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Siemens Sells Skype Adapters For Wireless Phones

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the whaddya-know dept.

prostoalex writes "In a recent Slashdot story on Skype CEO interview some comments expressed displeasure with the fact that you have to be tied up to your computer to make those VOIP calls via Skype. Not anymore - this adapter from Siemens plugs into the USB port of the computer and allows Siemens Gigaset S645, Gigaset S440/445 or Gigaset C340/345 phone models to use the Skype connection instead of landline. News.com has the story."

32 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. This is a story? by Breakfast+Pants · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There are several products that do exactly this with regular household handsets and with standard VOIP programs. Why is this news just because Skype is doing it? Oh yeah, Skype rhymes with hype. I see the connection.

    --

    --

    WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
    1. Re:This is a story? by Carewolf · · Score: 3, Informative

      What on earth are you talking about? All calls in Skype are encrypted, ASFAIK there is no way of turning it off.

      Currently it kicks major ass because of the echo-suppression and sound-quality.

    2. Re:This is a story? by Zorilla · · Score: 4, Insightful

      - Inflexible: only supports 8khz 8-bit audio.

      This one is debatable - when I call my parents over Skype and they use their Pentium 3 machine, the calls are lower quality, probably around 8 kHz, but when they use their much faster laptop, the calls are a much nicer 44 kHz. Since Skype handles most configuration itself (validating their "it just works" attitude), I can only assume it's dropping the sample rate because the slower computer can encode fast enough.

      --

      It would be cool if it didn't suck.
  2. IM through Cell phone... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    in the highlights seccion:

    Display of Internet alerts (e.g. weather, stock market), Instant Messaging (IMS) on handset

    Very nice. It would be nice if I could IM someone through a cell phone without being stuck in front of a computer.

    1. Re:IM through Cell phone... by GreatBunzinni · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The thing about SMS is that you pay a fee for the delivery of the message. That isn't the case in any internet IM service. And that's the beauty of it: communicating through your cell phone free of charge. It may not be groundbreaking news but it is a heck of a lot cheaper, which is always good.

      --
      Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.
    2. Re:IM through Cell phone... by spif · · Score: 3, Informative

      Many new cell phones, especially smartphones, come with some kind of "true" IM capability in addition to SMS. For example I think pretty much every T-Mobile phone and device comes with AOL IM (blech). At least my new BlackBerry 7100t (sweeeet) did, and my wife's new Motorola V300. The 7100t's IM client also does Yahoo Messenger and ICQ, apparently, although I've never used it. So if you're into that sort of thing, it's available. I think Verizon phones have MSN IM capability. Not sure about Cingular or Sprint. Besides that, Yahoo! has a WAP-to-IM gateway (on http://wap.oa.yahoo.com/) and I think they might have an SMS-to-IM gateway as well. Not sure about the other IM services.

      --
      fnord.
    3. Re:IM through Cell phone... by mobby_6kl · · Score: 2, Informative

      There is a Java IM client, called Colibry IM, that supports most major networks, IIRC AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and Jabber. It should work on most phones with Java and GPRS.

  3. What's the problem? by Dancin_Santa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So here's my dilemma. I look across the ocean and see that Eastern countries like Japan and Korea have VoIP integrated directly into the phone network. None of this "plug the doodad into the USB port and talk through the cheap Soundblaster microphone" crap. You actually just use the phone like your normal phone and it automatically uses VoIP for all calls.

    The charges for long distance are apparently very low, though not eliminated, altogether. This is the only benefit I can see to strapping a headset on and sitting in front of your computer rather than walking around with a normal 2.4GHz cordless phone.

    But what's the hold up? Why can't the Western countries get their technologies up to speed with Eastern countries? You can't tell me that it's a problem of "vast spaces" because this is a problem at the central switching network level, not something esoteric like bandwidth falloff.

    You may think that the Asians are supreme copycats, but when it comes to technology, sometimes I wish that the West would copycat right back.

