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Spanish telecom company Telefonica, which owns O2 here in the UK, have unveiled a brand new app which will offer customers the ability to make calls and send text messages free of charge from their iPhone.
The app which goes by the name Tu Me will be entering the same market as apps such as Skype, Viber and Whatapps who also currently offer free calls using VoIP technology.
It’s a strange move considering most network operators consider this sort of technology a threat to their business model; however, Telefonica have said that the company would “rather keep the customer than lose them to other products and services”.
The Tu Me app will be available as a free download for the iPhone and will be promoted across the company’s telecom networks; this includes O2 in the UK, Movistar in Spain and Vivo the largest mobile network in Brazil. In total, Telefonica has around 300 million customers world-wide.
In order to make free calls and send messages, both the caller and also the recipient will have to have the app installed. The app will not allow you to call standard landline or mobile numbers; however this is something that you can do with Skype (at a price).
Hopefully privacy shouldn’t be an issue when using the app, as Telefonica have assured customers that the data stored on their servers is secure and encrypted and have promised not to allow third-parties access to the information stored on users.
If you don’t happen to have an iPhone, don’t panic. Although the app will initially be launched on the Apple device, it has also been announced that an Android version is also on the way. Unfortunately, there has been no mention of any other mobile OS though.
If you fancy trying the app, head on over to the Tu App site where it can be downloaded now for free.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
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