back to article Thrutu

Sending information from your phone to someone else’s in real time while still talking to them is something most of us have wanted to do at one time or another. Now, thanks to Thrutu, you can. Thrutu    Thrutu You have control over your call even when Thrutu's menu appears For Thrutu to do its voodoo both you and the …

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  1. spencer

    hmm

    "For Thrutu to do its voodoo both you and the person you are calling need to be using an Android handset running 2.1 Eclair or above with the Thrutu app installed, and you both need to be hooked up to the network over a 3G connection, or have Wi-Fi access if you're in a 2G zone."

    Don't you think all of this narrows its usefulness a bit?

    1. Jerome 0

      Really?

      This basically says that in order to use the software, it has to be installed on both handsets, and you need to have internet access. Seems more like common sense than a particularly onerous requirement to me.

      1. spencer

        yes, really.

        It basically says

        You both need Android

        You both need at least 2.1 Eclair

        You both need to have the Thrutu app installed. (which as others point out, means You both need to be in either the UK or America).

        Each one of these requirements limits the amount of people your able to use it with.

        So much so IMO it's basically just going to be your pals that use it with each other. The same pals that already have your twitter, facebook, email address, IM, IRC etc etc etc all of which can be used on your android device *and* further more can be used on your android device *while talking* by a simple press of the 'home' button thanks to in built multi tasking that was available in Android since version 1.0

        1. Test Man

          Yeah

          That's what I thought. What is the point of this, especially as Android users can already send stuff during phone calls? Does no one realise that the "Phone" feature is just another app so can be used while in the background like every other app?

  2. karakalWitchOfTheWest
    FAIL

    Ahem...

    You should mention, that Thrutu is only available in North America and the UK.... :-(

    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=978770

  3. Andrew Woodvine

    Only on WiFi

    I assume those commenters on the Marketplace saying this app only works on WiFi will be on CDMA networks as they don't support simultaneous voice and data.

  4. Antidisestablishmentarianist

    Pah

    Ads at the bottom? No thanks.

    1. Code Monkey

      Developers have to eat, too

      You're on the phone. Ignore the ads

  5. g.marconi

    Thrutu in USA

    You mentioned that some users complained that Thrutu could only be used on wi-fi .The problem for some users in the USA is that they use the poorly engineered CDMA system which can only transmit either data or voice but not both at the same time ! This is just one of the reasons why so few networks found the system of interest. At one time it was unable to send text messages outside its own network...imagine that!

  6. Chris 54

    Great, but not new

    My old company built an identical app for Symbian handsets for Vodafone UK. Believe it or not, this was in 2004-2005. You can read about it here:

    http://wooldridge-consulting.blogspot.com/2011/03/thrutu-in-call-and-awesome-but-not-new.html

    Thrutu is fantastic - in-call sharing should be a core feature of every handset. I wish 'em luck.

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Thumb Up

      @Chris 54

      "My old company built an identical app for Symbian handsets for Vodafone UK. Believe it or not, this was in 2004-2005. You can read about it here:"

      So the "needing a 3G connection" is a limitation of the *app* rather than a 2G network?

      That suggests a *distinct* gap in the market for someone smart enough to solve the problem.

      Nothing I can do but interesting nonetheless

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Looks like crap

    as other Android apps. That this piece of garbage got 80% tells a lot about the platform.

    Also beware when trading pics with strangers: it's very unlikely the sexy fit girl in the photo would own an Android, girls are practical like that, don't want to spend their lives fussing around with gadgets. More likely just some fat unemployed hairy bloke beating off on the other side.

    1. Paul M 1

      Title

      "Looks like crap"

      Indeed! No doubt the iPhone equivalent is so much better...

      Sarcasm aside, as an iPhone "owner" I truly wish this was true....

    2. Lottie
      WTF?

      Up yours you mysoginistic asshole

      "it's very unlikely the sexy fit girl in the photo would own an Android, girls are practical like that, don't want to spend their lives fussing around with gadgets."

      Yeah, I hate gadgets.... Oh no, I actually love my android phone, linux netbook and windows PC.

      I'm sorry, must go now to look at shoes and puppies online.

      Tosser!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Really "Lottie"?

        I take it you are a sexy fit girl then? Well my deep apologies then.

        I'm sure I can trust you on that.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. Lottie
          Troll

          Re: Really "Lottie"?

          I'll have to take other folks word for it, but apparently I'm quite attractive, yeah.

          At the risk of feeding the troll, are you sure you aren't just *hoping* that you'll be cybering with fat hairy men posing as girls?

    3. Dave Murray

      Talks crap

      I must be halucinating the non-IT women in my office with Android handsets then. And, my gf's younger sister. I wonder how I get paid since one of these imaginary women is the person who processes the wages?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Dave

        Question is: would they even install this app?

    4. The Other Steve
      Coat

      All the girls I know have Android phones

      And she's very happy with it.

