There is a new VoIP service for the 500,000 Facebook users to communicate via text and voice chat, launched by T-Mobile. Bobsled is an application that does not need to be downloaded and installed. When a Facebook user registers, he gets a phone icon on his wall on which he can click to place calls to other Facebook friends, using earphones and a microphone. The calls are of course, free.

As a serious challenger to more prominent services like Skype, Google, Yahoo and AOL, T-Mobile announced the future possibility of using Bobsled to place cheap calls worldwide to people who are not currently connected to Facebook, on their landline phones and mobile phones. Press release

Update: Bobsled has temporarily been shut down due to problems T-Mobile is facing with regards to the application with Facebook. The source of the problem is reported to be that users have confused Bobsled with another Facebook-based voice application, and Facebook has protested to that. The Bobsled site, on its part, says, "We are voluntarily and temporarily suspending the Bobsled service as we work with our partners at Facebook to address their design questions. We intend to address their questions related to the design of the service, including working to alleviate Facebook's concerns that the Bobsled experience is clearly differentiated and is not mistaken for a Facebook created property. We are committed to providing free calling through Bobsled and expanding the service with mobile clients, dialing to mobile and landlines, and other great features in the future. We apologize to our customers for this temporary disruption in service." Many hope it opens again soon.

When Skype is not free, what does it make you pay for? There are pay-as-you-go rates and some subscription plans, and now there is Skype Premium, which is at $8.99 per month. Along with the free calls and what everyone else gets, you get to call free to any phone in the US and Canada. You also get group video calling, which is seemingly the main value element in the package. You already have video calling with Skype, but what is offered in Skype Premium is the ability to talk to up to 10 persons in video conferencing.

Given the popularity of Skype, the group video calling feature will appeal to many, especially corporate users. The video calls may include up to 10 users but Skype itself recommends no more than 5 users for better quality of calls. Something to bear in mind if you are comparing video services in perspective of becoming a customer. And you won't be much appealed by the unlimited free calls to the US and Canada and there are conditions attached - you need to subscribe for 3 or 12 months, not mentioning to 'fair usage policy' that Skype imposes on the definition of unlimited calling. Moreover, there are other services that allow you to make unlimited free calls to the US and Canada, like GMail calling. And then, as some chocolate dust on the cream, you get the HD quality webcam for only 3/4 of the price. Deal? Maybe only if you are looking for the multi-party video conferencing stuff.

Users have the tendency to believe that when calls are free, it means that they pay nothing for making the calls. Thanks to VoIP, this is true in many cases. There are however cases when, while the service doesn't charge anything, you still have to pay something... read more.