I gave my love a red, red rose but she actually wanted an iPhone 4S and now you, too, can hand over one of these exciting products to your loved one thanks to Rebtel. This weekend’s TC Gadgets giveaway is a fresh-in-box iPhone 4S (your carrier choice) and $100 worth of calling through Rebtel’s VOIP solution. Got your attention? Good.

The contest will run until noon Eastern on Monday, November 14. I will contact the winner then and update the post next week. To enter, comment below describing, in poem form, why you deserve an iPhone 4S. Limericks will be accepted but they must involve the man from Nantucket. Free or concrete verse is encouraged.

Enter only once. I’ll pick one winner at random and laugh at your entries on my own time. I reserve the right to sell your poems in a chapbook on the subway, calling them my collection of “urban folk poetry” and “prayers to the muse of poesy.”

Special thanks to Rebtel for the great prize.

UPDATE – Congrats to Steve Markert and his poem:

I feel I deserve that 4S,
how much I do I can’t stress.
All I can say now to thee,
is that the phone I have is Blackberry,
And I’d really like out of this mess.

You may not be well-familiar with Rebtel, but the company is currently the largest independent mobile VoIP provider now that Skype is under the Microsoft umbrella. Rebtel, which routes international calls made from mobile phones and landlines to local numbers (specifically to minimize the cost of calling abroad), counts more than 13 million connected users and offers its services in more than 200 countries around the globe. (Not to mention an expected run-rate of $75 million by December of this year — and profitability since 2010.)

When Robin interviewed Rebtel CEO Andreas Bernstrom back in June, he expressed respect for companies like Viber “and the speed at which their mobile applications have gone viral”, but he held that dependence on WiFi and 3G would continue to “make for a poor user experience”.

“VoIP is essentially an improved fixed line service”, Bernstrom continued. “Mobile VoIP, however, has not been cracked due to the limitations of the data network”.

Well you can guess Rebtel has had a little something to say about that. The company launched its first versions of its iPhone and Android apps in 2010, followed by Blackberry in 2011, and today is announcing the launch of version 2.0 of its free iPhone app, which allows users to make and receive free international calls using WiFi, 3G, or local minutes. The app also allows texts and calls to be made to any non-Rebtel users (on any phone) for what Bernstrom says are 90 percent cheaper rates than standard international calling on an average carrier.

And perhaps the coolest feature of Rebtel’s app is a new proprietary technology called “KeepTalking”, which allows users to transition (mid-call, mind you) from WiFi/3G to local minutes. The iPhone and desktop apps will add to the Rebtel free call network already including Android and Blackberry apps, as well as facilitating free calls between existing platforms.

With the mobile VoIP market expected to reach $36 billion in revenues by 2016, and with 70 million mobile VoIP users expected to be in operation by the end of the year, Rebtel’s ability to call any phone or PC anywhere over WiFI/3G or local minutes and seamlessly switch between them if coverage deteriorates, seems to lend it a significant value proposition.

What’s more, the app also enables platform-independent free calls between Rebtel users, labeling these contacts as “free” in the app’s contact list to make it easy to see who’s already using the service. Whenever someone downloads Rebtel, the app automatically sends you a push notification and enables SMS to any mobile phone number, with an average cost savings of over 60 percent, according to the Rebtel team.

For more, check out the Rebtel app here.

Rebtel considers itself to be one of the biggest threats to the Skype empire, so I was interested in learning from the company’s CEO, Andreas Bernstrom, how they felt about Microsoft acquiring their main rival for $8.5 billion in cash.

Unsurprisingly, Bernstrom said the acquisition ‘validated the market’ but he also had some more interesting things to say, mainly about VoIP and mobile telephony in general, and how financially sound the Rebtel business currently is.

For your background, Rebtel was founded in 2006, quickly raising $20 million in its first round of venture capital from investors like Benchmark Capital and Index Ventures. The company routes international calls made from from any mobile phone or landline to local numbers to minimize the cost of calling someone abroad.

Since their Series A round back in 2006, the company hasn’t raised a dime of outside capital, because, as Bernstrom says, they simply didn’t need to. In 2009, the company booked $18 million in revenues, more than doubling that amount the year after ($40 million).

Today, with a staff of roughly 60 employees, Rebtel boasts an annual revenue rate of $60 million and is profitable. For your comparison, VoIP company fring was founded earlier than Rebtel and currently has an annual revenue rate around $10 million.

To scale the business faster and ride the momentum in the VoIP space following the Skype acquisition, Rebtel is now considering raising more financing and has even loosely explored the possibility of taking the company public in the future.

Rebtel is banking on VoIP companies like Skype not iterating fast enough on providing services for smartphones users. Skype does offer mobile applications, but it has been rather slow in launching and improving them. Bernstrom points out that when the Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype closes, Rebtel will be the world’s largest independent mobile voip provider with more than 11 million mobile users and offering its services in over 200 countries.

Rebtel offers mobile applications for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry handsets.

Bernstrom has a lot of respect for companies like Viber and the speed at which their mobile applications have gone viral, but posits that the dependence of its users on WiFi and 3G connections will make for a poor user experience.

