Truphone is the one VOiP service that has always worked well for me on my iPhone. Now they have rolled out their new Truphone Local Anywhere service and, surprisingly, it relies on… a SIM card. That’s right, the new services is offering pre-paid SIM cards that let you make calls at super low prices.

They are advertising the service as “The one smart SIM that lets you be local, anywhere.”

The SIMs offer low rates in your country of residence ($.15/ minute in the US), and even include “competitive SMS and data rates). And when you are traveling-

–you pay the low rates there… with the same SIM. (And it will work in 185 countries already.)

– you can add a new local number and…

–it won’t cost anything extra to receive calls from your home country.

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I stopped into my local Best Buy this afternoon and was amazed at the great selection  of prepaid cellular phones. As recently as a year ago the prepaid phone aisle was limited to cheap plastic throwaways. Fast forward to now, and the shelves are lined with current model BlackBerry and Motorola phones available on no contract prepaid plans.   Boost Mobile has been one of the leaders in selling affordable prepaid phones that don’t make you ashamed to use them in public.  Last week we looked at the i465 (great texting device and solid call quality). This week we’re looking at the Boost Mobile i9. It’s essentially a Motorola Razr fitted with the walkie talkie feature that Boost is known for. What’s amazing about this phone is that it’s one of the thinnest flip phones that Boost has ever offered. Continue Reading

One of Boost’s unique features, in addition to traditional voice and text messaging, is the ability to connect subscribers using a walkie talkie type connection (formerly known as Direct Connect) accessed by pushing a button on the side of the Boost phone.

When the phone’s button is pushed you  connect almost instantly to another walkie talkie capable phone without any need to dial (other than the  unique walkie talkie number of the person you’re calling which is different than their phone number). These phones can also connect to Sprint/Nextel phones, participate in group chats and  work locally as well as nationwide.  Continue Reading

AT&T just announced today that starting October 12 they’ll be expanding their unlimited prepaid GoPhone service beyond the cities that were serving as test markets for the last several months. For $60 prepaid monthly subscribers can now have a no contract phone that includes unlimited voice and SMS. This is slightly more expensive than Boost which went unlimited in January 2009 for $50 but pushes subscribers onto the arguably less robust Nextel towers.

ATT GoPhone via Engadget and Phonescoop

Prepaid cellular phones are a great way to give your younger teens (and often adults as well) a cellular phone that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. By using prepaid minutes you’ll completely avoid those annoying month end billing surprises that can happen when someone goes over their monthly allotment of minutes. Once the prepaid minutes run out – the phone won’t make or receive calls until you refill (except for emergency calls). Some providers such as T-Mobile even let you keep your minutes for a full year if you fill them with $100 at a time. Target has all brands of prepaid cellular refill cards on sale this week. Spend $44 and get a $50 card. Choose Virgin Mobile, Boost, T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon Wireless. Available in store only.

Target via SlickDeals Forum

The Motorola Clutch i465, a qwerty keyboarded prepaid cellular phone, is now up on the Boost Mobile site and available for orders at the not terrible price of $129. The phone offers a 1.79 TFT display with 64k colors and 128 x 160 pixels. There’s Bluetooth and a VGA camera as well as 20 MB of internal memory. Talk time is claimed to be 205 minutes. If you’ve been holding off on Boost Mobile due to their rather plain phone selections – this model plus their bargain unlimited talk/text $50 plan might just kick you over the edge.

PhoneArena

I’m a big fan of prepaid cell phones for kids and teens (as well as adults). The handsets themselves are cheap and easy to replace if they get lost (check out the Razr this week at Targed for $69.99!), there’s no surprise month end phone bill and if you play your cards right you can even land some pretty sweet deals with unlimited service from Boost Mobile where for $50 you get a month’s worth of all you can talk, walkie-talkie, text, picture and web browse. This is an in-store deal only.

Target

Have you been thinking of getting your kindergartner their own cell phone for their birthday? If so, then this deal could save you some case. Don’t let your 6 year old run up the SMS text message bills – get them a Firefly where only 20 outgoing numbers (programmed by mom or dad) can be accessed. This phone is only a dual band – 850/1900 but you can use it on the AT&T prepaid network saving your little tyke from the childhood trauma of early termination fees should they want to upgrade devices only to discover that mom put them into a 2 year contract. Ground shipping adds $4.99.

