Just in time for the holiday season, Talkster is offering the first 10,000 people who sign up at Talkster.com $5 in free calling credit. To participate, visit www.Talkster.com, and sign up before it’s too late. Callers should use the promo code “TALKSTER” to get their $5 in free calling credit.

With $5 in free calling credits, people can speak more than 2 hours to India, more than 4 hours to China and 5 hours to Mexico (time based on calling rates from the United States).

Under this promotion, callers get access to 50 countries with the lowest calling rates in the industry. Current Free World Dialing customers will enjoy access to new calling areas through this partnership, including Brazil, Japan, South Africa, and Pakistan.

“Talkster understands the holidays are the time of year when connecting with friends and family, especially those away from home, is important to all of us,” said James Wanless, COO of Talkster. “This special holiday offer gives our customers even more to celebrate. With international calling rates as little as .08 cents a minute to call places like Thailand, we are making the whole world that much closer. People can talk for as long as they want without worrying about being hit with a huge phone bill.”

For more information visit Talkster at www.Talkster.com.

About Rebtel
Rebtel makes it possible to call any phone, anywhere in the world, for just cents per minute. Rebtel services can be used with any phone – landline or mobile. There is no charge to set up an account. No contract. No monthly fees. No connection fees. No hidden costs. Anyone may make a free five minute call to test the service. Thereafter, customers only pay for the minutes they use. Free Calls between more than 50 counties served by Rebtel are always free and only one of the two people on a call have to be a Rebtel customer.

About Talkster
Talkster is revolutionizing communications with award-winning ad-supported and software-based technologies. Through its Free World Dialing™ service and talki™ mobile application Talkster is giving consumers highly affordable alternatives to long distance and international calling, plus text and picture messaging. Talkster’s talki white label application allows companies to create new opportunities for revenue and marketing by offering customers compelling services delivered through a branded mobile interface. From your mobile phone visit http://m.talki.me to download talki. For more information visit Talkster at www.Talki.me.

Tubaloo (www.tubaloo.com) today announced the beginning of private beta testing for its much anticipated voice over Internet (VoIP) service for Android smartphones. Tubaloo is inviting Android users all over the world to join a revolution in mobile – and never pay outrageous bills for making phone calls ever again!

The problem with other services that promise to reduce rates or provide free long distance calls is they make you do something new, whether that is launching a new application or performing extra steps in the calling process. Tubaloo on the other hand works just like, well, your Android phone. You download a small, free application and launch it once to enter your settings and preferences; set it and forget, then continue to use your phone just like you always have. The only other time you need to launch the Tubaloo application is if you need to change any settings.

When you place a call, the Tubaloo application uses its MINU$^TM technology. MINU$, which stands for Mobile Intelligent Network Utilization System, knows to what networks you’re able to connect and how to route your call in the most cost effective manner. Tubaloo routes calls over 3G and Wi-Fi data networks via its own VoIP network, if using Tubaloo’s network is your cheapest available option. But you may never know the difference. During alpha testing of the sound quality in intercontinental long distance calls, Tubaloo’s VoIP service was often better than using telco voice networks – but a heck of a lot cheaper!

To begin using Tubaloo you need to set up your account, which you can do when you first run the Tubaloo app. Tubaloo charges low rates for your long distance and international calls. To try it out, Tubaloo is giving you $1.00 in credit to start making calls. From the United States, that’s about 20 minutes to Buenos Aires, 22 minutes to Bangalore, 26 minutes to Brussels or 50 minutes to Beijing.

How do Tubaloo’s rates compare to your wireless carrier’s? Even with a discounted international calling plan, $1.00 would limit your call to just three minutes to Bangalore, Brussels or Buenos Aires, and only seven minutes to China. And without such a discounted plan, $1.00 lasts only seconds.

When you create your account Tubaloo assigns you a Tubaloo phone number unique to its system. Whenever you call a Tubaloo number from your Tubaloo-enabled Android phone, that call is free. That’s right, calls between Tubaloo users are always free!

Log into the Tubaloo portal at www.tubaloo.com to find a host of features that enhance your service. Check your call logs, manage your contacts, check your free Tubaloo voice mail or use the cost calculator to find out just how much calls will cost.

If you have an unlocked Android phone, you may never need to use a telco voice network again. In fact, Tubaloo has several unlocked test phones in the field around the world working just like regular phones but with one important exception – no SIM card.

HOW TO GET TUBALOO:

Tubaloo’s private beta is available by invite only. A limited number of people can use the invite code “tubaloo1” to download and start using Tubaloo right now.

Go to http://m.tubaloo.com and enter the code tubaloo1.

• Once the code is accepted the free Tubaloo application (tubaloo.apk) will download
• Click on the application and it will walk you through the typical Android installation process
• After installation, open the application and it guide you in setting up your Tubaloo account
• After the account is created, the application is used merely for setting preferences (such as placing calls over 3G or Wi-Fi, or using the inbound call back feature). It’s really just a few checkboxes and you’re off and running.
• Once installed, start making calls the way you always have, using the Android dialer.

