I used a rather long drive to Clear Lake on Saturday to play around with Jajah - dubbed the Skype killer.

1) There is nothing like Skype here - Jajah does not even have a client that would allow you IM and voice transmission as Skype does. For the technologically challenged this might be a huge plus for the geek in us it's disappointing.

2) Jajah is basically to the 21st century what the calling card or callback providers where in the nineties. In fact it does not do things much different. The Callback providers made you dial a certain number from your cell phone (or land line) and did call you back. Now you had a free inbound call (no charges from your telco) and could use the cheaper network of the call back provider. It was superbly popular in Germany between 96 and 98 for call within Germany but routed through the US. There was a loophole enabling you nearly free calls between German call phones.

3) Jajah is very simple to use - you just type in the numbers (from and to) you want to pair up in your cell phone or computer. Jajah calls you instanly and connects you rather good.

4) The voice quality for my test calls to Europe and the US was excellent - Jajah apparently carefully checks the quality of underlying providers it uses. In comparison I found SkypeOut unusable for anything else than land lines in Europe.

Conclusion:

Jajah is a helpful tool when on the road and impresses with simplicity BUT from an investors standpoint I have no clue why Globespan Capital and Sequoia Capital pour two rounds so far into the company.

The Calling Card/ Call Back business is traditionally low margin with sudden changes in the competitive landscape emerging every day. Jajah is certainly on track generating buzz but providing a sustainable ROI for investors that might not be able to sell riding the 'Skype-Hype" might prove very difficult.