What Rebtel aims to do is “offer the best of all worlds in a seamless integration”.

“VoIP is essentially an improved fixed line service. Mobile VoIP, however, has not been cracked due to the limitations of the data network. The next 12-18 months will determine who the winners are”, said Bernstrom.

One of more surprising stats from the report compared the use of international calling and VoIP services by men and women. Of those who make international phone calls, men are more likely than women to do so via their computer through software based services like Skype (31% vs. 19% respectively). The survey also reports that men are more likely than women to say that if they were going to change the way they make international phone calls they would switch to use their mobile phone VoIP service/application (10% vs. 2% respectively).

Men are also more likely than women to make video calls (16% vs. 11% respectively). Of men and women who do make video calls, men are also more likely than women to be willing to pay a monthly fee to be able to do so (42% vs. 24% respectively).

From adults surveyed who make international calls, the majority do so using a landline (51%), either a traditional landline service provider (42%) and/or a VoIP service such as Vonage (12%). Another 44% make international phone calls via their mobile phones, through carrier calling rates (25%), special long distance packages (20%), and/or a VoIP service/application (9%). Another 25% of those who make international phone calls do so using their computer through software based services like Skype, while 20% use calling cards and 4% use something else.

Harris says that one in four U.S. adults make international calls and of those who spend money to make such calls, the average spend is approximately $34 every month. With an estimated 235 million U.S. adults, this works out to roughly 58.8 million Americans shelling out nearly $1.98 billion on international calls outside of the U.S. monthly and $23.8 billion annually.

Hispanic respondents led the way in international calls with 36% saying they make them, whereas only 26% of the Black/African American respondents said they make calls internationally. That data is not particularly surprising, but it does show that there is an opportunity to develop international calling apps for this demographic.

They’re quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They’re nice and all–I’m not saying that–but they’re also touchy as heck. Besides, I’m not going to tell you my whole autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last
Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy. I was giving away a Droid X sponsored by a company called Rebtel and they wanted me to post it on CrunchGear and TechCrunch and ask people to comment to win.

Here’s a bunch of information about Rebtel, in case you wanted to know:

Rebtel is yet another reason you need to convince your friends abroad
to get an Android. Rebtel’s Android App says bye bye to international
calling fees. Simply download the app and call any other Android
device around the world for free, just paying the price, if any for
your local minutes plan.

For all other calls, Rebtel’s international calling app runs in the
background and will intercept users from making expensive long
distance calls by automatically converting the number to a cheap local
number. It’s seamless to the consumer and saves 95% of the call price.

No Wi-Fi needed: Rebtel works on the standard cellular network using
local phone numbers where the caller lives instead of requiring an
active Internet connection to make free or low-cost international
calls. Rebtel for Android works anytime, anywhere and works with the
standard dial pad and address book.

Also just so you know I’ll be picking a winner at noon Eastern on Monday. Only comment once and include your email in the comment form but not in the comment body itself. It’s a Verizon phone and all that, so if you’re not in Verizon’s coverage area it probably won’t do you any good. Otherwise, it’s a pretty good phone.

Also understand that I censored the first few paragraphs of one of the greatest American books of the 20th century because I knew there would be a bunch of folks who would get angry at me for saying swear words.

While the international part of the call is free, the caller and recipient still may have to pay for local calling minutes determined by their mobile phone plans. The app runs in the background and will intercept users making a more expensive long distance calls by automatically converting the number to a cheap local number. So when the user dials an international number from the native Android dial pad, or selects a contact with an international number from the address book, the call is automatically intercepted and routed via Rebtel instead of their carrier. Also since Rebtel works on the standard cellular network using local phone numbers, no WiFi is needed to make calls.

Rebtel’s us reporting a 100% jump in revenue grew in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period last year, increasing revenue from $8 milllion to $16 million. Rebtel’s annual revenue run rate is just over $40 million, and the service has logged more than one billion minutes in international calls. The company also just acquired Talkster earlier this year.

But Rebtel faces a formidable competitor in the VoIP space: Skype. Skype’s share of international calling minutes and traffic are growing rapidly. And Skype’s quarterly revenue is a whopping $185 million.

Talkster is similar to services like Jajah, Rebtel, Hullo, ConnectMeAnywhere, and Fring in that it uses VOIP to make cheap (currently free) long distance phone calls. But those services are highly targeted towards the consumer market, whereas Talkster is not. CEO James Wanless calls the consumer VoIP market a “race to the bottom of rates.” Talkster doesn’t want to play that game. Talkster has its sight set on the enterprise.

Talkster enables calls between and across phones and PCs, with the necessary software bridge. Unlike Jajah and Hullo, however, Talkster doesn’t require a download and works via the Web through your mobile phone and desktop browsers. This makes it more widely available than Jajah’s Symbian based client. Talkster will have a Java client in 2007. Currently, the system connects mobile phones, VoIM (voice over IM), VOIP phones, and PSTN Phones, with the potential to connect to any service that speaks SIP. You can also use Talkster to place free mobile calls to virtually any phone or buddies on MSN, Google Talk, and Gizmo.

