GSM only, will work with old GSM cellphones...
The other day
we pointed to a report noting that magicJack was planning to offer users a $40 device that would allow them to make cheap calls using a mobile phone. Unfortunately, there initial report was extremely limited on technical specifics for the unit, dubbed the "femtojack." Since then, magicJack has officially unveiled and demonstrated the device at CES, and offers up this
press release with only a little more detail. Says the press release:
This femtocell
will work with mobile phones from potentially any carrier and you may even use an old GSM cell phone without any paid service plans with a carrier. Not only can people connect to their own magicJack device but they can also connect to other femtocell-enabled magicJacks at friends’ houses and businesses. All the user has to do is come within eight feet of the magicJack one time to register the connection and then talk away within a range of a 3000 square foot house.
Since the system is GSM only, by "potentially any carrier," the company means it will only work over the T-Mobile or AT&T network (no comment yet from either about how they feel about this). How
specifically magicJack hopes to make this work isn't stated, nor is there any additional technical details being offered on the company website. The
Associated Press proclaims the system uses, without permission, "radio frequencies for which cellular carriers have paid billions of dollars for exclusive licenses." But then the
AP gives this breakdown of how it will actually works:
The size of a deck of cards, it plugs into a PC, which needs a broadband Internet connection. The device then detects when a compatible cell phone comes within 8 feet, and places a call to it. The user enters a short code on the phone. The phone is then linked to the magicJack, and as long as it's within range (YMax said it will cover a 3,000-square-foot home) magicJack routes the call itself, over the Internet, rather than going through the carrier's cellular tower. No minutes are subtracted from the user's account with the carrier. Any extra fees for international calls are subtracted from the user's account with magicJack, not the carrier.
While magicJack is very popular among users, they have a strong tendency to use more noise than signal in many of their marketing efforts -- and this latest one certainly doesn't disappoint. If they stay true to their word, the device will hit the market in "about four months," and we'll give it a spin.
