Join me as I take a look at the stunning, clever, funky 3 Skypephone!
In a world where new ways of communicating are becoming ever more commonplace, it always had a bit of inevitability about it that VoIP (Voice over IP, internet calls to you and me), would take off. And it did, big time, with the monumental success of Skype. But it never realy took hold in the world of mobile phones, until recently, and the reason it did take hold was, once again, Skype. You see, they changed the rules of the game, with the fabulous 3 Skypephone.
There have been a few phones in the past that were "phones that have VoIP capability" or "phones that Skype in them", but this is the first true, proper Skype Phone, the first phone whose entire reason for existence, its entire purpose, is built around Skype (let's face it, the name should've given that away!) You can, of course, use the 3 Skype phone as a normal style mobile phone, as it has a built-in 2 megapixel camera, music player, even Facebook access, but... well, that's kind of missing the point. because while you can stick to doing that, and treat it like a normal moble phone, you're denying the phone its reason for living.
Skype - it's fantastic!
When you press the button in the middle of the 3 Skype phone, it takes you straight into the Skype messenger service. Here you can set up a new account, but the coolest thing in that regard, is that you can log in using your own existing details! That takes you straight into the service and once it's run a quick check to make sure your Skype phone is actually working, you'll be making VoIP calls before you even know it! So, would I buy one? Well, no, because I don't use Skype, nor do I actually have any friends (or ones who use Skype, at any rate, although some would say I just don't have any friends), but if I did... well, I'd be all over it like a shot!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The 3 Skype phone - VoIP, Skype-style, in a mobile phone!
What is VoIP Technology?
You have probably heard of VoIP but do you know what it is ? VoIP basically stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. So what is it then ?
Withe the advent of broadband internet it has become possible to use this new VoIP technology to make regular phone calls through that internet connection. You must have a broadband connection though. Dial-up just won't do it. It is too slow.
The benefits of making the switch to Voice Over Internet Protocol phone systems are mainly significant savings in call costs, and superior call quality. For example, you can expect free continental US calling (including to Canada in some instances). It isn't like with cellphone companies where you have to wait until the evening or weekends to make free calls. If you have ever used Skype to make calls you will better understand what it means to experience amazing calling quality. It is much clearer than a phone as we know it.
As with your regular telephone service you get the usual standard features such as:
Caller IDCall WaitingCall Forwading
With a VoIP connection you can expect very favorable monthly rates starting as low as $6.99. A lot of businesses are catching up with this technology due to its associated costs.
Most VoIP providers require three main things to get connected, and these are:
TelephoneBroadband connectionHome Router
The good thing about using this service is that the person you are calling need not be a VoIP subscriber too. You can call anybody that has a telephone, be it a landline or a cellphone.
Do you make frequent international calls ? Voice Over Internet Protocol technology would be perfect for you then. Maybe you have family and friends abroad and you want to speak with them ocassionally, as opposed to sending text messages ? VoIP providers have you covered. Some providers offer free calls to countries such as Australia, France, New Zealand, Canada, and the UK, just to name a few. You need to check with the provider for more details. Rates to other countries, such as India for example, can start as low as 2 cents a minute. That is way cheaper than using those calling cards if you ask me. At least you don't have to worry about connection fees.
Some VoIP providers do not even require you to be a resident of the United States in order to use their services. As long as you fulfill the requirements mentioned above, you are eligible to start using voice over internet protocol phone systems
VoIP Services - A Beneficiary To All
VoIP Service is the latest form of establishing connectivity with people worldwide at a significantly lower cost. The services involving voice IP are getting more popular nowadays as people have come to realize that services related to IP Telephony give them the ultimate flexibility in connecting with others. It means that with a VoIP phone, you can literally travel anywhere and still remain connected just with an internet connection.
There are several reasons for opting for the voice over IP connection. The internet phone connection or VoIP so to say offer you mobility. With the broadband connection in hand, you can receive free internet telephone calls even if you are traveling outside your country. That would simply mean that if your telephone number is based in Paris and if you travel to Texas then the call that you receive will be regarded as local calls. This is a great plus point for people who travel a great deal and for business travelers. If you frequently make long distance calls, then Voice over IP is a good option for you. You can overcome the burden of paying high roaming fees on your mobile phones by availing some of the best VoIP Services.
