We don’t go in for gratuitous operator bashing here at MobHappy and I’m very pleased to say that we have many readers who work for operators around the world. However, we also call a spade a spade when we need to and one area where operators need to be taken to task is on International calls. Anyone who has ever used their mobile while abroad will have suffered from profound bill shock when they’ve seen the charges. And calling abroad on your mobile is no joke either and is certainly not something to undertake lightly.

But now we have Juvino, a new Java application which runs on Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones - though more handsets will be supported in due course.

The concept is that you download the application, which is free. Then, when you want to make a call, you fire up the application and put in the number you want to call. You can also select the number from your phone’s standard address book. Juvino then tells you before the call what the charges are going to be. This actually strikes me as being a pretty nifty feature in its own right - can you have a relaxed 5p a minute call or a rushed and panicky £1 a minute one?

If you then agree with the charge, Juvino puts the call through, just like normal. There’s no call back, or having to call another number to be connected. It works just like a standard call - only much cheaper. The person receiving the call doesn’t need any special software or set up at their end, which is very important with a new service.

Juvino also offers a raft of cheaper options, such as sms (both International and Domestic), free calls to 0800 numbers (that are free from landlines but often charged for by mobile operators) and cross network domestic calls.

It works on the basis of an account, like Skype Out, for example. You top up your account by Premium sms, which is then charged to your phone bill. Any account based service is at a slight disadvantage to a pay-as-you-go one, but the savings are probably high enough to overcome this challenge. After all, if you put £5 ($9.30) in your account and make a 5 minute phone call to the US, for example, it’ll be cheaper to write off the rest of the money in your account than to have used your regular network to make the call in the first place.

As an example, according to the Juvino website, Vodafone charge £1.29 ($2.40) a minute to call the US, whereas Juvino costs between 5p and 17p (9 - 31 cents) - the variation is caused by whether your operator charges you to connect via Juvino, or if this cost is already bundled in your call package. So on the proverbial 5 minute US call, Juvino will cost a maximum of 85p ($1.58), with Vodafone weighing in at a whopping £6.45 ($12.03). So even if you buy £5 of credit with Juvino, make your call and never use it again, it’s still cheaper than using your network operator in this instance.

So will Juvino make it? The biggest challenge will be marketing the service, particularly to people who only make these kinds of call rarely. But if you call abroad often from your mobile, it’s a no brainer. I also think that there could be a real market for an Enterprise edition, as many companies could save thousands of pounds pretty instantly.

Juvino is still in beta currently, so if you’re in the UK, download it (free) and get £2.50 free calls and texts, as part of the launch promotion.

If you’d like us to review your mobile application or service, drop us a line and we’ll see what we can do.