July 22nd, 2009

Will pre-teens really adopt the new iPod touch as a VoIP phone?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:39 am

Categories: Apple, Gadgets, Rumors, VoIP

Tags: VoIP, Phone, Apple iPod, Apple iPod Touch, VoIP Phone, Digital Music, Digital Media, Telephony, Telecommunications, Personal Technology

I generally agree with my friend Andy Abramsom and greatly respect his opinion. He posted today on why he thinks the upcoming rumored iPod touch will be huge for VoIP and multimedia, but I don’t think it will have as big of an impact with the teen crowd as he indicates. This new device is rumored to have an integrated microphone, digital camera, and 64GB of memory. I agree that the savvy traveler may desire to use this new device to connect via WiFi and place and receive inexpensive VoIP calls. However, this same traveler can do this now with the iPhone and SIM card removed so I don’t think there will be a huge impact in iPod touch sales due to the microphone.

Andy sees disruptive uptake in the pre-teen who needs a phone, but cannot afford a contract. As a father of a couple of teen daughters, who have cell phones and an iPod touch, I honestly cannot see an iPod touch serving as a phone replacement for a couple of reasons. My girls text 90% of the time they use their phone and the only time they really place calls is to me and my wife. Also, in order to use the iPod touch as a phone they would have to be connected to a WiFi hotspot and the only place they really have that access is at home where they can just connect to their IM client and chat today. I would like to hear more about the basis behind Andy’s belief that pre-teens will use the iPod touch via VoIP. Another issue is the training and education needed to enable VoIP, but I suppose this can be a simple experience through applications like Truphone and Skype.

Given how much fun my daughters have with the Nintendo DSi’s rather limited camera, I do think that the addition of the camera can have a huge impact on iPod touch sales for those younger consumers. I imagine Apple or third party developers will also come out with software similar to what we see on the DSi so that people can have a lot of fun manipulating photos and video footage. We may soon see some crazy videos on YouTube, but I think it is also important for parents to keep an eye on what is being posted for the world to see from their kids. It looks like the iPod touch could add another item to a parent’s list of things to closely monitor as they seek to keep their children safe.

December 4th, 2008

Turn your iPod touch into a VoIP phone with Truphone

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:26 am

Categories: Mobile software, On the road, VoIP, mobile services

Tags: Apple iPhone, Phone, Apple iPod, Apple iPod Touch, VoIP Phone, Fring, Digital Music, Telephony, Telecom & Utilities, Digital Media

I’ve talked about the Truphone VoIP solution here on this blog a couple of times in the past and have had it on my iPhone for several months. Now that my ZDNet Smartphones & Cell Phones blog focuses on phones you may be asking why I am posting about a phone solution here on the Mobile Gadgeteer. A new Truphone (iTunes link) client was just released for the Apple iPod touch that turns it into a VoIP phone, but it is not a cellphone. Highly respected VoIP blogger and friend Andy Abramson has an excellent blog post on why TruPhone on the iPod touch is a game changer in the VoIP space.

Fring has been available on the iPhone App Store for a while now too, but from everything I have read Truphone offers a higher quality phone call experience. Truphone also lets you call Truphone members and Google Talk members for free while Fring focues on Skype and Fring members.

Truphone for the iPod touch has it’s own user interface, compared to Truphone for the iPhone, and lets you call other Truphone or Google Talk members for free. You cannot make calls to landlines and mobile phones yet, like you can with Truphone on the iPhone or S60 devices.

You will need a second generation iPod touch and a headset with a microphone to use Truphone, but with the large number of iPod touch and iPhone users there could be a real community of people available that you can now call for free when connected to a WiFi access point. Plus, as Andrew pointed out there are some amazing features coming soon.

June 20th, 2008

iCall will let you transfer a cellular call to VoIP on your Apple iPhone

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 8:57 am

Categories: Apple, VoIP, iPhone, mobile services

Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple Inc., iCall, Telephony, VOIP, Telecommunications, Networking, Matthew Miller

I was checking out TUAW this morning and saw that a very cool VoIP application is under development for the Apple iPhone. This is not an application for jailbroken phones, but for iPhones that have been upgraded to the latest firmware supporting 3rd party applications. What makes this VoIP application particularly powerful is the ability to transfer a cellular call to WiFi during the call as shown in the YouTube video below. iCall seems to work quite well and will definitely be one of the first applications I plan to look for when the iPhone application store is launched.

iCall is available now as a Windows PC based VoIP client and currently all calls you make or receive are free within the U.S. or Canada. They also have an iCall Pro version that has a monthly fee associated with it that supports more features on your PC.