Internet phone calls can be availed by purchasing a VoIP phone. This phone would cost just as any other phone. The next thing is to access the voice connection. You can avail this service at a tariff charge of $50 or so in a month. However, the price for the connection is likely to increases as you add on new features to you're the connection. There is also the option of selection as now a user can shop for low cost VoIP phone service. Large companies often come up with exclusive rates for VoIP services that may actually be the company's wholesale rate. So, availing the services of such companies is always beneficial for both parties - the user as well as the company. The user is benefited as they can access connectivity at low costs; and the company is benefited by being successful in their campaign to become a low rate service provider.
Using the services offered by VoIP, it is possible to set a business with the VoIP business service. This service ensures that regardless of what equipment you bring to use, the voice over connectivity works seamlessly with other networks.
To conclude, it can be said that a VoIP business service has become a reality with the introduction of low cost internet services. The IP telephony has made it easy for everyone to earn sitting at home without having to go out to an office for earning their livelihood.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
PC to Phone Calls
AdCalls features the best rate that you could ever get on PC to Phone Calls, FREE! By using VOIP (voice over internet protocol) technology combined with ads displayed on the phone dialer, PC Phone Calls is absolutely FREE! You will never receive a better discount long distance service provider than FREE PC to Phone Calls. Making a PC Phone Call is easy, clear, reliable and best of all its FREE! This Internet phone service allows you to call PC to Phone and PC to PC anytime. PC to Phone Calls can be made from anywhere in the world to phone numbers within the US and Canada only. PC to PC calls can be made anywhere in the world. All PC to Phone Calls and all PC to PC calls are 100% free.
There are no set up charges to call PC to Phone or PC to PC. There are no cards to use or gimmicks it is 100% free PC to Phone and PC to PC calls using Internet telephony voice over Internet protocol VOIP. These cheap phones calls still give you the clearest VOIP call on the Internet. Start saving on your long distance phone calls today by using this free PC to phone call service. Free PC to Phone calls has never been easier or more affordable. Download your PC to Phone dialer today and start making 100% free calls all the time.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Listing of free VoIP Softphone Applications
For a general overview we have categorized the listingsWe differentiate between applications that can be freely configured for any provider and softphones that are linked to a particular VoIP service provider.
For an extensive list of available softphone applications please refer to http://www.voip-info.org/tiki-index.php?page=VOIP+Phones#id192377.In addition we have listed a few messengers capable of Voice over IP.
X-Lite 3.0
Free Client, Good features
counterpath.com
Eyebeam
X-Lite Pro -with video feature - not free
counterpath.com
Global IP
Free Client, Many features
PC Phone
SJPhone
Beta test version -free
SJLabs.com
SIPPS
Encypted, Instant messaging
NERO.com
SNOM 360
Emulation of the Snom 360 Hardware for WIN
SNOM
MyJabber
With Jabber messaging service
MyJabber.net
SipEyePhone
Easy to configure, very reliable
eyepmedia
Firefly Softphone
Messaging Firefly with low bandwidth requirements
firefly
Twinkle Softphone
SIP Softphone for Linux
Twinkle Softphone
Openzoep
VoIP and IM engine based on SIP
Openzoep
PhonerLite
Free SIP Softphone, easy to use
PhonerLite
Express talk
Supports 4 lines,call transfer, Address book
Express Talk
Pre-configured clients
Globe7
SIP softphone powered by IPTV with PC to PC,PC to landline, free fax and real time video calling
Globe7
Babble
Messaging
Babble.net
Stanaphone
Pre-configured
Stanaphone
MPQ Phone
Pre-configured, Video conferencing
Cubus
Pulver Communicator
FWD Client with instant messaging
FWD
Skype
Pre-configured
Skype
click4netphone
Pre-configured
Click4.com
DingoTel
Pre-configured
DingoTel
PC2Call
Pre-configured
PC2Call
Wengophone 2.0
Compatible to MSN, Jabber, AOL, Yahoo
Wengo
Yahoo Voice
IM and now with soft phone, great rates
Yahoo Voice
Lycos Phone
See Globe7
MondoTalk
Pre-configured
Mondotalk
Gootec
Pre-configured
Gootec
Gizmo Project
Good voice quality,Conference rooms, complete
Gizmo Project
Messenger with VoIP
AIM
Instant messaging
AOL
ICQ Phone
Instant messaging
ICQ.com
MSN
Instant messaging
Microsoft
Google Talk
Instant messaging
Google Talk
IP Calls
Teamspeak
Professional conference software
goTeamSpeak
Ventrilo
Multiplatform conference software
Ventrilo
VoIPerized
Conference software
VOIPerized
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
VoIP Cell Phones:
VoIP-enabled cell phones are just entering the consumer market. In the United States, only T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service allows customers to make cell phone calls over a VoIP network. HotSpot@Home relies on a device called a dual-mode cell phone.
