In a recent IFA Preview Event that took place in Munich, T-Mobile (in this case Deutsche Telekom), gave insight on the future of their upcoming RCS-e service. The name of the service is Joyn, and part of the future insight was the fact that the service will be integrated into Windows Phone 8, and available as an application for older Windows Phone devices (Windows Phone 7.8).
The big deal with the Joyn service to be released by T-Mobile is that it is based on the GSMA’s recommended RCS-e standard, meaning the service will be usable between devices on different networks. Those networks include Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange, and Telecom Italia.
According to the T-Mobile announcement at the IFA Preview Event, the service is expected to be available commercially by October 2012. With the initial release of the service on devices, it will include support for chat, file transfer, and video chat. Yes, file transfer, take a minute to take that all in. We think this is awesome to hear!
As long as you have a data or SMS plan on your device through your RCS-e standard carrier, you will be able to use both the chat and file transfer features of Joyn. Video chat will be priced separately, for those interested in using it. At this rate, Joyn is definitely going to give Skype a run for its money, especially on the Windows Phone.
Hopefully, by the time Joyn becomes available on the Windows Phone, Microsoft would have heavily improved the currently very weak Skype application. Skype is also expected to be integrated on all Windows Phone 8 devices, much more than Joyn. Remember, Joyn will only be available on Windows Phones through the carriers announced by T-Mobile, at least for now.
As far as I know Vodafone is also planning to introduce joyn in this year.