TuGo now lets O2 customers make calls and texts from a web browser

Those of you who use O2 should pay attention, because there’s a handy feature that is available to you right now. Telefonica, O2’s parent company, has announced that its TuGo app will now let you make and receive calls from a web browser.

TuGo uses techc alled WebRTC tech, and it means that you can use your browser to make phone calls and send text messages. The idea is to give people flexibility, so if you’re abroad, or you accidentally leave your phone at home you can still keep in touch with people via your computer.

Some of you may have used systems like this before, and found that texts tended to come through with a slight delay to them. That’s not the case with the browser version of TuGo. Trying it out for myself, I found that text messages actually arrived on my laptop a second or two before they arrived on my phone.

TuGo isn’t universally available, though. You have to have an O2 phone number to be able to make an account, and even then the client will only work in Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. That’s because WebRTC for Internet Explorer is still being worked on, and Safari doesn’t even support it.

O2 customers can access TuGo and register their numbers right here. You can also download the app for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone to use the regular service on the go.