Dual-mode cell phones contain both a regular cellular radio and a Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) radio. The Wi-Fi radio enables the cell phone to connect to a wireless Internet network through a wireless router. If you have a wireless Internet router in your home, or if you're sitting at a Starbucks with wireless Internet access, you can use your cell phone to make VoIP calls.
Here's how it works:
When the cell phone is in range of a wireless Internet network, the phone automatically recognizes and connects to the network. Any calls you initiate on the wireless network are routed through the Internet as VoIP calls. With HotSpot@Home, all VoIP calls are free.
If the phone is out of range of a wireless Internet signal, it automatically switches over to the regular cellular network and calls are charged as normal.
Dual-mode phones can hand off seamlessly from Wi-Fi to cellular (and vice versa) in the middle of a call as you enter and exit Wi-Fi networks.
Similar to dual-mode cell phones are Wi-Fi phones. Wi-Fi phones aren't technically cell phones because they only have a Wi-Fi radio, not a cellular radio. Wi-Fi phones look like cell phones (small, lightweight handsets), but can only make calls when connected to a wireless Internet network. That means all Wi-Fi phone calls are VoIP calls.
Wi-Fi phones are useful in large companies and offices with their own extensive wireless networks. And could prove to be the next big thing, with the expanding market for municipal Wi-Fi. [source: Dr. Dobb's Portal]. Imagine that your entire city was covered by a high-speed wireless network. That means cheap (if not free) VoIP calls wherever you go.
In England, a company called Hutchinson 3G (or simply 3) has partnered with the popular VoIP service Skype to introduce the 3 Skypephone. The Skypephone allows users to make free cell phone calls to other Skype users. The phone can also make regular cell-phone calls to non-Skype users for the normal fees.
Here's how it works:
To make a Skype call using the 3 Skypephone, you have to be on 3's cellular network.
To initiate a Skype call, find a Skype user in your phone's address book and press the big "Skype" button.
The call first goes over 3's cellular GSM network to a fixed Internet line, which then connects the call to Skype [source: mobileSift].
From your 3 Skypephone, you can make free VoIP calls to other Skype users whether they have a Skypephone or not. You can talk to Skype users on their PCs or using other Skype VoIP products.
The 3 Skypephone isn't currently available in the United States.
Using VoIP:
Using VoIPChances are good you're already making VoIP calls any time you place a long-distance call. Phone companies use VoIP to streamline their networks. By routing thousands of phone calls through a circuit switch and into an IP gateway, they can seriously reduce the bandwidth they're using for the long haul. Once the call is received by a gateway on the other side of the call, it's decompressed, reassembled and routed to a local circuit switch.
Although it will take some time, you can be sure that eventually all of the current circuit-switched networks will be replaced with packet-switching technology (more on packet switching and circuit switching later). IP telephony just makes sense, in terms of both economics and infrastructure requirements. More and more businesses are installing VoIP systems, and the technology will continue to grow in popularity as it makes its way into our homes. Perhaps the biggest draws to VoIP for the home users that are making the switch are price and flexibility.
With VoIP, you can make a call from anywhere you have broadband connectivity. Since the IP phones or ATAs broadcast their info over the Internet, they can be administered by the provider anywhere there's a connection. So business travelers can take their phones or ATAs with them on trips and always have access to their home phone. Another alternative is the softphone. A softphone is client software that loads the VoIP service onto your desktop or laptop. The Vonage softphone has an interface on your screen that looks like a traditional telephone. As long as you have a headset/microphone, you can place calls from your laptop anywhere in the broadband-connected world.
Most VoIP companies are offering minute-rate plans structured like cell phone bills for as little as $30 per month. On the higher end, some offer unlimited plans for $79. With the elimination of unregulated charges and the suite of free features that are included with these plans, it can be quite a savings.
