Free Pc to Phone Calls, Free Voip Calls to India International !

Line Naver Application : Free Calls and Messaging App Review

Though I am writing this post, but I feel like "Why have we not discussed about Line Naver App before". Its one app which we were looking for so long and should have been shared on this blog long back. Better late than never. We are talking about the Line Naver Application (Free Calls and Messaging application available across multiple platforms). If I would have to explain in one line, then Line Naver App is perfect alternative to both Viber and Whatsapp.

Line is a multi platform messenger application by a Japanese company called Naver. This app is highly popular in Asian countries (specially in Japan). As per them, Line Messenger is most downloaded app in over 40 countries and has its presence in over 230 countries worldwide.

The app is currently available for iOS, Android, Mac, Blackberry, Windows 8 and PC. Viber not being on PC is highly disappointing and Line has done great job here (will be liked by many). Talking about its feature which are endless and combination of both Viber and Whatsapp. Something I would say much closer to WeChat messenger application.

Line Naver App Feature Set

- Free Calls : LINE supports free calls on iPhone & Android. If you use other devices which are not supported by LINE's voice call feature, you can use LINE from the PC to make those calls. If you want to make free calls from the PC version, please update both the PC and smartphone versions.

So yes Pc to Phone Calling is possible.

- Text, Voice and Video Messages : You can even send photos, videos, voice and location info (which is similar to whapstapp).

- Online Stickers : Its not just emoticons but stickers as well. The Sticker Shop features everything
from original LINE characters to famous ones. With so many sticker-sets to choose from,
you won't know which one to pick! These say more than words.

- Games : This is something not in viber or whatsapp or WeChat. Play games together with your real LINE friends.

- Group Messaging, Friends Selection and Wallpapers are some of the other cool features.

- Availability : It may not be a feature for many but the thing is this factor is highly important. Most of the times what happens is that app is available only for iOS and Android so rest of your blackberry and non smartphone friends end up not using the app and stay disconnected from the group.
Line Naver is available for all the platforms (be it iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile or even PC0 which is indeed great.

Strange but many of my friends don't use this application so it may not be very useful for me. Or probably I will have to invite all my friends to this new app. Because at the end of the day if the app is popular in your social circle, you will use it otherwise you will have to say bye bye to this.

India Telecom Call Rates Hike : Time to use Voip

Bad news for our Indian blog readers, Bharti Airtel and Idea have increased their call rates charges effective immediately. Infact they have hiked the call charges by almost 100%, that it double than what you are currently paying. And please note that Airtel and Idea are not the only ones, almost all other telecom providers aka Vodafone, Reliance are likely to follow and increase their call charges.

As per the information we have got so far, Bharti Airtel has doubled its call rates from Re 1 per minute to Rs 2 minute per minute, whereas Idea has hiked from 1.2 paise per second to 2 paise per second. Also you will no longer see those free minutes promotion by these telecom companies.
It is also expected that the promotional plans which are used to lower call charges (like Rs 100 to get it to 1 paisa per second etc etc..) will be discontinued or will also see significant hike.

Everything in India has seen price hike in recent three four years, however call charges were continuously dropping. This led to financial problems for this industry and thus the price hike. Please note that telecom companies have already increased the price for data usage. Airtel revised its 1GB 2G data plan from Rs 100 to Rs 125. Vodafone too has made changes to its data plans.

Please check with the customer care about the current call charges you are paying (as the prices are currently increased in some areas, but will be extended to other areas soon).

Now what does that means. An increase in phone bills ?
Well if you are following Free PC to Phone Calls Blog, then the answer is No. You will have to follow our posts regularly and you can use voip even for your local calls.

- Use Viber, WeChat and other applications for making calls and sending sms to other smartphone users.
- Use Voip application or calling cards (Phone to Phone Calls or PC to Phone Calls) even to call India locally.

It is well known that the voip call rates to India is about 1 cent per minute (or 2 cent per minute on higher side for almost all voip providers). This equals to 50 paisa per minutes (even less than 1 paisa per second). So, your normal telecom charges you four times of what you will get if you use voip.

Did you got a chance to look at the our posts where we have compared call charges to India for all the voip providers.