I think VoIP on the iPhone has some great possibilities since the iPhone does such a great job at handling switches between cellular towers and a WiFi connection. Is anyone else excited about VoIP on the Apple iPhone?

May 28th, 2008

Truphone releases v4.0 with capability to place low cost VoIP calls without the need for WiFi

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:14 am

Categories: Nokia, Nseries, On the road, S60, VoIP, mobile services

Tags: VoIP, Call, Wi-Fi, Truphone, Call Back Feature, Internet, Engineering, Wireless LANs, Wireless, Matthew Miller

I first started using the Truphone VoIP solution over a year ago on my S60 devices. I had the opportunity to chat with James Body, Truphone Director of Research, today to discuss the lastest version of their software for S60 devices, Truphone v4.0. The major change in Truphone v4.0 is the addition of the Truphone Anywhere feature that allows you to make low cost internet calls even when you are not connected to the internet.

The new Truphone Anywhere functionality works through the use of Call Through and Call Back operations. What happens is that a local GSM call is made that automatically goes to a local Truphone server that then connects via the internet to place the call through to the recipient. The bonus with the Truphone v4.0 software on your device is that you do not have to know or have the local access number in your phone at all since Truphone figures out what the local access number is and dials it for you.

These two examples were given in the press release that show the cost savings Truphone users may experience when placing international calls:

UK example: to make a 10-minute call from the UK to an Australian landline:
- price with Orange Pay Monthly: £0.50/min x 10 = £5.00
- price with Truphone Anywhere: £0.03/min x 10 = £0.30
- how: an in-bundle call to Truphone’s UK server, plus a £0.03/min Truphone call to an Australian landline.

US example: to make a 10-minute call from the US to a Chinese landline:
- price with AT&T International Dial Standard rates: $3.49/min x 10 = $34.90
- price with AT&T World Connect (additional $3.99 per month): $0.15/min x 10 = $1.50
- price with Truphone Anywhere: $0.06/min x 10 = $0.60
- how: an in-bundle call to Truphone’s US server, plus a $0.06/min Truphone call to a Chinese landline.

In just about every scenario you can come up with Truphone saves you money on your international calling. This new Truphone Anywhere service will use up your “free” or low-cost bundled voice minutes, but you could also add your local Truphone access number to your MyFaves or similar plan and then not even have to pay extra for those outgoing calls.

The Call Back feature is disabled by default in Truphone v4.0 and is really designed for the more advanced users. It is useful when traveling abroad or if you have a high cost pay-as-you go plan. This may also be quite useful for those special plans where incoming calls are free.

I understand this latest update to Truphone also includes improvements in WiFi battery management so using Truphone won’t stress out your battery as much and you should see the capability to talk longer with Truphone on your device. I just updated my Nokia N95-3 and plan to try out this latest version of Truphone very soon.

Do you know you can also talk with your friends on Google Talk for free with Truphone? Truphone to Truphone calls all over the world are also free so let’s get everyone signed up so we can all talk to each other for free.

April 25th, 2008

Skype launches new beta for feature phones, works on S60 and Windows Mobile too

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 8:23 am

Categories: Feature phones, Nokia, Nseries, S60, VoIP, Windows Mobile, mobile services

Tags: Phone, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Mobile, Call, Skype Technologies S.A., Microsoft Windows, Beta, Fring, Wireless LANs, Advertising & Promotion

Skype announced a beta version of its client for Java-enabled mobile phones with the current list of compatible devices from Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung. The intent of this new mobile client is to expand Skype to the mass market feature phone, but being the mobile geek that I am I decided to try it out on some other devices and was fairly pleased with the results.

While Skype is a VoIP solution that is extremely popular around the world, this current beta mobile implementation actually uses standard calls over carrier networks to make the actual call from your mobile phone. Most feature phones/mass market phones do not support WiFi or 3G networks in the U.S. so this is probably the best way to currently get the calls initiated. There are a few select countries where you can actually make calls via the Skype network directly in this current beta too, including Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The call is then routed through Skype’s network to the person you are calling and the only charges that will apply are your carrier minutes. When you initiate a call a pop-up appears to ask if you want to make the local call and my phones kept calling an 813 area code number. It still does use WiFi or 3G networks to maintain your presence and carry out chats so it is a rather seamless experience on your device.

I think U.S. carriers may actually support this type of implementation of Skype because it uses up carrier minutes and they prefer that you upgrade your plan to get more minutes rather than having you use WiFi on a supported handset and make calls without their network.

