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Nintendo DS To Allow Free VoIP Calls
sm4kxd writes "Gamespot is reporting that the Nintendo DS will use "built-in wireless 802.11b networking capabilities to offer voice-over-IP chat--in effect, allowing gamers to use the DS to make free phone calls at wireless network hotspots." There's also mention of a headset, so you won't look ridiculous while doing so." The article doesn't have much more information, but the "in effect" seems important; this may only allow unit-to-unit conversations, not VoIP calls to the regular telephone network.
and not subject to regulatory agencies. very nice, and useful as well! just think about being able to communicate with a useful tool (and toy) and you're gaming or in range of someone elses public network!
not that I'll be buying one yet, however - this idea is very cool.
OK, for those of us who've never seen a Nokia N-GAGE in action, what is the big lament over? Why the webpage towards eulogizing the whole deal?
I've always thought that wireless connectivity would be the killer app for handheld game consoles. Platforms like the GBA have always had a lot of restrictions - like needing specially-designed link cables, headphones, etc. Now that Nintendo is coming under pressure from products like the N-Gage, it seems that they're finally going to unleash their secret weapon.
I'm just hoping that the DS will have all the appropriate goodies to go with this capability, like wireless multiplayer games, Jabber, maybe even a web browser and media player.
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one problem i see with the voicechat theory...isn't the whole wifi thing with the DS so you can play wirelessly with people who are in close proximity to you? why would you need a voicechat feature to talk to someone who's standing 5 feet away from you?
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
(This would have meant that you would have paid long-distance rates to dial into dial-up ISPs - possibly more as Mom-and-Pop ISPs just wouldn't have the clout to arrange the kind of deals that most long-distance providers work out with the local telephone companies.)
What really got to the telecos was not the idea of computer-to-computer chat, which had been around for some time, but the gateways linking the Internet to the regular telephone exchanges. A lot of people were buying such exchanges, hooking them up, and basically allowing any Internet user (for a fee the guy with the exchange could set) to dial ANYONE in the local calling area of that gateway.
I'm going to predict that Nintendo geeks'll have similar gateways rigged up (with the cries and screams of telecos & Nintendo ringing in their ears) within a year. It's just a case of breaking the protocol and writing a simple translator for one of the myriad of modular gateways that now exist.
With British Telecom switching to a pure IP-based telephone network (they're abandoning the dedicated switched-circuit approach completely), and where Nintendo's encumbering licenses are largely considered invalid (there are independent software developers for Nintendo in the UK, and Nintendo has failed in efforts to stop them), I am going to predict that the UK will have the greatest interest in such a gateway and will likely see some of the earliest attempts at one.
The US, with its DMCA and other assorted copyright extensions, is simply not friendly to that kind of R&D. The risks are high and the benefits are low.
India and China have a good tech industry, fewer problems with copyright, etc, but don't really have enough high-speed infrastructure to make VoIP realistic, right now.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
So can people call me through VoIP as well, if I am at home using my DS or at a hotspot somewhere looking like a dork playing games? Will I be able to have it ring me while in the middle of a lonely single player game of pacman, when one of my buddies wants to get his ass kicked in mario party or whatever multiplayer game?
Let's hope that Nintendo does the "phone thing" better than N-Gage did the "game thing". I wonder if those two markets of portable electronics are ready to merge just yet. Maybe we're close...
Nintendo's press footage at E3 showed the DS being used for many other purposes besides games. People taking notes, people chatting with each other via some kind of whiteboard program, etc. While I still doubt the DS will be able to make VoIP calls for free and all that that entails, I tend to think that the "only about games" attitude is merely Gamecube centric.
with built-in WiFi and the munching power to render n64-level apps at smooth (20+) framerates, I would think none of the above are impossible. What would really put this unit over the top, though, is a decent web browser, an e-book reader, and video-chat for AIM.
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
Well, since Sony's already sorta' doing this on the PSP (and they've got the better hardware for it IMHO), I don't think Nintendo's gonna' try this anytime soon. Not unless they want to again revamp their entire portable architecture which would of course hike up the price of this thing which would in turn bring it out of kids' price range.
The headset is encouraging.
Holding a 2.4GHz emitter against the side of your skull does not sound like a good idea.
Lets start taking bets on how long it will take to hack up a ptsn gateway. This migtht force private VOIP into critical mass?
"Gamespot is reporting that the Nintendo DS will use "built-in wireless 802.11b networking capabilities to offer voice-over-IP chat--in effect, allowing gamers to use the DS to make free phone calls at wireless network hotspots."
Ok, that's nifty, but nifty doesn't sell consoles or handhelds. I'd wager that 80% (conservatively) of their buyers could care less, especially when Nintendo's target audience has tradionally been pre-teens. Same with the second touch screen. It's as if they're trying to compensate for their lack of innovation and poor market performance lately with nifty features, without realizing their impact on sales will be negilable in lieu of the former and a break from Mario 12.
I'd be more excited if I thought this was actually going to do anything in the course of my regular gaming, but I suspect it'll be more along the lines of gameboy to gamecube connectivity-- Big fat deal. I know some of you will be happy, but most gamers are going to care less unless you see some real application here. That, and I really don't see too many people ditching the cell phones they already have and hunting down a hotspot just to make a free call by dialing down the center with 1-800-leftrightright-downupAB.
With the PSP on the horizon, I smell serious blood in the water because the DS is shaping up to be pretty weak from initial reports.
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Best place to go ask that would be over at DSLreports.com aka BroadbandReports. The have specialists over in their forums who can answer most questions regarding almost all VoIP providers. Only thing i can remember about reading up on Vonage is that some people have had problems with their tech support/billing.
I'm currently trying to get SpeakEasy's ONELink DSL service where Covad has their own phone line run to your house to provide DRY pair DSL. You don't have to pay for that line (its inclusive in the $55.95 monthly DSL price) and you can get VoIP on it and drop your POTS line. If i can get the OneLink I am considering doing this.
You can also connect more than one phone to the VoIP blackbox, in fact it can be wired into your homes phone system if you are savvy enough. It does have limitations on how many phones can be hooked up and have ringers on, too many and none of the phones will ring. But if you have one of those cordless base stations that can handle several handsets then you are golden.