With all the features in the world, you know the last thing your wireless carrier would want you to know is that you can be calling or texting anywhere in the world…for free?!  That’s right, don’t adjust your monitor, I didn’t spell that wrong, F-R-E-E! Don’t believe me? Good, cause there is always a catch. But I am half right.

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As many of you don’t know, UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) has been available for quite some time with very little buzz about it. In fact, Skype Mobile app has had more buzz than this. Why? Because it’s available on the least advertised network in the U.S. (T-Mobile) and a few “never-heard-of’s” elsewhere. To quickly alleviate the techy’s revolt of UMA; I know UMA is available on AT&T devices as well. However, it’s been disabled. They’ve blocked its use for now and the only thing I have heard is they want to further research femtocell technology (which requires more hardware). Moving on…

The way UMA works is complicated, so a simple ‘how-to’ seems more up everyone’s alley. Basically, most T-Mobile Blackberry’s and two other Android devices (after 11/3/10) will be carrying this feature. All you have to do on Blackberry’s is connect to a WIFI signal and start calling. For Androids, an app is pre-installed in the menu labeled ‘WIFI calling’. Follow the instructions and within seconds, you’re connecting to your friends, saving your minutes and even texting via WIFI! So why no advertising? T-Mobile was not forcing Blackberry users to have a data plan until recently, that meant people could get the most basic plan, pay no data and use a WIFI signal to make all there calls. Now that data plans are required on all PDA/Smartphones it is becoming an available app on most newly launched androids and blackberry’s. This is where I am half right. Since the newly advertised tiered data plans (launching 11/3/10) will be 200MB for $10 or Unlimited for $30, this seems suitable to advertise and make widely available. Now that money will be in their pocket, they want the users to know about it. You can’t blame them, its still one of the most usable and simplest options that users will go nuts over and people can save money on! Kudos for T-Mobile!

So what else should you know about this? First, realize that it does REQUIRE a capable device (PDA/Smartphones) that you are paying on a monthly plan/data plan. It needs a phone number to work. Second, realize that calling is just as reliable as your VOIP will allow you to be (i.e. short range, working router, decent internet carrier and handoffs).  You can’t blame T-Mobile when your router isn’t routing. Third, and most important, this does NOT work on T-Mobile’s data network. Only on a WIFI signal. So here is a basic list of can’s and cannot’s for those of you still confused (don’t feel bad, I was too).

You CAN call/text on a cruise ship for free if you have WIFI access that doesn’t charge you.
You CANNOT call/text on a cruise ship for free if your connected to the ships cell tower via your cell phone signal… I am saying turn off all connections except WIFI.
You CAN call/text from a WIFI connection in another country for absolutely free.

You CANNOT get unlimited access unless you are in range of the connected WIFI signal.
You CAN call your friends on other networks using your WIFI calling/texting for free.
Your friends CANNOT get free M2M when you are calling/texting them using your WIFI. Calling/texting authenticates thru carriers networks. Often times, it cannot authenticate its origination when using the WIFI.

I hope this basic list helps and everyone gets the idea of how it works. It’s magic jack for your cell phone (with no yearly charge). Its concept is to provide users an alternative when they are not getting good signal in the home, office or place of business. But we all know how awesome free unlimited calling and texting is, especially when traveling. Here is a list of current and upcoming devices that will work with this feature:
• Nokia E73 Mode^TM
• Blackberry® Curve^TM 8520
• Blackberry® Bold^TM 9700
• Blackberry® Curve^TM 3G.
• Motorola Defy (Launch 11/3/10)
• HTC My Touch 4G (Launch 11/3/10)

Anticipate most other Smartphone devices from T-Mobile to have these features pre-loaded in the future. For further exploration of UMA technology, you can Google it or visit this site.