The surge of smartphones over the past few years has significantly changed the way people use their phones, and increasingly more features are now available on smartphones, from video chat to sharing options, social networking, media and more. One thing that remained mostly unchanged is the phone's basic function: the phone call. Sidecar, a San Francisco-based startup, is launching out of beta on Tuesday, May 22, and aims to revolutionize the humble phone call, bringing it up to speed with the advanced 21st century.
Video and location sharing services have been available for some time now, but they are often confined within their dedicated apps. In Sidecar's vision, such sharing features are particularly useful when users are already engaged in a phone call. According to the company's co-founder CEO Rob Williams, a RealNetworks and Openwave veteran, such features should be easily accessible simply by hitting a button within the phone's dialer to send contact information, launch a video call or send your location coordinates to the call's recipient. "All of the cool stuff has happened on the data side of the phone," said Williams, as cited by Gigaom. "I shouldn't have to jump out of my voice call to share that stuff."
Top Features
Sidecar for Android has been available for weeks as a beta app in Google Play, but Tuesday it launched the commercial versions of the app for Android and iPhone. Both versions are available as free downloads from their respective app stores. Basically, the startup company has built iOS and Android VoIP apps that integrate voice calls with several features such as the ability to share location, pictures, or texts during the call.
The Sidecar client uses the phone's address book to identify individual users by their phone numbers, meaning the app will easily recognize other sidecar users among your contacts. Users can initiate any call within the Sidecar client, regardless of whether the recipient is a Sidecar user or not, though none of the sharing features will be available unless the recipient uses the app as well. Once a Sidecar session is initiated, the parties can have a simple voice conversation, or choose between the several collaboration options the client presents.
See What I See
One of the coolest features of the app is that it can turn on the phone's camera to create a "See what I see" video session. "See what I see" is a live-streaming, real-time video feature that enables people to share their surroundings rather than just broadcast their faces as they talk. As opposed to video calling features, which use the phone's front-facing camera, Sidecar's "See what I see" feature offers live streaming from the phone's rear-facing camera. Streaming video, however, may add data charges, so users may want to limit heavy use to when they're connected to a WiFi network. The app also allows users to take photos and share them.
Interactive Map, Whisper Text, HD Video
Meanwhile, another button tap will enable users to launch an interactive map displaying the relative location of the speakers, and either participant can designate a specific location for a get-together. The app also allows users to share any contact information, whether it's their own or of any contact in their address books. Moreover, Sidecar even includes a chat service called "Whisper Text," allowing users to sent private texts during the call. This feature may prove particularly useful when you want to make sure no one other than your call's recipient hears what you have to say, or for loud environments when you are having difficulty understanding what the other is saying.
If you initiate a call on a WiFi network, Sidecar will launch an HD video session received as a regular voice call by the recipient. This feature is available for free to any U.S. or Canadian number. Once the call ends, the recipient will receive a text message inviting them to download the app. If, on the other hand, you initiate a call on a mobile network, Sidecar will place a normal call through the carrier's voice network.
Free Calls
Sidecar comes as a convenient alternative to paying for phone calls. Sidecar allows users to make free VoIP calls over WiFi to other Sidecar users regardless of their location, and to any number in the U.S. and Canada. Sidecar was founded by Rob Williams and RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser, and is backed by Ignition Ventures, The Webb Investment Network, Rob Glaser, and other individual investors.