I first loaded this Skype beta client on my Nokia N95 and placed a call to fellow MobileTechRoundup podcast co-host Kevin Tofel before we recorded our latest show. He did not see me appear as my Skype user name on his end, but as a call from my mobile phone number. The call sounded quite clear on both ends. He also sent me a chat message and that appeared right on my phone and allowed me to chat back with him. This part was carried out via my 3G connection (WiFi works too). The interesting thing is that I was stilled signed into Skype on my MBP so I also saw the same chat appear on a window on that machine.

Since this is a Java application and I have a Java client on my T-Mobile Shadow, I loaded the Skype beta (without incident) on my Shadow and tried to make a connection via the T-Mobile EDGE network. This connection failed so I then tried a WiFi connection. I was able to connect via WiFi, but the call out from the phone was still made to that 813 area code number. Again, chatting was carried out via WiFi.

You can download and try out the application right from your mobile phone browser by visiting http://www.skype.com/m or go to the Skype page and download it to your computer first.

There is a Skype client for Windows Mobile currently available (and has been for some time), however that client only lets you talk via speakerphone or a headset. With this Java client you can hold your phone and use it without a headset or in speakerphone mode. I also really like the N800/N810 client and have used that on business trips with a WiFi connection to stay in touch with family.

I can see using this with my AT&T account since I have thousands of available roll-over minutes and think this is a great product for feature phone users. However, smartphone users have other available solutions that allow us to actually make calls over WiFi without needing to make a local call. fring is one of my favorite solutions that works with Windows Mobile and S60 devices and also integrates Skype into the program so that is my preferred solution.

April 15th, 2008

fring VoIP and IM client is now available for the Apple iPhone

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:31 am

Categories: Apple, Mobile software, VoIP, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, IM, Apple Inc., IM Client, Fring, Instant Messaging, Telephony, VOIP, Telecommunications, Internet

I’ve written about my favorite mobile VoIP client, fring, several times in the past on this blog and was very pleased to receive the news from Gil that fring is now available on the Apple iPhone. This current version is for iPhones that have been jailbreaked to run 3rd party applications and you will also need a WiFi connection to use the application.

fring is labeling this a “light, sneak preview R&D version” so it appears they are testing the functionality and popularity of the application on jailbroken phones before proceeding with the official version in a couple of months when Apple opens up to 3rd party apps.

The iPhone fring application will give you all the great features found in fring that are available in the S60 and Windows Mobile versions, such as free and low cost VoIP calls and instant messaging capability through Google Talk, MSN Messenger, Skype, ICQ, Twitter, Yahoo! Messenger, and AIM. You can check out the fring blog for more info too.

Visit the fringcubator site to check out this free preview version on your iPhone. You need to follow the installer instructions on the fring iPhone setup site to get fring on your iPhone. I plan to download it today and start trying it out.

March 24th, 2008

T-Mobile rolls out BlackBerry 8820 with GPS and Hotspot @Home functionality

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 11:43 am

Categories: BlackBerry, Smartphone, VoIP, Wireless carriers

Tags: HotSpot, T-Mobile, RIM BlackBerry, GPS, Handhelds, Wireless LANs, Wireless, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Hardware

I’ve been using the BlackBerry Pearl I won at CES for a month or so and am enjoying the BlackBerry experience with T-Mobile. Today T-Mobile announced the availability of the T-Mobile BlackBerry 8820, which is essentially the Curve with integrated GPS. This new BlackBerry device also supports the T-Mobile HotSpot @Home Mobile WiFi service as well. As you can see on the T-Mobile page you can buy this device now for US$349.99 after rebate and service activation. This seems to be a device for the professional though, as a digital camera is not included with the device.

Other specs include quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (still no 3G love from T-Mobile), 802.11 a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, 320×240 display and microSD card for expansion. It weighs in at 4.7 ounces. It seems a bit blockier than the Curve and with the good accuracy of Google Maps I don’t think I would pick up one of these. Maybe the Curve prices will drop enough for me to swap from my Pearl to the Curve though.

March 15th, 2008

Thanks for all the good times Russell, we'll miss you

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 11:43 pm

Categories: BlackBerry, VoIP

Tags: Blog, Blogger, Blogging, Internet, Matthew Miller

I was shocked and saddened when I read on Dan Farber’s blog that Russell Shaw passed away on Friday, 14 March. I met Russell at Gnomedex last year after communicating with him virtually over the year previous to that. He was a fellow ZDNet blogger and wrote the IP Telephony and BlackBerry blogs. I enjoyed both of his blogs and read them every day.  He lived close to me in Portland, Oregon and I am sorry I didn’t get to know him a bit better. He was a very kind person and helpful to me as well. I pray that his friends and family are comforted during this time of grief and am sorry to see another ZDNet blogger pass away at such a young age.

