Today I stumbled upon a nice little website which talks about hacking up your MagicJack voice over IP phone.

The site has tips which include how to stop the software from popping up on your screen [so you can see their ads], spoofing the caller ID, changing the proxy server and using the MagicJack hardware with Skype software [nice!].

Anyone with a MagicJack phone should visit the MagicJack hack site.  You can also find a review of the MagicJack here.

One of GetUSB.info’s most popular post’s is the Review: MagicJack Phone article that talks about the product and services as experienced by one of my contributing editors.  Today, we find out that MagicJack paid $50Gs to Boing Boing in a defamation lawsuit pertaining to an article they wrote.

So what was all the fuss?  Boing Boing uncovered some interesting information about the MagicJack which we didn’t realize during our review.  The MagicJack uses customer profiles, locations and call habits to push targeted ads to the MagicJack software interface.

Boing Boing reports that during the purchase of the product, activation of the product or support for the product, at no time is the user aware of these terms and conditions.

Now, I don’t think the ad sponsored business plan is a bad one, but giving the users a heads-up or opt-out choice is definitely needed.  Even with the small amount of ad space used for such an incredibly cheap and convenient product is not a big deal [in my eyes].

So here is our official notice:  be aware of this fact before buying a MagicJack phone.  To read the full review of this wonderful product, please visit the original article:  Review:  MagicJack Phone.

Source:  Boing Boing.

REVIEW OF MAGICJACK PHONE

The MagicJack phone is a simple device which is specifically designed to connect your regular [and current] land-line phone to the internet for Voice Over IP calling.

I ran into one of the project managers of MagicJack from a different business deal and he sent a phone for review. I’ve mentioned the MagicJack phone before, but this is my first experience using the product.

OVERVIEW

The MagicJack is a small device [2.5″ x 1.5″] and works as a USB dongle which connects to your computer via USB port. The MagicJack phone does not require a Hi-Speed USB connection and thus will work on your front USB connection of a PC tower or the slower ports off your laptop docking station.

The USB MagicJack costs about $35-$40 depending on where you get it. You then pay $19 [the year after you buy it] for unlimited calling in the United States, Canada and parts of central America. Calls outside this region are then chargeable, but very reasonable. I looked up rates to the UK at it was $0.02 per minute. Not bad at all.

WHY IT’S UNIQUE

The MagicJack phone is unique because it has a regular phone jack connected to the dongle. This means ANY phone can be plugged into the device and used for VoIP calling (more…)

UPDATE: The MagicJack phone jack received Product of the Year in 2007. After the purchase of the MagicJack USB dongle (about $40) you pay a one time fee of $19.95 per year for unlimited calling. Not $19.95 per month BUT $19.95 per year. This will reduce your phone bill to just $20 a year! The MagicJack phone is available at Amazon.

Review: GetUSB.info reviews MagicJack, the Magic Phone Jack.

MagicJack is a convenient USB dongle with phone jack attached to it. By connecting your regular phone to the MagicJack phone port, you can now make free calls anywhere within the US for free. If traveling in Canada, Mexico, UK, China, Italy and Israel then you can call home (USA) for free.

MagicJack is a VoIP service which doesn’t have phone charges but rather an upfront cost for the USB dongle. No pricing yet, but it does provide not only free calling using your regular phone, but includes (more…)