Bolt - free calling made simple for Android

Possibly the latest hot topic in the discussion on free VoIP apps.
What makes Bolt different from other VoIP apps like Viber and Skype - you never have to use the Bolt app. Never? Really? Then how do you use it?

Bolt does it by replacing your phone's standard dialler app (or what some of you may call the "call app").

Install Bolt and instantly use it to make ALL of your calls. It's free if you call another Bolt user; it will not use up your cellular/data plan's minutes because Bolt automatically knows that you're calling another Bolt user. If you call a non-Bolt user, the app will then use your standard telco service provider and use minutes from your plan. It's brilliant, I tell you.

Bolt-to-Bolt calls are free and they promise better voice quality than your regular voice calls without using a lot of data. I don't know how it's done but I'm a happy user. The average Bolt call apparently only uses about 60kb of data per minute.

The app has three main tabs - favourites, call log and dialler. Other Bolt users will have a special icon so you can easily see who you can call for free.

Currently Bolt is only available for Android phones but they are working to make it available to iOS devices soon.

I love that Bolt is different in terms of design, strategy and how they seamlessly incorporate their app into my phone's existing app. I hope there will be more apps like this - good competition is healthy!


Good info? Remember to like us on Facebook.
Learn more about Bolt here, or go directly to Google Play to install.

Free video calls to India - use fring

fring is a mobile app that lets you connect to your friends all over the world for free. You can install on your iPhone or Android phone, and recently they've added support for Nokia and other platforms too.

The video calling is impressive - you can conference up to four different people into your video at the same time. The video chat & calling services can be used not just on WiFi but when you're on 3G or 4G networks also. 

All you have to do is make sure both you and the other party has fring installed on your phones. 

In summary, fring offers:

• Direct fring-to-fring audio & video calls
• Audio & video conferencing (up to 4 people)
• Text messaging
• Inexpensive calls to any mobile or landline (use fringOut - see below)

More on fringOut

If you need to call someone who doesn't have a smartphone or can't download fring, fring has a service called fringOut which allows you to make relatively cheap calls to any mobile phone or landline (fixed number). Here are some of their rates for comparison:

- call India (both mobile & landline) for 1.5 cents/minute

- call Malaysia (landline) for 1 cent/minute

- call China (mobile & landline) for 1.2 cents/minute

- call USA (mobile & landline) for 1.2 cents/minute

- call UK (landline) for 1 cent/minute

- call Germany (landline) for 1 cent/minute

Go to this page check fringOut rates before calling --> fringOut rates

Personally I think their rates are incomparable. So even if your family doesn't have internet but they have a mobile phone or home phone (landline), you can use fring to reach them at a very reasonable price. 

This makes fring one of the best free call apps available this year. 

If you enjoyed this, please like us on Facebook.

More contact info for fring:

http://www.fring.com
http://www.twitter.com/fring

http://www.youtube.com/user/fringland
http://www.fring.com/blog
http://www.fring.com/help

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Secret to Success: Niche it down!

Most people go too broad. The problem with that is that it's TOO COMPETITIVE.

This applies to anything - retail products, B2B products & services, book topics, consulting gigs, entertainment etc etc etc

Think niche is niche enough? Try sub-niche. 

Category → Niche → Sub-niche 

Examples:

Fitness → Weight Management → Buffing Up For Busy Dads

Cooking → Baking → Sugar Free Recipes

Sports → Tennis → Tennis for 7-12 years olds

Let me know what you think.

Microsoft Office free for 60 days! - Sponsored Post

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via MyLikes

Now You Can Have Focus

I can has focus and so can you.

Startups Are All About The People

On hiring:

• Hire the very best. Do not fall into the trap of just hiring the best you can find right now, because you think you need to scale. Hiring the wrong people can be toxic to the rest of your team. Know what you want and need from your employees and do not deviate from this.

• Reward your top achievers. Let your employees know that so long as they continue to perform and execute well, there will be unlimited opportunities and resources for them to grow at your company.

On ownership:
• Look for the people who have something to prove. It doesn’t matter whether it’s to themselves or the rest of the world. These are the most driven people you can find. They are competent and don’t wait for permission.

The best employees are hard to control, so don’t impede their work and what they can accomplish. They’d rather do something now and ask for forgiveness later. If a problem arises, they’re quick to fix it. Let them experiment. Not all will pay off, but some will.

People MUST be passionate. Passion breeds a willingness to defend one’s position. It also helps eliminate Groupthink, which is a sign your employees aren’t confident in themselves and their opinions.

You will run into problems if you don’t give competent employees the opportunity to own their own destiny. Their purpose is to contribute to forming the vision of the company, not to solely carry out your vision. Collaborate with employees rather than dictate and they will almost always exceed what you thought was possible.

With passion comes personal pride and responsibility: a sense that what you’re doing really matters. Everyone wants needs to have a purpose.

On trust:
• You can’t possibly know everything you need to. You absolutely have to accept this fact; don’t be stubborn. Hire smart people to fill in your gaps. Are you self-aware enough to know where you need help?

Read the full post here on Dru Wynings.

10 Rules for Web Startups

Been reading Rework and Seth Godin was right: "Ignore this book at your own peril".


Simply put, it is the best business-book-that's-not-a-business book I've ever read. The authors have successfully, in large-sized print, chipped away at the fuss & drilled down to the core.

I've a feeling I'm going to be talking about this book for weeks & months to come. Today, reading Rework reminded me of an oldie but goodie from Evan Williams, which is what I really wanted to share with you today: Ten Rules for Web Startups

In it, Evan tells you to be narrow, be different, be casual, be self-centred, be greedy, be tiny etc. It's from November 2005 but it still applies today.

Link ←

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