WeChat Features : Drift Bottle, Shake, Look Around, WebGrab Explained

WeChat is certainly creating lot of buzz around. Even if you have not tried WeChatApp, still I am sure you must have seen its advertisements on facebook. Lot of my friends have started using wechat on their smartphones and kinda liking this app over Whatsapp and Viber. We have also posted one review about the WeChat application, and it was liked by many of our blog readers.

Many people have asked us if their is something unique about this new application that they should make a switch to this app. Why is it creating buzz in social media. Is it coupled with facebook or has any social media features. Well the answers is yes, as we posted in our earlier posts about WeChat. There are these four kind of unique and interesting features, which you should be aware of. Lets talk about them in detail.

WeChat Look Around Feature

Your smartphone has GPS and WeChat take advantage of this GPS to get your coordinates. It then looks upon the coordinates of other WeChat people and tries to find the people close to you. So its simple one click to find other WeChat users around you. You can use this feature to find strangers around you and vice versa (that is allow them to find you). So use this feature with care.
You can enable/disable it from privacy settings. Nonetheless, it seems pretty good feature.

Say I went to a holiday, and want to know if any of my friend is also there (nearby), then simply use this feature !! If used in a positive way, this can be a great feature.

WeChat Shake Feature

I am not a big fan of this feature, but surely it is catching attention. This feature lets you find people (anywhere in the world) who are also shaking their phones at the same time. Then you two can connect to each other. Logic behind this is two people doing the same task at the same time. Interesting, may be ..

WeChat Drift Bottle Feature

This is again one unique feature. You have some message that you would like to share with anyone. You pack that message in a drift bottle and send it (throw it) into the sea. Someone sees that a drift bottle is lying in the sea, picks it up and replies back to you.
Another cool and unique way to connect.
In simple words, you send a message and eventually someone will reply back to you.
How ?
- Select "Social" -> "Drift Bottle". (note: you may need to enable Drift Bottle from "Settings"->"Plug-ins" first in order to see it).
- Select "Throw" to send out your voice or text message, then wait to see you will pick up your bottle and reply.
- Select "Pick" to pick a drift bottle from the sea. You can reply to it or throw it back to the sea. Sometimes you may get a starfish. Just try again.

WeChat Web Grab

This is one feature which I feel is highly useful. There are many times that you found something interesting and want to bookmark it and read it on phone. Well either you need to remember the exact web address or save that web address somewhere and then open in on your phone.
WeChat app understood this requirement quite well and found a good solution.
Use WeChat Web Grab to save the link on your browser and send it your phone.
You can grab a web page or even a picture.
You need to install the web grab on your computer (browser) and link it with your WeChat mobile application.

New Features in upcoming Samsung Galaxy Phones

Bigger screens, better resolution or a better camera, are we really looking forward for this. Perhaps the answers is No. We have had enough phones which feature all these screens, resolution or camera. 8MP, 13MP or 43MP, I just don't care as all look same to me. What we are waiting for is something new and unique, something which we can say is that it will change our life or atleast have an impact on it.

Turns out that something revolutionary may not be possible in near future. But if you look at youtube videos or concept phones, then the whenever these features come to market they will surely have impact on our life's. These are supercool features. Today lets look at the new features planned for Samsung Galaxy Phones (or the list of feature's which we want in new upcoming mobile phones).

Samsung Flexible YOUM OLED Display

Is it Phone or Tablet, no its Phablet baby!
Now that's what I really call a phablet. This flexible screen stuff is just amazing. I can fold my tablet and it converts to phone. Flip it in your pocket and ready to move. The above video is commercial from CES 2013 keynote. This may not be coming in near future but surely something planned by Samsung (may be next year).

Transparent Displays

We have had enough of those predefined colored screen. Why not we have colored screens or the one which can change colors dynamically. Check out the video below. This is again quite a unique feature.

Laser Keyboard and Laser Display

I saw this feature in one of the concept phones videos for iPhone5. Well this feature could not make it to iPhone 5, but I hope it should comes to reality soon. This is again one of the most awaited feature.
This gives completely new looks to mobile.

What is WeChat App (Review) : Download WeChat for Free

We have been seeing quite a few advertisements about the new social messaging application "WeChat". Its in the news everywhere and creating lot of buzz. We already have been surrounded by so many applications be it Viber, Whatsapp, Facebook or Skype. So do we really have room for this new application. Will WeChat fulfill all our requirements, is it really something that we should be trying. In this review, we will try to answer the above questions and see if this application bridges the gap between so many messaging applications already in the market.

