While many of us use Skype for our internet phone calls, one application in Japan is aspiring to provide an alternative, one that taps into your network of friends on Twitter. OnSay is an iOS application jointly developed by Life2Bits Inc, utari Inc, and Project Zero that lets you make VoIP calls to your your favorite ‘Tweeps.’
I gave it a quick test run last night, but unfortunately there weren’t any people in my network using it, so I couldn’t really call anyone. But I got in touch with Taka Katayama of Life2Bits who says that the app is doing quite well in its early days. He points out that OnSay is currently the number two ranked free application in Japan, and is the top free social networking app in the country. I’m told that about 40,000 users have logged in over the 24 hours since it went online yesterday.
OnSay claims it can help you if you want to call a Twitter friend, but you don’t know their phone number. And like any VoIP service it’s great to have a substitute for your regular phone line, in case of service disruptions (like earthquakes in Japan, for example). The application claims to work over 3G and Wi-Fi, but disclaims that it ‘may not be available’ over Wi-Fi, which I assume means that it’s hit and miss.
The app asks you to login with your Twitter credentials, and after that you can see which of your friends have installed OnSay as well (It was at this point that I gave up — thanks for nothing, Twitter friends!). After you have some friends in your list, then you can start your free calls.
Currently the service does not have any revenue model, but it is a free download, available from the app store. You can check out a few of the screenshots below to get an idea of how it looks. The interface is pretty minimalist, with a sort of cartoonish design.
We’ll keep an eye on this one, and hopefully add an update after we can test it with friends.
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