Most people have heard about a little device that allows you to make phone calls for $20 a year called MagicJack. You have most likely seen a commercial on TV or seen the small device hanging on the wall at your local BestBuy store. The device allows you to plug in via USB to your computer and then attach a phone to the device. When you plug in the phone, it will utilize your computers hardware and internet connection to send and receive phone calls. Its pretty neat and it is a very cheap alternative to traditional voip calling.
This week at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, MagicJack is showing off a new device that will allow you to use the same free VoIP calling technology using your cell phone. Thats right, free phone calls on a cell phone are just around the corner. The catch is, you will only be able to make those calls when you are at home and have a device plugged into your computer that has an internet connection. You will also be limited in the range of your calls to about 3,000 feet which means the device range should be adequate to cover most average sized homes in the US.
The technology that allows this new service to work is called a femtocell which is a portable base station for cellular usage. It essentially allows your cellular telephone to connect to the phone network via broadband internet. MagicJack plans to offer this same service for the yearly $20 fee that their previous device is set at. The nice part about this is that you could in essence replace all home phones and only use your cellular phone in and out of the house. More specifics and details are forthcoming, however they are claiming that the service will work with locked and unlocked phones including the most popular blackberry, iphone and droid series.
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