WeChat is the new way to connect with your friends and family. Its free and its a multi platform application available for almost all the smartphones. It is an integrated solution for all social media tasks like Voice Calls, Video Calls, Text Messaging, Voice mails, multi media sharing and the list is long. WeChat seems to be a good way to keep in touch with everyone you care about. According to some reports, already 100 million people have started using this new social messaging application.

No advertisements, free to download, clean interface, multi language support ?

It all sounds so interesting.

Download WeChat Application

Be it iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian Nokia Phones or the Blackberry devices, the app is available for almost all the smartphones.

Installation and Setup

WeChat application is quite easy to setup and use. The app setup is quite easy, and just uses your phone no. to login. It scans your address book and gives you friend suggestions rather than adding them automatically, a welcome feature. It also creates a fancy QR code with your user id, for your friends to add you with.

Everything is free as long as you and your friend both are using WeChat!

Features and Funcationality

- Voice Messaging : Its quite a unique feature which is not offered by many others. Its similar to text messaging, just that you are sending your voice instead of text message. Try using this feature in group chat and it will be quite a good fun.

- Voice Chat : This is simple voice call (which you must have been used to with Viber Application). But the thing to note here was the call quality. It was exception and better than viber audio call. The voice had no delay whatsoever and was instant.

- Video Call : Again this feature is similar to Skype or Facetime. It works equally good on wifi or 3G network and the call quality was again very good. It offers a full screen view. It also offers toogle feature to change to audio call anytime.

- Social Media : WeChat offers quite a unique features here. Not only it offers simple multi media sharing of photos and videos, it one shaking feature as well (to match with other friends who are also shaking their phone). It also allows you to convert images to Emoticons. Then it has a feature of look around, Select "Social" -> "Look Around" to find people using WeChat with Look Around enabled nearby. Choose one and "Send Greeting" to make friends.

- Text Messaging : It was quite well and was quite instant. I would say its quite comparable to Whatsapp.

Integration with Facebook
You can directly access WeChat app with your facebook account login. Then you can see which of your facebook friends are using WeChat application.

Summary

WeChat had both positives and negatives just like any other application. Message delivery, text messaging, voice and video quality all were good. Only thing which seems to have scope for improvement is their user interface. They should make it more easy and intuitive.

In simple words, if I would have to summarize the WeChat Application, then I would say "its Viber, Skype, Whatsapp combined, all in one application".

Where is Facetime Contact List : Know Online Facetime Contacts

It does not make any sense that you are using iPhone, iPad or any other iOS device and you are not using Apple's native video calling application "Facetime". Its one of the best video calling application in the market. The picture video quality and audio quality, both are just so good. If you compare it in terms of quality, its a clear winner (even better than Skype).

Many of my friends and family are using either iPhone or iPad and I can easily video call them free. But the problem is I am not aware which of my friends and family (in my contact list) are having any iOS device (capable of video calling), Even if I figure that out (by asking them), I am still not able to know whether those contacts are online or not.

Skype has this contact list and it directly shows which contacts are online. These are two very basic things which are not available in facetime, and it makes me use Skype all the time (and not facetime). Today we decided that we will figure out these two simple things and make our life easy!

I am assuming that you have all your contacts synced up in your iPhone or iPad (else you will have to add contacts to your device first).

Here is the first view of Facetime (iOS 6.0.1). Just look at the contact list, this shows all the contacts.
This is not a filtered list (of the contacts which have iOS device). Some of them don't even own a smartphone or any iOS device (why are they in this list).

Task is to know which of them are using Facetime (which of these contacts I can video call). Ideally apple should scan your contact list and show only people who are using iOS (facetime).

Identify Facetime (iMessage) User in Contact List.

Method 1 : Add them to iMessage (Create New Message)
- Open iMessage app.
- You will need to add the contact in "To" field.
- If the contact is not using iOS, then RED (!) will appear, else it will be colored blue.

- While adding contact, a blue icon will also appear.

Method 2 : Blue Icon in Facetime Contact
- Click any contact in Facetime contact list (does not matter on which device my contact is using Facetime, it works even on Mac PC).
- A Blue icon will appear if he/she is using facetime.
- See the different in the image below.

