Gizmo Project & LiveJournal Team to Bring Free Voice Calling and Instant Messaging to Web's Most Popular Blog-Hosting Site
San Diego, CA July 26, 2006 --
LiveJournal users get improved social communication experience with voice calling, conferencing and instant messaging
Using the free Gizmo Project for LJ Talk voice and IM software, LiveJournal users will be able to make calls and instant message contacts from their LiveJournal Friends list, making it easier to stay in contact. Their existing Friends list will be automatically available to users when they log in to the software using standard LiveJournal account information, and new contacts can be added easily. All calls between LiveJournal users using the software will be free and LiveJournal users will be able to take advantage of the same promotional calling plans that regular Gizmo Project users enjoy.
"We're pleased to be working with Six Apart and LiveJournal, which will be the first major online community to extend real-time communication features like voice and IM to every one of its millions of members," said Jason Droege, President of SIPphone. "Because these features are based on the robust open standards of SIP and Jabber, LiveJournal users will always be able to communicate with the largest number of people around the world, including LiveJournal friends, other Gizmo Project users, or people that might be using other private-label Gizmo Project versions," Droege concluded.
LiveJournal users who use Gizmo Project for LJ Talk can easily access the following key features:
- High-quality free voice calls to people using Gizmo Project for LJ Talk as well as any other versions of Gizmo Project
- Instant messaging between LiveJournal friends, other Gizmo Project users, Google Talk users, or people using any other Jabber-based IM network worldwide. Allows users and their friends to have real-time written communications that can later be incorporated into journals
- Presence detection which allows users to see who is online
- Ultra low-cost calls to landline or mobile phones around the world
- Free conference calls among friends, which can be scheduled and moderated by Gizmo Project for LJ Talk users
- Free "Call me" and "IM" buttons on journal pages to initiate calls and instant messages from the web
- Point and click "voice posts", which allows Gizmo Project for LJ Talk users worldwide to easily post audio recordings (podcasts) on their Livejournal pages
- Real-time maps of caller locations, and more
Gizmo Project for LJ Talk is an outgrowth of Gizmo Project's new partner program designed to create and distribute custom-branded voice and IM software, or "softphones." The software delivers free VoIP calls, instant messaging and dozens of other advanced features, and can be used to reinforce a partners' own brand with a frequently-used product. Customization services are provided by SIPphone and projects from start-to-finish can be completed in about a month. Localized versions are available and co-branding of web content associated with the softphone and service can further improve the experience.
The free Gizmo Project for LJ Talk software for Windows, Macintosh and Linux lets users make crystal-clear free calls using the Internet and is expected to be available for free from the LiveJournal site in August. As easy to use as an Instant Messenger, Gizmo Project for LJ Talk also offers such features as free voicemail, free conference calling, complete call history, instant messaging, and free calling to millions of people on SIP-based networks, the most popular open standard protocol for VoIP communications.
About Six Apart, Ltd.
Six Apart Ltd. provides award-winning blogging software and services that change the way millions of individuals, organizations, and corporations connect and communicate across the world every day. Founded in 2002 by husband and wife team Ben Trott and Mena G. Trott, Six Apart has grown into a global company with its headquarters in San Francisco, CA, and offices in Europe and Japan. The company continues to lead in the blogging and social media industry with the Movable Type publishing platform, the TypePad hosted blogging service and LiveJournal, an online community organized around personal journals. In June 2006 Six Apart introduced a preview version of Vox, a hosted personal blogging service that will be publicly available in late 2006. For more information, visit the Six Apart corporate blog at http://www.sixapart.com/.
About SIPphone:
SIPphone is a San Diego, CA-based Voice over IP (VoIP) company founded in 2003 that principally develops the free Gizmo Project "softphone," as well as the back-end network and directory services for efficiently carrying VoIP calls. Available for Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows and Linux computers, the Gizmo Project "softphone" enables high-quality free calling worldwide using any Internet-connected computer. PC-to-PC calls are always free, while calls to landlines and mobile phones are among the lowest in the industry. Gizmo Project includes free conference calling, customizable voice-mail, Instant Messaging (IM) and a host of other convenient features. Download Gizmo Project at http://www.gizmoproject.com.
Press Contact:
SIPphone, Inc.
Email: SIPphone Marketing Department
