I’ll admit that I had a bit of a chuckle when I found this the other day. According to Budweiser and freephoneline.ca;
“Talk is cheap. Really cheap. Like free cheap.”
Going live yesterday, the Bud Phone long distance solution is here! What the Bud Phone app offers, is free Canadian long distance calling. Yes, I said free and the service is open to residents of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. Bud Phone is available for both your computer and smartphone (BlackBerry, Android or iPhone). Now the mobile app is nowhere near as robust as the application on your PC or Mac, but it does integrate nicely with your BlackBerry Address Book, in order to access long distance numbers. It also has its own recent call log to keep track of those you have drunk dialled in the wee hours of the morning.
Before you begin using Bud Phone, users are required to enter their current location (city). By doing so, your calls are then correctly redirected to a local network access number. You can easily change your location at any point. Now Bud Phone doesn’t reach every corner of the Great White North; check out the free calling city list. Bud Phone will provide users with vouchers they can purchase that are good for calling globally (2 cents per minutes for Canada and the US, 3 cents per minute to 50+ countries). If you want to give it a whirl on your PC or Mac, check out the additional features:
- Call all major cities like Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and their surrounding towns.
- Have your voicemails delivered to your private email accounts as an audio file,
or check them from your Bud Phone or Home Phone. - All incoming phone numbers are displayed on the Bud Phone.
If the number is saved in your contacts, you can customize what shows up.
If you decide not to pick up, all calls will still be answered by your free voicemail service. - Forward your incoming calls to any phone number you wish, including; your cell, home, cottage or a friend’s phone number for free - up to 3 separate phone numbers at the same time.
- Bud Phone offers a form of 911 service that is similar to traditional 911 service, but has some important differences and limitations when compared with enhanced 911 available with traditional telephone service.
So I guess with Bud Phone you can call your friend across the country and ask him to grab a couple of cold ones before he flies out (or maybe not). There are some rendering options, as you can see from the image above, perhaps they had a few too many when they put the finishing touches on it. Bud Phone will work on BlackBerrys running OS 4.5 or higher. They list the following models as being supported Bold 9000 and 9700 series, Curve 8300, 8500, 8900 and 9300 Series, Torch 9800 and Tour 9630.