After registering for the service online, you have the tedious but necessary task of inputing your contacts’ alias, email address (for VoIM), and phone numbers. VoIM contacts must accept your invitation to be included in Talkster.

When you log your mobile phone into m.talkster.com, you are greeted with a list of contacts’ VoIM online/offline status and can either connect to the contact over VoIM or be automatically forwarded to their phone number of choice. In the case of a long distance call, Talkster acts as a VOIP bridge between the two callers. When making local calls, Talkster steps out of the way and just connects directly.

If you don’t want to place a call on the PC you are working on, Talkster has call-in or call-back options that lets you place a call through the computer, but connect using the phone. The option has definite cost benefits, depending on your mobile plan.

Talkster’s device agnostic model is reminiscent of text based JumpChat and Swarmteams, but incorporating phone calls makes the model much more powerful. The Web interface was a sacrifice but it will at least get Talkster in front of the maximum number of people. An easy-to-use client will really make the service hum and make it far more attractive to test than Jajah or Rebtel. Still, we have yet to see if this is the killer VOIP service we have been waiting for.

Talkster is relying heavily on its enterprise target as the big differentiating factor. We couldn’t get the company to flush out the reasons why it is better suited for the enterprise than the consumer but we were promised that there would be added enterprise functions in 2007. Meanwhile, the beta will battle test the core service.

Alec Saunders was an early beta tester of Talkster – read about his experience here.

VOIP is great when you initiate calls from VOIP phones or software (Skype, Vonage, etc.). These VOIP networks can call other VOIP phones, or patch into the normal telephone networks to make relatively inexpensive calls. Vonage long ago replaced my normal telephone service, and an increasing number of people are using VOIP solutions instead of a normal telephone.

But a new crop of companies have a launched that are trying to let people make free or cheap VOIP calls from a normal POTS (plain old telephone service) phone (often a cell phone) to another POTS phone. If someone gets it right, there’s a huge market out there to destroy. The problem is that no one has gotten it right. And the mass market won’t adopt these services until they are dead simple to use.

These services generally take one of two approaches to allow people to make VOIP calls. One approach is to tell the service what number you are calling from and what number you would like to call. The service then calls both parties and connects them. The second approach is to assign special phone numbers to use instead of the normal phone number. These special numbers are controlled by the VOIP service and bypass the POTS system for the most expensive parts of the call.

Neither approach allows people to make quick calls on the fly to someone. Both require multiple steps to make a call, usually involving the use of a website as well (meaning you have to be at a computer or try to access the services via a mobile browser).

Here are a few that we’ve been tracking:

Jajah: Go to the website, tell it your phone number and the number you want to call, and a call is initiated to both phones. Call rates are very cheap, sometimes free. But you have to be at your computer to use it, and have a billing relationship with jajah if you are making non-free calls. They have some big news coming out this week, however, that will be worth noting.

Rebtel: We first covered Rebtel here. They just announced a whopping $20 million in venture funding. Rebtel has an extremely confusing method for making calls. The basic fee is $1 per week. They then assign local phone numbers for each of your friends. You call that number instead of the normal number for that friend. Your friend picks up the phone, hangs up and dials the number that just called them to connect to you. The call is then free. If that wasn’t clear, you can see the instructions here. You can also use Rebtel without the person hanging up on the other end, but you will be charged for the call (rates are lower than normal phone rates).

Hullo: We covered Hullo here. Very similar to Jajah, with slightly better features.

ConnectMeAnywhere: Sam Sethi wrote about ConnectMeAnywhere on TechCrunch UK. Like Rebtel, ConnectMeAnywhere assigns local numbers to your contacts, and you use those local numbers instead of their normal phone number. Unlike Rebtel there is no free option where the person hangs up and calls back. Instead, CMA just charges a lower rate than your phone company does. Their rates are here.

None of these services is good enough to change user behaviors in the mass market. Having to be at your computer, or call special phone numbers, is too much trouble for most people. Certainly forcing the person receiving the call to hang up and call back isn’t very attractive. And traditional POTS rates continue to fall fast, meaning the incentive to go with a hard-to-use VOIP provider is lower.

We’ll monitor new services as they launch, of course. And perhaps someone will come up with a better solution. Until then, I’m not betting on any of the current crop of companies.

I am sitting here at AlwaysOn conference watching the CEO, Hjalmar Winbladh, demo the product as part of the CEO showcase that Mike Arrington is moderating. Rebtel has received a good reception with the audience and the judges here as it seems to be a simple, yet inovative solution for the high costs of long-distance telephone calls.

You can try the product by filling out the form on the front page of their website. It will send an SMS to both the initiator of the call as well as the recipient and then connect the two ends. It will setup a local number for each friend you setup. The cost of each number that is setup is $1 per week, which is for unlimited calling to the other end.

The company is based in Sweden and was founded by serial-entrepreneur Hjalmar Winbladh, the founder of SendIt (which was acquired by Microsoft in ’99) and a General Manager for Microsoft Mobile solutions in Europe.