Call waiting eat your heart out

You know, I really like call waiting. It’s quite convenient and I use it frequently. If I hear a little beeping while I’m already on the phone, I know there’s someone else calling me and I can just switch the conversations. Brilliant! But as much as I like that, it looks like it may have just been one-upped.

Line2 is a $1 app for the iPhone that, for such a low price tag, looks to really change the roll of cell phones. As the name suggests, it’s a second line for your cell phone. While this may seem simple, it’s not just a normal call waiting. It’s a complete second line with a completely new number on the same phone. The company TokTuMi (Ba dum tsh) suggests that it can be used as a business number while your main line can be for friends and family. It can even be a 1-800 number if you so wish.

Now, while useful, this alone wouldn’t be a game-changer. However, Line2 boasts another cool feature. You can send and receive calls over Wi-Fi networks. Think about it, where’s your reception generally the worst? Inside, perhaps in your basement. Well if you have a wireless network set up in your house, this is no longer a problem. Best of all, you don’t even need to be in a wireless hot spot. All iPhone plans have free 3G internet access and Line2 can use that as well, though the quality of the call is sacrificed. Not only will this increase AT&T’s effective area, it doesn’t even take minutes, since the call is being sent online and not through AT&T’s network. Any time spent on a call via wireless internet does’t subtract from the time bought with your plan. All your online Line2 calls are free.

Well, kinda. There’s a $15 a month service fee, though they offer a free 30-day trial before that kicks in. It also allows overseas calls, but those most likely won’t cost more than 5 cents a minute. There are also some other petty grievances to look at, such as no touch-tone when dialing, no favorites list, and no text messages, though the company is working on these things. There’s also a faint background noise to let you know you’re still connected. I can see the use, but that seems like it would just be annoying.

However, the extra features it boasts are numerous. Besides conference call capability and a call waiting of it’s own, it has a special, HD mode it can go into if you’re talking to someone else with the Line2 app, 16-bit mode for the tech literate out there. This mode really bumps up the cell phone quality to a new level, allowing you to hear every word much clearer.

Unfortunately, the app has been going up and down on the iPhone’s store due to a DDoS (Direct Denial of Service) attack on the company. Basically, this entails a hacker making a program to download the free trial thousands of times, sign up dummy accounts, and use these things to overload the companies servers so real people can’t connect. Until they can lock down this problem, TokTuMi may pull the app to prevent problems from arising. Currently the app is available, so maybe the trouble has already passed.

This is a huge step forward because, let’s face it, the internet makes things free. I personally have at least 5 different programs I can use (and do use) to contact people online with no charge at all. Cell phone companies have probably been dreading this day, since their rates may actually have to become reasonable. Free minutes, wider range, and plenty of special features all make Line2 a real revolution for the iPhone. Definitely something to watch closely.