Most VoIP companies provide the features that normal phone companies charge extra for when they are added to your service plan. VoIP includes:
Caller ID
Call waiting
Call transfer
Repeat dial
Return call
Three-way calling There are also advanced call-filtering options available from some carriers. These features use caller ID information to allow you make a choice about how calls from a particular number are handled. You can:
Forward the call to a particular number
Send the call directly to voice mail
Give the caller a busy signal
Play a "not-in-service" message
Send the caller to a funny rejection hotline With many VoIP services, you can also check voice mail via the Web or attach messages to an e-mail that is sent to your computer or handheld. Not all VoIP services offer all of the features above. Prices and services vary, so if you're interested, it's best to do a little shopping.
Now that we've looked at VoIP in a general sense, let's look more closely at the components that make the system work. To understand how VoIP really works and why it's an improvement over the traditional phone system, it helps to first understand how a traditional phone system works.
How VoIP Works ?
If you've never heard of VoIP, get ready to change the way you think about long-distance phone calls. VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a method for taking analog audio signals, like the kind you hear when you talk on the phone, and turning them into digital data that can be transmitted over the Internet.
How is this useful? VoIP can turn a standard Internet connection into a way to place free phone calls. The practical upshot of this is that by using some of the free VoIP software that is available to make Internet phone calls, you're bypassing the phone company (and its charges) entirely.
This person is using a computer to talk to a friend in another state.
VOIP: is a revolutionary technology that has the potential to completely rework the world's phone systems. VoIP providers like Vonage have already been around for a while and are growing steadily. Major carriers like AT&T are already setting up VoIP calling plans in several markets around the United States, and the FCC is looking seriously at the potential ramifications of VoIP service.
Above all else, VoIP is basically a clever "reinvention of the wheel." In this article, we'll explore the principles behind VoIP, its applications and the potential of this emerging technology, which will more than likely one day replace the traditional phone system entirely.
The interesting thing about VoIP is that there is not just one way to place a call. There are three different "flavors" of VoIP service in common use today:
ATA -- The simplest and most common way is through the use of a device called an ATA (analog telephone adaptor). The ATA allows you to connect a standard phone to your computer or your Internet connection for use with VoIP. The ATA is an analog-to-digital converter. It takes the analog signal from your traditional phone and converts it into digital data for transmission over the Internet. Providers like Vonage and AT&T CallVantage are bundling ATAs free with their service. You simply crack the ATA out of the box, plug the cable from your phone that would normally go in the wall socket into the ATA, and you're ready to make VoIP calls. Some ATAs may ship with additional software that is loaded onto the host computer to configure it; but in any case, it's a very straightforward setup.
IP Phones: These specialized phones look just like normal phones with a handset, cradle and buttons. But instead of having the standard RJ-11 phone connectors, IP phones have an RJ-45 Ethernet connector. IP phones connect directly to your router and have all the hardware and software necessary right onboard to handle the IP call. Wi-Fi phones allow subscribing callers to make VoIP calls from any Wi-Fi hot spot.
Computer-to-computer : This is certainly the easiest way to use VoIP. You don't even have to pay for long-distance calls. There are several companies offering free or very low-cost software that you can use for this type of VoIP. All you need is the software, a microphone, speakers, a sound card and an Internet connection, preferably a fast one like you would get through a cable or DSL modem. Except for your normal monthly ISP fee, there is usually no charge for computer-to-computer calls, no matter the distance.
If you're interested in trying VoIP, then you should check out some of the free VoIP software available on the Internet. You should be able to download and set it up in about three to five minutes. Get a friend to download the software, too, and you can start tinkering with VoIP to get a feel for how it works
VOIP - VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL
How can make a phone call on the internet?
There are two ways to make a phone call over the internet - computer to computer and computer to phone.
Making calls over the internet is great because it's so much cheaper than calling using your regular phone and often free.
Phone calls over the internet use a system called 'VOIP' or Voice Over Internet Protocol.
How can make a call ?
To make a phone call over the internet you'll need a microphone, speakers, a sound card and an internet connection, DSL,BROAD BAND(preferably a fast one).
You'll also need the right software - but more on that later.
Most new computers will have a sound card already installed. Look at the back of your computer for small plugs labeled 'Mic' and 'Speakers' or 'Line out'. That's your sound card!You may have to buy the speakers and microphone to plug in here.
Computer to computer calls
This is probably the easiest way to make a call over the net, and it's definitely the cheapest. Systems like Skype allow you to talk to anyone, anywhere for free.
Computer to computer calls are usually free, no matter where you are calling. The only thing you'll need will be the software.
There are several companies offering free software voip plus pc to pc that you can use - try: Pc to Pc - Yahoo,MSN,Google...