Vonage Mobile adds video calling for Android 2.3 and up

Vonage is releasing an update to both its Android and iOS apps today to offer users completely free video calling over both Wifi and mobile data. The video calls are of course locked to only being available between two Vonage users, but will support some pretty handy features. You can choose to display either your front or rear camera, which can let you show off what is going on around you. While in a call you can also seamlessly switch between a video and just audio, something that isn't simply done on most video calling solutions.

This puts Vonage more squarely in the camp of services like Skype, which seem to dominate the space currently. The app says it hasn't yet been updated, but when we took a look the feature seems to be live now. So if you're a Vonage user, go grab your update. Those who haven't yet given Vonage a try may now be compelled to give it a shot as well. 

"Forever tinkering with gadgets."

Facebook Messenger VOIP calling expands outside of Canada

Unlike when it enabled the new Chat Heads feature with an update via the Play Store, Facebook has silently pushed out a feature to its Messenger app today to enable free VOIP calling. If you'll recall back to the beginning of March, the same happened to iOS users and Android users in Canada, but now we're looking at expanded availability in the U.S. and several more countries as well. The calls are of course completely free, and work between two Facebook users over data rather than the carrier's voice networks.

To check and see if you have the option available, tap into an ongoing chat and hit the "i" button in the top right corner. You should then see a simple "Free Call" button. It isn't the most elegant solution, but as a first release we're not going to complain much. Are you seeing the feature enabled in your own Messenger app? Let us know in the comments below.

"Forever tinkering with gadgets."