VoIP spawns device start-ups

Free domestic phone communications is near, the Los Angeles Times reports. A 1,200-word feature in the city's newspaper of record described how devices like Ooma and MagicJack could allow people to bypass "the local phone and cable TV giants to provide free calls on standard-issue phone handsets."

Ooma [1] is the VoIP router from the eponymous Palo Alto, Calif., startup that has TV celebrity Ashton Kutcher pitching for it. The device was unveiled in beta this summer and should be hitting the commercial market anytime now. It has a one-time cost of $400 (for now) and no subscription voice costs after that for at least three years. MagicJack is a $40 VoIP device with a USB connector that comes with a one-year license for service. YMax Corp., of West Palm Beach, Fla., introduced MagicJack last April [2].

The article gives good props to both devices, but it fails to emphasize the necessity of a phone line and/or a broadband connection, neither of which are currently free.

For More:
- James Granelli's Los Angeles Times piece is here [3]

Related Article:
Ooma chief talks with FierceVoIP Report [4]