    5. nsld
      Paris Hilton

      I suspect

      You speak from bitter experience.

      Have you considered that your "success" with fat hairy blokes who like to crack one off says more about you then there technology choice?

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Looks like crap

      *yawn*

      Okay, I lean over the side of the bridge and throw you a morsel.

      My other half, who is considered pretty fit (not just by me), owns an HTC Desire HD and a twin quad core Power Mac with 6Gig of RAM which is dual booted for a selection of OS's, every one of which happily runs the Android development tools.

      She also has time for a large shoe collection.

  8. Lottie

    so you mean...

    ... I can be on the phone, say "hang on while I send you the file", click a button and send one?

    Fuck yeah, I'm getting closer to living in a sci fi movie every day :-)

  9. pullenuk
    Heart

    Er....

    "A fifth button lets you prod the person you are chatting to by making their phone vibrate"

    So the app is aimed at males talking to females with the female using loudspeaker mode?

  10. Al Taylor
    Go

    @ Spence

    According to Google over 90% of Android handsets connected to the Market now run v2.1 of higher and a fair percentage of the UK population live within a 3G reception area.

    http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

    1. spencer

      Yeah....

      After you've fulfilled all of that criteria, you must then must ask if the person you're talking to has the same application and also that they have done everything to make sure that they can receive whatever you want to send them (and that what you want to send them is under 2Mb).

      It's easier to say what you need to say, then email them whatever they need. Or, just press the home button on your android device and do it while your talking.

      I'm sure the system works well, but I just can't see the point.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    re. Yeah...

    Nonsense, if both users have the app installed it launches the little slide out menu on both handsets automatically. It's a sod of a lot easier than trying to e-mail someone something while talking to them. I installed it on my phone and the missus' at lunchtime after reading this. Works a treat.

    1. spencer

      sigh

      Works a treat once you've literally robbed the wife of her phone and installed it for her. Nice.

      Try doing that to your boss' blackberry, and then try emailing him. Then see which is easier.

      1. Goat Jam
        FAIL

        Yes

        Because I really want to send my boss pictures of my cat.

        1. spencer

          boss cat

          You've pulled apart my analogy, but I feel like the point has been missed.

          Here's how I see it:

          With a platform agnostic technology already widely available on the majority of todays mobile device you can send anyone anything you want.

          With Thrutu you can send lolcat pictures to your friends.

          1. Goat Jam
            Pint

            OK

            When you say "Platform agnostic" I assume you are referring to MMS, which the telcos (in my neck of the woods at least) like to charge extremely exciting amounts for the privilege of using.

            If MMS was not so ludicrously expensive (even more so than SMS, egads!) then I would agree that Thrutu is pointless. But while MMS is unattractively priced, then I think it is more than reasonable to expect that less "platform agnostic" alternatives pop up to provide more reasonably priced options for the average punter. If my boss wants me to send him pictures of my cat, then he has two choices. Pay the standard MMS rates, or get a phone that supports a less expensive protocol.

            I think the main point is that Thrutu is not aimed at enterprise types, it is aimed at Mr and Mrs Sixpack, who would like to be able to send each other pictures of their cats without discovering that their bill at the end of the month is so exorbidant that it leaves them struggling to pay for groceries until the next pay cycle.

            Platform agnostic protocols are all well and all, but when the price is artificially jacked up to the point that they become unpalatable then you have to expect that alternatives will emerge.

  12. dssf

    I was able to do this in Jan 2005

    With my Vodafone Sharp phone I was able to do something similar. I was able to shoot a pic and send while on the move, then stood still to be findable for my friend when we were meeting in a Tokyo-area train station.

  13. Thrutu-Phil

    Thanks for the review

    Thanks for the review. I particularly liked the real-world story of the Archeologist!

    About the invites - point noted. I've just added a setting to disable the invite prompt. This should be present from version 1.018 (no promises, but probably toward the end of next week).

  14. Robert E A Harvey
    Thumb Down

    ...only slight annoyance...

    I may have spotted another. Are those ADVERTS along the bottom of the screen shots?

  15. Long Fei
    Stop

    Gaaa

    Can you link to the app in the marketplace rather than appbrain? Appbrain is blocked in China. For goodness knows what reason.

    It's very annoying.

  16. Dropper

    huh?

    How come you don't just push the home button and then email the other person whatever it is you want to send them? Or IM them the file or whatever? Works on my Android, being doing that since I bought my first one a year or so ago... Sending an IM or email doesn't hang up the call, so while I like cool apps, I'm not sure I understand the need for this one. Maybe I'm just not seeing something obvious.

    1. thesykes

      hmmmm

      maybe because you don't have their email address? Also, can't email your current location, could always use Google Latitude for that.

      Not saying I'd use it, I don't send files from my phone, or my location, but, just a couple of reasons.

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