March 4th, 2008

Truphone launches new low-cost international VoIP pricing with Tru Zone

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 11:11 am

Categories: Feature phones, Nokia, Nseries, S60, VoIP, Voice 2.0

Tags: VoIP, Phone, Call, Cell Phone, Pricing Strategy, Truphone, Wireless LANs, Pricing, Internet, Telecom & Utilities

I use a few different VoIP clients on my Nokia N95, which is one of the main reasons I thoroughly enjoy using devices running the S60 OS, and the client I keep going back to for reliable communications is Truphone. As a user who started using their service last year, I recently received an email stating that I get to keep calling for free until 1 June of this year since I amm a founding customer. Truphone made an announcement today revealing their new “Tru Zone” pricing structure that makes most calls to landlines 6 cents per minute and calls to mobile phones 30 cents per minute. Truphone-to-Truphone calls still remain free and always will. With rates this low, you won’t have to worry about making calls when traveling or placing calls overseas. You do need a WiFi connection and a compatible mobile phone to use Truphone, but it does work on a large number of Nokia devices.

Truphone is great for when you have a WiFi connection, but what do you do if you are out of range of a WiFi hotspot? You then should take a look at MOBIVOX, which lets you call a local access number (from just about anywhere in the world to over 40 destinations) that then connects to the internet and uses the internet to place the call to your contact. You can even call other MOBIVOX members and your Skype contacts for free or almost free. You will be charged airtime minutes for a local call, but even if you are traveling overseas buying a prepaid SIM and making local calls is a LOT less expensive than making international calls. Toll calls start at just 1.9 cents per minute and you buy credit in advance just like you would with SkypeOut credit. MOBIVOX also works with any mobile phone or landline phone so you can use this service with any device you have.

February 21st, 2008

T-Mobile announces new Talk Forever service for Seattle and Dallas, no home phone now needed

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:28 am

Categories: VoIP, Wireless carriers

Tags: Phone, T-Mobile, Service, Talk Forever Service, Text Messaging/SMS/MMS, Telecom & Utilities, Routers & Switches, Cellular Phones, Wireless, Consumer Electronics

Just one week after T-Mobile cut the price of their HotSpot @Home service, they announced a new service option for those of us in Seattle and Dallas. T-Mobile’s new HotSpot @Home Talk Forever service option is an additional US$10 over the new US$10 HotSpot @Home service. The new Talk Forever service requires a new HotSpot @Home wireless router with home phone connection (US$50 with 2-year contract) because you connect your standard 5.8 GHz home phone (or you can buy a V-Tech one from them for US$59.99) and use T-Mobile as your primary home phone service provider.

I am quite excited about the possibilities of this service, especially after looking at my current Qwest home phone bill. I currently pay US$52 for basic home phone service with call waiting and caller ID, along with unlimited long distance. US$10 sounds MUCH more attractive to me though, doesn’t it? I do have a Monitronics home alarm system and believe I will still need a standard home phone line, but that can be purchased for something like US$15 per month so I could still cut my Qwest bill in half with this new T-Mobile service.

I do have a couple of outstanding questions to get answered by T-Mobile before my wife fully buys off on using T-Mobile as our main home phone service. She is a bit worried about reliability too, but our Comcast cable internet service has been quite reliable. Here are the questions I need to get answered and if any of you know the answers, feel free to leave a comment with the answer:

• Can I trial this service with a given number and then port my existing home phone number if it passes my tests?
• Can you choose just one or the other of the two HotSpot @Home services if you don’t want both services?
• Since this is a T-Mobile number, if I call home from my T-Mobile cell are these call free since it is essentially T-Mobile to T-Mobile?
• What is the cost of the router if I don’t make a 2-year commitment and are there any minimum service commitments?
• I understand there are some basic phone features included, but what are the specific functions/operations of voicemail (such as can I access my voicemail via the internet, can I have messages email to me, etc?)
• Will adding this service void the grandfathered family text messaging plan I have now (all 4 phones have unlimited text messaging for US$10)?
• Since there is a WiFi router as part of the service, can I also use a VoIP wireless phone too?
• Can I receive incoming faxes or send faxes with this service?
• I heard there are two SIM card slots in the router, what is the second card slot for?

In all likelihood I will be stopping by the T-Mobile store today to pick up this new router and give this service a try. If I do, I will make sure to post lots of photos and all the details here for all of you interested in the service located outside of Seattle and Dallas.