Similar difference appear in contact list (click on any contact). We are talking about the contact app on your iPhone/iPad.

This way though we are able to figure out whether a particular contact is using Facetime or not, but our objective was to get a list of contacts (filtered list) which are using Facetime. We are also yet to figure out whether a contact is online or not (it may be possible that contact is not connected to internet).

Some Tips :
- Set up the contacts which are using Facetime in Favorite section. This will be something like adding contacts in skype. This will be one time effort, but then you will afterwards know which of your contacts are using facetime.

How to save text message (SMS) as draft in Nokia Lumia 710

Nokia Lumia is a great phone. It may not be having too many application in the app store, but it has all major applications and is quite a stable phone. Those who are using it really like this phone. But sometimes you discover such small things, which makes you think whether it is really such a good phone. I was doing something on my Nokia Lumia 710 and wanted to save one text message as a draft, which I can send it at a later time. Now what happened, I was not able to do this small and simple task.

I thought I am being such a dumb that I can't figure out such a small thing, but Nokia Lumia 710 does not support this simple feature. Are you kiddin me..Do they really test their device and operating system before they launch it to the market. I guess all of their focus was on stability and nothing else.

Anyways we had to find some workarounds for that. So we started exploring the phone more.
While saving text messages is not directly supported in Windows Phone at this time it is possible to store important messages.

Method 1 : Multi tasking

- Nokia Lumia 710 supports multi tasking. If you write a message down and just click home button.
Do some other task on the phone. When done, you can click back button (keep clicking) till you see the message window again (with the message you were writing).
- This method saves the message but for a short duration of time.
- Not a recommended method.

Method 2 : Save SMS in word

- Write the message down.
- Tap and hold the text, a popup menu appears where you select Copy.
- Now go to office app and click on create a new note (on the Note page tap the + icon to open a new note).
- Select the paste icon (at the top of the keyboard). You will see that the text is copied here.
- You can now exit and note will get saved.
- When you want to send this message, then go to note and select the text and copy again (tap and hole and click copy icon)
- Now go back to Message and paste it there and send the sms.
OR
- Send the note as message. Do following : Menu -> Apps -> Notes -> Create a note and Select Options -> Send note -> Send as message.

Though it solved the task, but I guess this feature should have been there.

Whatsapp for PC - How to install Whatsapp on computer : Step by Step Tutorial

Viber and Whatsapp are two applications which people just love too much and want these apps on each and every device they are using. Both of them already have smartphone applications and I am assuming that you are using it on your phone.

But the main question is which of the devices you use most of your time. Well I know the answer, it is your laptop. It is specially great when you use these apps on your computer itself. This way you would be connected to your friends and family all the time and you will be able to make calls and free message from your PC. Moreover if you are chatting with your girlfriend then you can chat from your laptop and your friends won't even know that you are actually chatting with your GF on Whatsapp. Isn't it cool ?

We have already covered a tutorial on installing viber app on laptop. Conceptually if you follow the same steps, then you should be able to install Whatsapp on your PC as well. Anyways today we will post a step by step tutorial, following which you should be able to get Whatsapp working on your computer. We have tried to include the images as well at every step, as sometimes its more convenient to just follow the images. The good thing is, it is very straight forward tutorial and you should be get going in just few minutes!

Requirements

Getting the app working on your PC is quite simple. All it requires is a laptop/computer with windows installed on it. Yes, this tutorial is assuming that you are having a computer with windows based operating system (any version of windows will do the task, be it xp, vista, windows 7 or 8).

Step by Step Tutorial

I am myself following these steps and capturing images. I am trying this out on windows 7 laptop. We beleive that same steps should work on other platforms as well.

1. First you need to get android emulator on your PC. For that we would suggest you to download and install Bluestack. Click this link to download Bluestack.

2. Install Bluestack (the software which you downloaded). Click continue!

3. It will by default download many apps (which are pretty good) from the app store. As shown in image below.

4. Next step is to start Bluestack on your PC. Click find icon and type "Whatsapp".
5. It will search for Whatsapp Messenger. Simply click Install button.

6. It will search for whatsapp and show probable option. Select "Whatsapp Messanger" and click Install.
7. It will start downloading whatsapp.

