"...the Cubic phone could save 50% to 90% off your per minute international roaming rate."

I don't call London and I don't call France, but I always jump at a deal when I get the chance. Ha ha, that was lame. But according to a recent article written by David Pogue in The New York Times, there now exists "A Cellphone Without Borders." I don't really know what that means. Did cell phones ever have borders? If these theoretical borders were eliminated, wouldn't they charge one flat rate no matter where you called? Because to me that's what "no borders" means. Apparently not to David, but that's a topic for another post.

Cell phones still have borders, but thanks to a new company, Cubic, the price of those borders could come down dramatically. Cubic is attempting to leverage the communciations potential of the Internet to cut the costs of roaming international cell phone calls, much like the way Interent phone companies like Skype, Vonage, and Jajah have reduced the cost of international landline calls (see our Internet phone company comparison and review post). The difference is that the Cubic phone works like any regular cell phone and calls do not need to be initiated or routed through your computer.

For $135 or $219 (Windows Mobile) you can get the Cubic cell phone and MaxRoam SIM card. Depending on where you want to call and your current carrier, the Cubic phone could save 50% to 90% off your per minute international roaming rate. Yeah, pretty good stuff. The Cubic phone works in over 160 countries and, similar to VoIP, you're allowed to pick a local number for your phone. Unlike most VoIP plans, Cubic lets you pick up to 50 local numbers in cities around the world. That means if you have family or friends in Glod, Kazakhstan and you pick a number in Glod, your family and friends pay local rates when they call you. Double good stuff.

But the Cubic phone isn't all good and double good stuff. Calls aren't placed like normal cell phone calls. Well, they're sort of placed like normal calls, until the part where you wait for a call back when you're told that your call is being placed. The Wi-Fi calling option also leaves a bit to be desired. For an extra flat montly fee you can receive ulimited calls from Internet hot spots, or place them for a cent a minute...pretty much turning your cell phone into a VoIP phone. The drawback is that unlike the T-Mobile HotSpots plan, the Cubic phone drops your call if you move out of the hot spot. Basically, asking you to pretend that you are not on a cell phone....which was the whole point of using a cell phone instead of a computer. Last, because the phone essentially does not know what country you are in, you must enter a country code and area code every time you dial out, even if it is a local call.

BUT THE BEST PART IS....You can buy the Cubic MaxRoam SIM card without purchasing the phone. But, the real question is, did you skim this post for the most important text? Or, are you just attracted to bold caps? Well, either is fine by me, because who can resist bold all caps text? Not me, that's who. The MaxRoam SIM card will work with any GSM phone (only T-Mobile and AT&T in the U.S.). However, the phone must be "unlocked" (see our guide to Unlocking your Cell Phone). What this means is that you can use your normal cell phone when travelling overseas (as long as you have switched out the SIM card) and pay up to 90% less than standard roaming rates. And that's what I call: triple good stuff.

Note (10-2-2007): The MaxRoam SIM card currently costs 30 pounds (yes, English pounds). At the time of publication for the NYTimes article this meant the SIM card would cost $40. Due to the dollar's rapid depreciation in the past couple of days, the SIM card now costs slightly more than $60.