VoIP to Rok on

Quite a scoop was reported by the UK tabloid “Inquirer” over the weekend. It seems that the British firm Rok Entertainment, a data compression software and mobile TV services provider, will be releasing software that will allowed VoIP- / internet-based phone calls on cellular phones. The newspaper makes itself the first to call Rok the “Skype of the mobile phone world.”

Reportedly, the news was leaked in advance of the planned Friday (8 September) launch of the Rok software. Of course, not even “Inquirer” sources were good enough to mention that “one vital piece of information” that will make the whole thing work today: “Namely, the URL for the site from which it will be possible to download the necessary software for free.”

“Inquirer” staff had learned of the date and technology, but not the actual company name; the fact that Rok Entertainment might be the fashioner of the new software was deduced by a tech reporter there. The “Inquirer” went so far as to attempt to contact Rok marketing director Bruce Renny, who neither confirmed nor denied the story. However, pointed out the newspaper, the word on the (Wall) streets is that Rok recently sought a US $250 million “float on Nasdaq.”

Required for the system will be Bluetooth technology on the phone and broadband on the PC in question, both of which are fairly well standard these days. No WiFi is needed. Reportedly, the system will not be compatible with Skype and a mobile handset will also be required. The first version of the software will run on Symbian smartphones, followed by a Java client version, and finally a Windows Mobile 5.0 version.

The breaking story from the “Inquirer” can be found via this link right here. And, of course, we’ll run the story here at CRMchump once the product release becomes officially official.

Rok Entertainment was founded in 2004 as a spinoff of ROK Corporation. The first major project produced by Rok Entertainment was software for what is now known as the Rok Player and was written by Rok’s in-house team of IT technicians.