Tubaloo is also providing invite codes to readers of Android blogs. Visit your favorite Android blog and see if they have invite codes. If they don’t, have them contact Tubaloo and we’ll set them up quickly. If they ran out, be patient, more will be coming soon.

Additional invitations are also available at PhoneDog.com. Check the Tubaloo blog for more information about where invites are available.

As part of the beta test, Tubaloo is collecting feedback from users, suggestions for new features as well as discussing known issues at a public online forum located at http://groups.google.com/group/tubaloo/.

About Tubaloo:
With smartphones gaining popularity around the world, communications again stands on the brink of a technology revolution. By leveraging the capabilities inherent in most smartphones, Tubaloo is ushering in an era where voice and text combine with location-awareness, high speed data networking, mobile commerce and mobile advertising into a singular, high-powered and compelling communications and information service. Tubaloo’s near-term aim is to make mobile telephony free to anyone. Based on its own open-source operating system and focused primarily on platforms such as Android and Symbian, Tubaloo makes smartphones a lot smarter. Tubaloo was founded in 2005 and has operations in Portland, Ore. and Santiago, Chile.

Alternative mobile communications company, Talkster (www.talki.me), today announced its mobile application, talki™, won Technology Marketing Corporation’s (TMC) 2008 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award. Talkster’s talki™ mobile application gives consumers affordable alternatives to traditional long distance and international calling, plus text and picture messaging without the hefty SMS and MMS charges. Since introducing its award-winning consumer communications services in 2007, Talkster has saved callers millions in international calling fees.

The Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award recognizes Talkster’s vision, leadership and attention to detail which are the hallmarks of the prestigious award. Talkster has been awarded TMC’s Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award for the last three years; having won for its innovation in voice over instant messaging (VoIM) technologies in 2006 and for its innovative Free World Dialing™ ad-supported calling service in 2007.

“Talkster has been recognized with our 2008 Product of the Year Award for its excellence in the advancement of voice and data communications,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC President and Group Editor-in-Chief. “Talkster has proven it is a company committed to quality and excellence in solutions that benefit consumers worldwide. Especially key in this trying economy are solutions like talki that leverage mobile technology to save consumers money. With this award TMC is honoring the innovations of Talkster’s team for the third year running as the company continues to successfully evolve its alternative communications offerings to meet the needs of consumers and VNOs around the globe.”

talki is a new lightweight software application from Talkster, available as a download or accessible through a mobile browser. It offers free or low-cost international calling, plus text and picture messaging, all in one convenient and easy to use mobile app. Talkster incorporated its award-winning Free World Dialing service into talki so people in 37 countries can place long distance calls at the same rate they pay for local calls, meaning no more expensive international mobile phone charges. For calling to countries where Free World Dialing is not yet supported, calling can still be done at rates 80 percent to 90 percent less than typical mobile calling rates. What’s more, the talki mobile app offers consumers unlimited global text messaging without SMS charges and global picture messaging without MMS charges.

Also available as a white labeled service, talki allows VNOs to deliver new voice, text and multimedia services to mobile subscribers without relying on carrier infrastructure. With talki, VNO’s can easily deliver new communications services, such as free or low-cost international calling or unlimited text and picture messaging, opening up new opportunities for revenue and marketing, independent of carrier capabilities and without the need for capex investments. The talki white label service includes a complete portal with tools for managing subscribers, subscription packages, advertising campaigns and monitoring usage statistics. Plus, Talkster’s mobile billing system gives VNOs an easy way to offer their customers the ability to purchase calling and messaging credits directly from their mobile phones via SMS or PayPal.

The 2008 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award winners can be found on the INTERNET TELEPHONY and Customer Interaction Solutions Web site.

About Talkster
Talkster is revolutionizing communications with award-winning ad-supported and software-based technologies. Through its Free World DialingTM service and talkiTM mobile application Talkster is giving consumers highly affordable alternatives to long distance and international calling, plus text and picture messaging. Talkster’s talki white label application allows companies to create new opportunities for revenue and marketing by offering customers compelling services delivered through a branded mobile interface. From your mobile phone visit http://free.talkster.com to start using Free World Dialing, and http://m.talki.me to download talki. For more information visit Talkster at www.Talkster.com.

About TMC
Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) is a global integrated media company helping our clients build communities in print, in person and online. TMC publishes Customer Interaction Solutions, INTERNET TELEPHONY, Unified Communications, and NGN Magazine. TMCnet, TMC’s Web site, is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries. TMCnet is read by two to three million unique visitors each month worldwide, according to Webtrends. TMCnet is ranked as 2,921 in Quantcast’s Top U.S. Sites placing TMCnet in the top .03% most visited Web sites in the US. In addition, TMC produces ITEXPO, 4GWE Conference, Digium|Asterisk World and Communications Developer Conference.
TMC’s Green Blog has been ranked on the “100 Best Blogs for Those Who Want to Change the World”. TMC also recently launched new industry-specific Web sites: IT.TMCnet.com, Cable.TMCnet.com, Robotics.TMCnet.com, Satellite.TMCnet.com, Green.TMCnet.com. New services offered by TMCnet include the Tech Jobs site, TMCnet iPhone News and Facebook connections. For more information about TMC, visit www.tmcnet.com.