T-Mobile may have not got in on the iPhone 4S action as many had predicted, but that hasn’t stopped the carrier from reaching for a little bit of the iOS pie with its Bobsled app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Android phones also get in on the fun.
Bobsled is T-Mobile’s VoIP service that lets users make phone calls over the internet (much like Skype). While Bobsled was originally a Facebook app, now it’s creeping out into the world of the App Store and beyond…
T-Mobile’s Bobsled can now be used via iOS devices, Android handsets, and web browsers, with the latter offering free calls to mobile and landlines in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. There is also a text messaging service, though again, that is not yet baked into the the mobile apps.
As with most VoIP services, Bobsled supports calls across platforms, meaning you can call a friend from your iPhone, and have them answer from their Facebook account, or vice versa.
The move to VoIP is an interesting way for T-Mobile to get its claws into the iPhone-buying public. Still on the periphery, and now the only major US cellphone carrier to not sport the Apple handset, T-Mobile has a way to place its icon on the home screen of AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint iPhone customers across the country, all while taking money away from them in the form of missed call charges. It’s an interesting plan, and one that we can only assume will eventually lead to a payment structure to replace the current, free model.
T-Mobile has claimed that its network is home to over 1 million iPhones, with these devices being jailbroken and unlocked. That hasn’t stopped the company from wishing that it had the iPhone, but alas, it appears the only hope for T-Mobile is being bought up by AT&T.
For now, the underdog carrier will just have to make do with its fledgling VoIP service.
Will you be using Bobsled as a VoIP solution on your iOS device?