T-Mobile’s Bobsled temporarily suspends service in first week

Apr 25th 2011
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It’s a tragic day for Bobsled’s one-eyed chat bubble monster, as T-Mobile has just announced it’s temporarily shuttering the recently launched VoIP service. a press release released on Bobsled’s Facebook profile revealed it really is “voluntarily and temporarily suspending service” of its week-old app to “ensure the Bobsled experience is obviously differentiated and isn’t mistaken for a Facebook created property.” The inside track comes at a very inopportune moment, as Vivox just made its own announcement (embedded after the break) last Wednesday saying it is going to power the seemingly ill-fated app. No word yet on when the service will likely be back up and running, but this doesn’t bode well for T-Mo’s foray into the VoIP market.

[Thanks, Elad]

Update: We just received word from Vivox saying its announcement was actually released last Wednesday. In the end, it’s safe to mention the inside track continues to be a downer for the magenta monster.

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Vivox Powers Voice Chat on Facebook for Bobsled by T-Mobile
Posted: 25-Apr-2011 [Source: Vivox]

[The Vivox VoiceEverywhere Service to power the Bobsled app by T-Mobile for Faceboo. Bobsled offers free, one-touch calling between Facebook friends using the Facebook chat window.]

Natick, MA — Vivox, Inc. (www.vivox.com), the number 1 integrated voice platform for the Social Web, announced a partnership with T-Mobile USA, Inc. Vivox’s VoiceEverywhere Service would be powering the Bobsled application for Facebook calling as a part of the hot Bobsled by T-Mobile brand. The Bobsled application for Facebook is the realm’s first free, one-touch Facebook calling application.

The Vivox-powered Bobsled application for Facebook provides Facebook’s greater than 500 million users worldwide with free, one-touch calling to their Facebook friends from a non-public computer and thru the social platform’s chat window. T-Mobile and Vivox are giving voice to social networking, taking Internet communications to a brand new level and bringing voice chat to greater than half one thousand million people overnight. With Vivox’s “instant on” technology, no application download is needed to receive a decision via the Bobsled Facebook application. Bobsled by T-Mobile users may even record and post voice messages to their friends’ Facebook wall.

“Integrated voice on Facebook is a critical portion of our roadmap for Bobsled by T-Mobile and Vivox is the clear leader on this area,” said Brad Duea, senior vp, T-Mobile USA. “Vivox is a skilled and innovative company, and we glance forward to a successful partnership with Vivox.”

Vivox serves greater than 50 million users worldwide and delivers greater than 3 billion voice minutes monthly through its integrations into social applications, online and console games and virtual worlds. With over 30 live customer integrations, Vivox has proven that they’re committed to providing the appropriate voice quality across all connected experiences. Vivox works along side its partners to deliver flexible HD voice solutions which are built seamlessly into applications, just like the Bobsled application for Facebook, and brought to consumers, regardless platform or device.

Together, T-Mobile and Vivox are ushering within the next generation of communications, bringing life to new capabilities to satisfy the concept people must be ready to communicate with whomever, whenever, and wherever they’re. VoiceEverywhere has the facility to create seamlessly integrated experiences on many popular connected devices, including: PC, MAC, PlayStation 3, iOS, Android, and more. Additionally, VoiceEverywhere makes communicating between these platforms simple. Vivox and T-Mobile plan to adapt the Bobsled application for Facebook and Vivox’s VoiceEverywhere platform through the years with additional features including video chat.

“As communications moves beyond networks, devices and online activities, Vivox’s focus is to supply simple and ubiquitous cross-platform communications for consumers, enabling people to remain connected wherever they’re, irrespective of platform or device,” said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. “Our agreement with T-Mobile is a major leap forward within the convergence of communications. We believe this momentum will continue as Vivox VoiceEverywhere will probably be instrumental in bringing seamlessly integrated communications to the hundreds.”

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