My Phone Died but I Need to Read My Messages How
Edward C. Baig
- You can use your mobile number on calls and texts from tablets and PCs
- SXSW represents big coming out political party for budding service
- PPLConnect tin work across multiple platforms and devices
AUSTIN — Could you even survive without your smartphone? Jenviev Azzolin doesn't think you tin, which is why the self-proclaimed mobile addict co-founded PPLConnect, resulting in what she describes as the world'south first virtual smartphone.
What exactly is a virtual smartphone, and why would you want one? The idea is that you lot can use your current mobile number for calls and texts, without existence held existence earnest to that single piece of hardware in your pocket.
Though I haven't had a chance to exercise full testing yet, the hope is that you tin can make calls with your number from any browser continued to the Net, without exhausting your carrier minutes and regardless of device or platform. You lot might call or text from your tablet or a friend'southward phone. You can send and receive SMS text messages sitting at work in front of your computer. Y'all can leverage your telephone's contacts from any of these devices as well.
This is all supposed to work even if your actual telephone is turned off. Pretty cool, considering nosotros all accept experienced a battery that died at the worst possible moment. Some other potential benefit is the ability to salvage on roaming fees if you travel internationally.
PPLConnect works through Vocalization over IP or VOIP, amid other technologies Some of the features would appear to overlap with Google Voice and other communications services. Users on Macs can already send and receive Apple's ain iMessages from their computers.
Merely PPLConnect is pushing its multi-platform nature. "Everyone else is selling hardware or services that are tied to locking them into their world," says some other of PPLConnect's co-founders Denzil D'Sa. "Your calls (via PPLConnect) are from your number, in and out. Your SMS's are from your number, in and out."
The service is still in its beta state. The official launch remains a couple of weeks out. And at that place are limitations in what y'all can practice, at least at the moment. For example, while you lot can make a call from a PC or tablet, and get notified if someone tries calling yous on your mobile number, yous won't hear your PC or tablet ring at the time of that incoming call.
To starting time out, you download a PPLConnect Android app, available at present in the Google Play store. There's no iPhone app at the moment. You sign upwards with a Google + account or your email, and enter your phone number. PPLConnect will send you a code via SMS to link your actual telephone to your virtual phone. From so on you can log into PPLConnect from any browser connected to the Web.
"Non so long ago, our email used to be tied to one PC, just similar our files used to be saved on i hard drive and our music used to be saved on CDs," Azzolin says. "The cloud came forth and fundamentally improved that experience, giving us access from any device. And it's that aforementioned experience we want to bring to your phone."
South by Southwest represents the Montreal startup'south big coming out party (though the engineering science has been publicly shown before). The company is one of eight finalists in the social technologies category of the SXSW Accelerator program contest. Over the weekend, Azzolin and D'Sa get to do a pitch before a live SXSW audience. "We're here to get a wider net of sensation out there," Azzolin says.
As Game of Thrones devotees, Azzolin lists her title (in addition to co-founder) as "Mother of Dragons," while D'Sa is listed as being "In accuse of the incommunicable."
The co-founders are extending this playfulness to their SXSW promotions. On Fri, they hosted a "Mobile Addicts Anonymous Meetup" at a downtown Austin hotel: Mobile "zombies" crawled Austin eating smartphones rather than brains to concenter people to the meetup.
Meanwhile, anyone at the festival who downloads the app gets to have advantage of a free "line waiting service," Azzolin says. You let PPLConnect know the political party or consequence that you want to attend during the powwow and PPLConnect will send someone to hold a spot for you on line until y'all get at that place.
The app is gratis, as are calls from PPLConnect phones to other PPLConnect phones. Calls outside PPLConnect toll about 3 cents a minute (purchased through "credits"), 1 mode the company hopes to make money. You tin earn complimentary credits by sharing PPLConnect with your friends. In the current state of the beta, international calls are not supported.
One future feature dubbed "Hotel My Telephone" will let you check-in or check out of another person'south device. Say your battery dies and you need to borrow a stranger's phone. Yous tin log into your business relationship from the person's device, bank check your letters, perchance send a text or brand a quick phone call. After logging out, none of your information is left backside on the phone, not your number, and non who yous chosen or got a call from.
For all its presumed benefits, PPLConnect would seem to face an uphill battle. At that place's strong competition in the VOIP space from better known rivals such as Google or Skype. And I suspect well-nigh of us are going to clutch onto our physical phones, and not let get of them up so easily.
Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow @edbaig on Twitter.
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2014/03/08/pplconnect-will-be-bringing-out-first-virtual-smartphone/6188401/
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