One of my biggest problems with any system that virtualizes your mobile telephone identity with different telephone numbers is that the telephone numbers aren't really telephone numbers. Sure, you can receive calls through that number. Making calls appear as that number involves either a client-side application on your phone a-la TalkPlus or dialing a number that isn't the person's real number-which is how Jangl works.

The other thing that these virtual numbers don't support is something every mobile phone user expects to work: SMS. If I am masking my true phone number and it's a mobile phone, I would hope that if I don't want to talk to someone, but would rather text them, SMS would actually work.

Now it does. Jangl has made their virtual numbers SMS-enabled. Now you can talk and text, while maintaining control over your identity. They've also made it easier to import your friends into Jangl if you use a web-based email account like Google, Yahoo, or Hotmail.

Press release after the jump (updated 28 November 2007 @ 10:30am PST).

Jangl's Latest Free Upgrade Features Safe, Private and Free SMS

Jangl's SMS Lets Customers Send and Receive Text Messages from Any PC or Mobile Handset;
Route Messages, Eliminate Texting Fees and Add Online Friends with a Click

PLEASANTON, Calif. - Nov. 28, 2007 - Jangl, Inc., the company connecting millions of online profiles and mobile phones, safely and privately, today debuted a major upgrade to its free service, enabling a text messaging capability that cleverly connects mobile handsets and personal computers for free SMS. Additionally, Jangl is adding options that let consumers of all ages stay safe, save money, and easily connect their online networks to their phones.

Together with its current service, today's launch means that Jangl customers can now:

• Be private: By talking, exchanging voicemails, and now swapping text messages - on any phone or personal computer - without ever sharing their private phone number;


• Save money: By eliminating some text messaging fees and drastically reducing most long distance calling charges, and;


• Stay connected: With anyone, anywhere, with or without your phone, easily adding friends to your Jangl network and choosing when and how they can connect with you.

In offering its new text message-enabled service, Jangl taps a huge market. According to leading technology analyst firm Gartner, about 936 billion SMS messages were sent worldwide in 2005, and that number will approach 2.3 trillion in 2010.1 Nearly all new mobile phones available today are SMS-enabled, according to CTIA.2

The addition of SMS capability reaffirms Jangl as the leader in bridging the web and the phone by broadening the company's offering beyond voice and voicemail, and - when combined with other features recently released - strengthens Jangl's value proposition for mobile consumers with active lifestyles on the social web. Jangl's technology already connects 40+ million online profiles with mobile devices due to its customized, in-context service integrations with some of the web's top social networking and online personals sites.

"Jangl's contextual utility in social networks has been enhanced significantly in this latest service release," said Michael Cerda, CEO and co-founder of Jangl, Inc. "For several months, our loyal customers have been asking us to develop a text solution that would enable them to stop toggling keyboards and text quickly and efficiently with all of their online friends, while, at the same time, continuing to deliver on the most popular customer benefits of Jangl services - cost savings, privacy and safety. With today's debut, we connect a more diverse group of people and, in turn, dramatically expand our partner offerings and our revenue potential. In the near-future, we'll detail how Jangl will work with brand marketers to let millions enjoy all of these features and functionality at little or no cost to the end-user."

SMS and Jangl

Jangl already uses local phone numbers to route calls and voicemails to customers' mobile phones. For its fast-growing population of customers using Jangl in social networks, Jangl also delivers MP3 voicemail messages to personal email accounts and messaging centers within the world's largest and most popular social networks, like facebook.

With Jangl's new SMS capability, consumers can use those same phone numbers to exchange text messages with their contacts. Jangl's new features address key customer use cases described by Jangl'ers, including: singles seeking mates in privacy; teenagers staying safely connected and conserving their texting plan minutes, and mobile social networkers who want to talk or text with online friends.

• Jangl phone numbers can be used for direct, phone-to-phone SMS messaging, keeping both parties' real phone numbers completely private;


• Text messaging can be initiated from either a PC or a phone, and can be delivered to either;


• Sending and receiving text messages via the web interface is 100% free3;


• Text messages are also delivered to a customer's Jangl inbox and email address;


• Jangl's U.S. customers have the option of having text messages sent directly to their mobile phones;


• Jangl customers can control, at an individual-contact level, whose text messages are delivered where, directly to the phone, to the inbox, or both;


• Customers outside of the U.S. can send and receive text messages over the web using the web interface on the Inbox and Contacts pages. Jangl will extend additional features to other regions over coming months.

More about Jangl and SMS can be found at http://corp.jangl.us/faq.aspx.

Jangl's Contact Importer

Jangl today also debuts a way to instantly get Jangl phone numbers for your email contacts, including those from Yahoo, Gmail, MSN, and Hotmail.

With Jangl's new Contact Importer, Jangl customers can simply:

• Enter their email address and password for a specific webmail account;


• See a list of all of their existing contacts;


• Click to select which contacts they'd like Jangl numbers for;


• Instantly get locals numbers on which to call or text, regardless of their location.

More about Jangl's Contact Importer can be found at http://corp.jangl.us/faq.aspx.

Editorial Note: More Jangl News Coming Soon

Since 2006, Jangl has connected mobile phones and online profiles for several leading social networks and social media networks. For inhabitants of social networks, Jangl provides a new, compelling, feature-rich and safe way to talk on the phone. For online communities of all kinds, a partnership with Jangl creates a differentiating service that increases usage, engagement and revenues by extending communities to the mobile phone.

In coming weeks, Jangl will announce major new partnerships, technologies, and business expansions. We are currently briefing select press, bloggers and analysts on this news. For a private briefing or to be added to our news distribution list, please contact us here.

About Jangl

Jangl™ is the social communications leader connecting phones and online identities for millions who socialize, share and create online. Through direct and partnered distribution, Jangl is provisioned and marketed to over 40 million people with online profiles. Some of the Jangl service brands include MatchTalk for Match, Phonebook for Facebook, Call Anyone for Tagged, TrueTalk for True, PrivateTalk for FriendFinder, and Jangl CallMe for Fubar. In 2007, Jangl and telephony platform leader JAJAH entered into a strategic partnership to collaborate on new services and business projects in the future. Jangl's investors include Cardinal Venture Capital, Labrador Ventures and Storm Ventures, which together have invested $9 million. Jangl is headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., and is available on the web at http://www.jangl.com and via telephone at 1.925.271.5050.

Jangl is a trademark of Jangl, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

1 http://www.gartner.com
2 http://www.ctia.org/content/index.cfm/AID/10342
3 If you send or receive text messages via your phone, your normal flat-rate or per-message fee to your provider still applies. Messages sent from the Jangl.com web interface are free.