Gizmo5 and Truphone Pioneers In Every Sense of the Word

In the early 2000s, the world was in the middle of a communication revolution. As Skype captured global attention, reshaping how we talked to friends, family, and colleagues over the internet, other contenders were vying for a piece of the VoIP market—two of the most interesting being Gizmo Project (i.e., Sipphone), later known as Gizmo5 and Truphone. Each followed a parallel path to Skype but aimed to address different aspects of digital communication based on SIP. Today, they are largely forgotten, but their stories are equally compelling, as they both introduced innovations that went beyond Skype's offerings. Let’s take a deeper look at their rise, their promise, and their eventual demise.

Gizmo Project/Gizmo5: A Glimmer of Open-Source Potential

In 2003, Michael Robertson, a tech entrepreneur best known for creating MP3.com, launched the Gizmo Project, first known as SipPhone and ultimately Gizmo5. The team behind this venture included notable names like Jeff Bonforte and Jason Droege at times, who like Robertson, shared a vision of making internet telephony open, flexible, and easy to use.

What made Gizmo Project stand out, especially in its early years, was its focus on open standards. Unlike Skype, which operated on a proprietary protocol, Gizmo5 embraced SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). SIP was an open standard that allowed for more flexibility in communication between different platforms. This interoperability was Gizmo's major selling point: users could connect with any other SIP-based service, including actual landlines and mobile phones, without needing to be locked into a single ecosystem. At a time when Skype dominated but was walled off from other communication tools, this was a significant advantage.

Gizmo5 also integrated with GrandCentral (now GoogleVoice,) Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, and even Skype (through unofficial workarounds), making it an incredibly versatile tool. But one of its most interesting features was the ability to turn a computer into a makeshift phone system—enabling real phone calls, not just computer-to-computer communication. This was something Skype only integrated later with SkypeOut.

Additionally, in 2006, Gizmo Project made a significant push into the mobile space by working on the Nokia N and E series phones, allowing users to leverage VoIP from their mobile devices—an impressive feat at the time. This mobile integration was a forward-thinking move as mobile VoIP was still in its infancy, but it also signaled Gizmo’s commitment to an interoperable and mobile-first approach to internet telephony.

However, despite these innovations, Gizmo5 never captured the mainstream imagination in the way Skype did. Part of the reason was the sheer scale and brand awareness that Skype managed to build. But Gizmo also suffered from technical complexities; while open standards gave it more flexibility, it also made the system harder to use for non-technical people compared to Skype’s “plug-and-play” simplicity.

In 2009, Google acquired Gizmo5 for an undisclosed amount, and while there was speculation that Google might use the technology to challenge Skype, particularly by integrating it into Google Voice, Gizmo5 was quietly folded into Google’s operations. The project was discontinued, and its legacy faded into the background. While it did not survive as a standalone product, Gizmo5's DNA arguably lives on in services like Google Voice and Google Meet.

Truphone: Innovating VoIP, SIM, and eSIM Technology

At the same time that Skype and Gizmo were competing for dominance in desktop VoIP, another player was exploring the mobile frontier—Truphone. Launched in 2006, Truphone initially presented itself as a mobile VoIP application, much like Skype, but with an important twist: it was designed from the outset to work seamlessly on mobile devices. Where Skype struggled in its early years to transition from desktop to mobile, Truphone was purpose-built for the growing market of smartphones and mobile internet.

Truphone’s mobile-first vision took shape in 2006, when it also began working with Nokia’s N and E series phones, enabling VoIP functionality directly on these mobile devices. This collaboration placed Truphone at the cutting edge of mobile communication technology, at a time when VoIP was largely associated with desktop use.

In 2007, Truphone made headlines when it became the first company to demonstrate VoIP on an iPhone at the prestigious DEMO conference to widespread media and blogger acclaim, something I personally helped orchestrate along with founder James Tagg, and the always steady James Body. This was a groundbreaking moment—the iPhone had just launched, and the idea of making internet calls from the most anticipated mobile device in the world was revolutionary. Then, in 2008, when the Apple App Store officially launched, Truphone became the first mobile VoIP app available for iPhone users. This gave Truphone a first-mover advantage in the mobile VoIP space, as it could capitalize on the early rush to adopt app-based communications on smartphones.

