Harris: C2Call makes VoIP calls easy

Now making progress is another startup that, like Skype, has European roots, Silicon Valley venture backing and an intriguing advance in the technology know as voice-over-Internet Protocol, or VoIP. C2Call is the developer of FriendCaller, an app available in Apple's iTunes store that is said to be simpler to use than other VoIP systems such as a Skype and AIM because it eliminates the need for communicating parties to register and exchange user IDs.

Draper's firm was also an early investor in Skype. FriendCaller has "game changer" potential, said Don Plaisted, managing director of Draper Investment: "We like the fact that it allows seamless communication to occur without the need for a separate application installation and its ubiquitous across-platform possibilities."

As someone who occasionally exchanges "hey, call me" messages with far-flung friends, I can see the appeal of instant, one-click dialing. Plus, the price is attractive: "cost-free via the Internet, and for only 2 cents per minute via land lines and cell phones from the U.S. to over 35 countries."

C2Call seems like yet another example of how Internet advances somehow make the world seem simultaneously smaller, larger and economically "flatter." Its founders and architects, Martin Feuerhahn and Michael Knecht, previously founded Actai Networks, a mobile Internet solutions developer with operations in Europe and Asia.