1 Sale A Day – Firefly AT&T Cell Phone – $4.99

According to a June 24, 2008 article in the Financial Times, struggling prepaid provider Helio is set to be acquired by struggling prepaid provider Virgin Mobile USA. Helio is known for their hip youth oriented phones and prepaid service featuring an unlimited plan that includes voice, text and EVDO data for $99. According to the Financial Times, Helio claims slightly under 200,000 subscribers while Virgin Mobile is just over 5 million. Virgin Mobile also rolled out an unlimited prepaid plan for $79 which we reported yesterday. Both services primarily use the Sprint cellular network to route their calls.

Link: Virgin and SK in US mobile link-up
Link: Virgin Mobile USA to buy SK Telecom’s US Unit

Beginning July 1, 2008 Virgin Mobile will offer unlimited nationwide prepaid cellular service with no roaming charges, no annual contract, and no activation charges. The price for this unlimited calling plan will be $79.99 per month, representing possibly the lowest prepaid unlimited cellular plan offered by a major carrier (Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint phone network). This rate could best the prepaid offering from competitor (and acquisition candidate) Helio by $20 per month. Unfortunately text messaging and data services are not included in the unlimited plan though an unlimited bundle may be added for $10 per month. Follow the link below to sign up to receive notification when Virgin Mobile’s unlimited plan goes live.

Link: Virgin Mobile Totally Unlimited – $79.99 / mo

AT&T has a bunch of refurbished phones on sale – and a few of them are free when you purchase an air time card. Just last night I again learned the value of prepaid when I received this call from my stepfather (don’t ask why he is calling himself Grampy – I thnk it’s one of those things you do when you grow older).

Hello, It’s grampy. he just pulled a hell of a stunt, I’m in the kitchen there’s a wasp down there, I’m on the phone. I dropped the phone into the water, my cellphone was buzzing like hell. I think It’s gonna be a dead phone. When I get cleaned up here I’ll probably stop by. It’s a really stupid stunt but. I went for the wasp and ends up in my sink. Meaning, the phone.

Once again prepaid phones save the day. Instead of paying $300 for a replacement phone, I had my new AT&T GoPhone that I’d just purchased. Pop the SIM card out of the soggy phone. Put it into the replacement. Presto – ready to go. If you have someone in your life who is a very light cell phone user – prepaid is the only way to go. Check out the deals that AT&T is offering right now on several of their prepaid phone configurations.

Link: AT&T GoPhones On Sale

T-Mobile just sweetened the deal on their prepaid service offerings. For a limited time buy any prepaid phone from their web site and included in the deal will be a free $25 refill card. As noted previously, the Nokia 2610 is free after $30 rebate – so T-Mobile pays YOU $25 to take their Nokia 2610 prepaid phone!

Link: T-Mobile To Go Prepaid Phones

If you’re thinking of getting a cell phone for your kids, but they’re not quite trustworthy enough for a regular cell plan, here’s a great idea. Buy them a prepaid phone. These are also great plans for your elderly parents who may not use the phone often but still want the protection of having one at the ready. You can purchase the phones dirt cheap. Best of all there’s no early termination or lengthy contract or bloated carrier fees. You pay only for the minutes you use! These plans have gotten a LOT better with most carriers giving you a full year to use the minutes provided you buy at least $100 in advance. I have my step-father on T-Mobile To Go and the total cost per year for his sparse usage is $100 – about $8 per month. Those with teens take special note of the Sidekick plan that gives unlimited text messaging, instant messaging, web browsing, email and picture mail for $1 per day.

Link: T-Mobile To Go Prepaid Cellular Plans
Link: AT&T GoPhone (Similar deals without the nights/weekends)

Over the weekend a press release announced the HOP 1800 which is a rather ugly prepaid $10 phone that did not have a display screen. This budget phone will be sold in retail outlets. It set me wondering why anyone would pay $10 for a phone with no display screen, no camera, and no SIM card. There are at least two better deals – both $10 or less and sold by AT&T via their web site. Both are brand name models (Nokia and Pantech), include a SIM card and one has a camera.

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