But Truphone’s real innovation came later, with the introduction of its SIM card service, Local Anywhere, in 2010. Truphone's SIM allowed users to have multiple international phone numbers on one SIM card, making it incredibly useful for people who traveled frequently. This was revolutionary because it eliminated the need for multiple SIM cards or high roaming fees, which were common in the pre-4G era. In essence, Truphone became not just a VoIP service, but a global mobile operator, offering cheaper, more flexible connectivity for frequent travelers and businesspeople.

Truphone’s ambitions didn’t stop there. In 2012, also at the DEMO conference, we worked with the Truphone as they demonstrated its seminal eSIM technology under the name of Let's Connect. This innovation was way ahead of its time—an embedded SIM that allows users to switch carriers without physically swapping SIM cards. The eSIM technology was particularly exciting for international travelers, allowing them to switch between carriers in different countries without needing to buy new SIM cards. Truphone’s eSIM demonstration paved the way for what would become a major trend in mobile technology, eventually adopted by Apple, Google, and other major tech companies.

Despite these pioneering steps, Truphone never reached the widespread adoption that its technology seemed to deserve. Part of the issue was the highly competitive nature of the mobile market, where giants like Vodafone, AT&T, and Verizon dominated. While Truphone’s SIM and eSIM services were innovative, they were niche products aimed primarily at business travelers—a market that, while lucrative, was limited in scale compared to the consumer market that Skype was targeting.

Moreover, the rise of apps like WhatsApp and Viber, which offered free calling and messaging over Wi-Fi, reduced the demand for a service that was focused on cheap international calling. Why pay for a Truphone SIM when you could call internationally for free using WhatsApp?

Truphone still exists today, but it has shifted its focus primarily to eSIM and mobile connectivity for businesses. While its VoIP roots are largely forgotten, its contributions to mobile technology, especially eSIM innovation, are a significant part of its legacy.

The Rise and Fall of Parallel VoIP Innovators

Both Gizmo Project and Truphone offer fascinating parallels to Skype, but they also illuminate how VoIP technology evolved in multiple directions. Gizmo5 excelled at interoperability and open standards—factors that gave it an edge in flexibility but also made it more complex for average users. Its eventual acquisition by Google speaks to its technical prowess, but its inability to gain mainstream traction compared to Skype highlights the importance of simplicity and scale in consumer technology.

Truphone, on the other hand, tackled a different problem—mobile VoIP and international roaming. While Skype was still figuring out how to transition from the desktop to mobile, Truphone was already offering seamless mobile communication with innovative SIM technology. Its 2007 VoIP demo on the iPhone at DEMO, followed by its release of the first mobile VoIP app in the App Store in 2008, cemented Truphone’s place as a pioneer in mobile communications. And its 2012 eSIM demo of Let's Connect at DEMO was a milestone that anticipated the future of global mobile connectivity.

Both of these services demonstrated that there was more to VoIP than just desktop-to-desktop calling, and each provided a glimpse into what the future of communication might look like. Gizmo5’s embrace of open standards and Truphone’s innovative mobile and SIM technology were ahead of their time in many ways. Yet, both were ultimately overshadowed by more user-friendly services that focused on simplicity and mass adoption, rather than technical excellence or niche markets.

The demise of Gizmo5 and Truphone serves as a reminder that in the fast-moving tech industry, innovation alone isn’t enough. To succeed, products need to be accessible, easy to use, and targeted at the right market at the right time. Skype may have faltered in the face of newer competitors, but it captured a moment in history by offering exactly what users needed at the right time. Gizmo5 and Truphone, while brilliant in their own ways, couldn’t find that same balance, and today they live on mostly in the annals of tech history.

Their stories, however, are important footnotes in the broader narrative of how VoIP transformed global communication. They remind us that the future of communication was never just about one platform but about a series of innovations, some successful, others less so, that collectively shaped the world we live in today.