magicJack Plan Standalone VoIP Phone, BB/iPhone Apps; CEO Slams netTALK Rivals

In a world of over-zealous PR and media-cautious executives, magicJack CEO Dan Borislow is a breath of fresh air.  In a recent interview with Laptop, Borislow blows off speculation of the legality of the company's recently-announced femtocell and tips an upcoming Skype-like standalone phone, but saves some choice words – "It's a piece of sh*t ... it's run by a bunch of fly-by-nights with no assets" – for recently-launched rival service netTALK.

Asked about the magicJack femtocell – which uses wireless frequencies already licensed to carriers – Borislow suggests that there are various legal loopholes which can be taken advantage of.  These include the FCC's unlicensed transmissions regulations, and while there are restrictions on range that shouldn't, Borislow insists, effect the femtocell's use.  It's expected to arrive in Q2 2010 priced the same as the existing magicJack ($39.95).

As for the standalone phone, Borislow reckons "it will be six times cheaper [than a standalone Skype phone] and the quality will be significantly better".  It'll be followed in late-Q3 with BlackBerry and iPhone magicJack VoIP apps, apparently.  magicJack recently shifted all call logs and contacts details into cloud storage rather than on the adapter itself, so each of the different products – softphone, standalone phone, femtocell or original adapter – will be able to access them.  Of course, it's Borislow's fighting words against netTALK that are most entertaining, and the outspoken CEO reckons his rivals "will be bankrupt soon".