8. Once downloaded, it will show in My Apps.
9. Select Whatsapp as shown in the image below.

10. Whatsapp is ready to use. Just punch in your phone number.
11. You will require a mobile to verify whatsapp. Enter your mobile number.

12. This is the most important step : Whatsapp will try to send SMS and verify. Let it do it. It will try to automatically detect the sms and verify. Offcourse you are on your laptop, so it won't detect it.
13. By now you should have received the sms on your mobile.
14. It will now ask to enter code sent on your mobile. Just enter this.
15. Now you will be asked to update profile.

16. Voilla, you will see contacts and you can start chatting with your friends on whatsapp.

If you face any problem, then please share with us in the comment section. We will try our best and you should be able to get Whatsapp working on your PC.

We were successfully in installing and using this on computer. We were able to send message, create new contacts and even group chat with people. It is just like you are using this app on your mobile phone. If you have a smartphone be it iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Nokia Mobile, we recommend that you use this app on your phone.

We have also created a video tutorial on the same. Please check this out.

Vippie Voip Application : Viber and Whatsapp Alternative

Many of our blog readers are using Viber for voip calls on smartphones and Whatsapp for instant messaging and sharing pictures and other files. I am also a regular user of Viber and Whatsapp. But Viber is not available for all types of phone (specially viber blackberry application does not have all the features which includes free calls). Coming to whatsapp, it keeps on sending me alerts that soon it will cost me a dollar (which is already the case with iPhone). So I may have to think about using whatsapp on my android mobile. Who want's to pay for these feature's, when these are being offered for free by so many other voip providers.

We are now looking for an application which is available for all (or most) types of devices (mobile phone), which is free and which has all the capabilities that are being offered by Viber or Whatsapp. Basically we want an alternative to Viber and Whatsapp. The search ends at Vippie Application, which offers free calling and messaging. Lets check out this app.

They mention on their website

VIPPIE is, arguably, one of the best VoIP service providers. Not so long ago, such services used to be offered by a handful of operators but not anymore. However, as the number of providers increased, the competition, the quality and advantages for clients have also skyrocketed. So with the advent of VoIP free pc and mobile apps, it has become possible for providers like VIPPIE to offer wide range of fabulous services. Now, and thanks to our feature-rich mobile apps, you can make cheap VoIP calls to any mobile or landline number, send SMS, and chat for free with all your friends, all over the world!

There are many advantages for subscribing to VIPPIE. To mention a few, and additionally to the wide range of free services that VIPPIE offers you, like free calls, SMS, Free chat and File sharing, VIPPIE offers you the possibility to top-up your account online and benefit from an extraordinarily low rates for International calls.

Vippie Feature Set

Who's (which of my friend) using Vippie : One you sign in your smartphone you will see immediately in your Contacts who uses Vippie. It also shows who from your contacts is Online, Offline or on PUSH notification.
Sending attachments: short videos, audio notes, pictures
HD voice and High quality video calling
Multi Party Conference calls.
Cheap calls and SMSes to international numbers
Free text message with delivery alert.
Voicemail, Videomail etc.
Social networking integration. Google Talk, Facebook integration.
You can even call people who are not using Vippie. It will cost you less than a regular call, because the app will use VOIP to do it. Therefore, if you want to be in touch with your friends for free remember to invite them to Vippie. Of course, you can also chat with your friends from Facebook and Google Talk for free using social hub.
Vippie is designed to run also in the background (without draining your battery), so you will always receive incoming calls and messages notifications. Vippie will notify you about every friend who has just joined Vippie, too.

Please note that in the countries where Voip is blocked (UAE etc), you will not be able to use Vippie.

Availability

The main reason people want to make a switch from Viber and Whatsapp is because availability and cost on their phone. Lets check Vippie in this regard.

Vippie Voip Application is available free download for following :

1. Download Vippie for iPhone
2. Download Vippie for Android
3. Download Vippie for Blackberry
4. Vippie for Windows Phone : Coming Soon
5. Vippie for Symbian : Coming Soon

What about Vippie for PC ?
Well it turns out that they are developing their PC application (which is just like Viber). So till the time their official PC app is not available we will have to figure out something else inorder to use it on PC (may be android emulator will do the task).