·        iPod touch to iPod touch

·        iPod touch to Truphone (some Nokia handsets)

·        Truphone (some Nokia handsets plus iPhone) to iPod touch

·        iPod touch to Google Talk PC user

And what do you need, to make these calls?

·        A second generation iPod touch (i.e. current model)

·        A headset and microphone like those for the iPhone.  These may be bought at high street electronics retailers or from an Apple Store

·        Friends also using Truphone!

So, if you want to start impressing people by calling them without using a 'real phone', why not download Truphone for the iPod touch now. We look forward to hearing what you think of it.