    1. Re:What's the problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Ask and I shall answer, from Japan. (Or, post a comment, and I shall karma whore. Well, maybe not, posting AC.)

      I look across the ocean and see that Eastern countries like Japan and Korea have VoIP integrated directly into the phone network.

      A bit of an over simplification, but for the most part, true. Gramma can use it without second thoughts, and it doesn't require a computer.

      The charges for long distance are apparently very low, though not eliminated, altogether. This is the only benefit I can see to strapping a headset on and sitting in front of your computer rather than walking around with a normal 2.4GHz cordless phone.

      A bit wrong. VoIP calls from a standard phone ARE FREE, any where in Japan, as long as the recipient is also using VoIP from the same company. If they're not, such as using a different VoIP provider, or a traditional land line, then you are charged a small (much smaller than traditional land-line to land-line calls) surcharge for the call. However, different VoIP providers (who are actually over glorified ISPs) in Japan are slowly but certainly forming alliances with each other to honor each other's "free call" offers. Either way, the great thing is that I can use my VoIP phone to call anyone else with a VoIP phone for free, or if they have a standard land line, for next to free. I can also make very cheap phone calls to my Mom in Colorado, but don't tell her that. She'll start complaining that I don't call often enough.

      But what's the hold up? Why can't the Western countries get their technologies up to speed with Eastern countries?

      In Japan, this has actually been a rare case. Beauracracy in Japan is the same, if not worse, than it is in the U.S., with extreme corporate favoritism. I think what happened here is that NTT, the Japante telecom semi-monopoly learned from the past. Local phone calls are not free in Japan. They still aren't. So when the internet first came around, people wouldn't use it too much, in fear of the phone bill. The users, and the gov't saw this as a really bad thing though, because the internet was seen as a way to boost the suffering Japanese economy. Good idea. So they got NTT to create a method where you sign up for a single number (your ISP, or your best friend, whatever your purpose was) and from 10:00PM to 7:00AM or something like that, you could call all you want for free. A nudge became a push, and soon we had the same system, but this time 24/7 to that specific phone number. Then came ADSL, which made this entire idea obsolete.

      NTT probably saw the direction of VoIP, used a bit of hind-sight, and figured there wasn't a point in battling with it. Especially with other telecom players coming into town and slowly knawing away on the monopoly. So instead of a slow, agonizing death, NTT has decided to jump straight into the VoIP business. All phones will be VoIP in Japan, in a few years. And this includes NTT's own. They currently have a different area code just for VoIP, that starts with 050, which is used by various VoIP providers. This is really cool, because I can call a friend using VoIP, from my 3G cell phone, and vice versa, even if his computer is turned off.

      You may think that the Asians are supreme copycats, but when it comes to technology, sometimes I wish that the West would copycat right back.

      You have a point. The US still innovates, but not as much as they used to. Asia isn't innovating as much, but they are much more than they used to. Common brand beers in Tokyo actually taste better than anything in the U.S. such as Budweiser and Miller. (I know, there are great microbrews in the U.S., but there are in Japan too.) There is one thing, however, just one thing that I crave so bad for that I can't get over here: QUALITY TURKEY GRAVY!!!!!!!

    2. Re:What's the problem? by Per+Wigren · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I've had VoIP at home for more than a year here in Sweden. I have a small box sitting between my DSL-modem and my normal phone. Calls to other persons within my ISPs network are completly free. Calls to other VoIP-providers are extremly cheap. Calls to legacy phones are cheaper than with any legacy phonecompany.

      --
      My other account has a 3-digit UID.
    3. Re:What's the problem? by slashing1 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Actually, the Japanese bureaucracy differs from the U.S. pretty dramatically in a couple of ways. First of all, the Japanese actually perceive bureaucratic jobs as prestigious. As such, despite the pay differential, the government still attracts and retains the high achievers from schools. For readers not from the U.S., Americans typically associate bureaucratic jobs with job-security and ineffective performance.

      Secondly, while many Americans believe that the government is hopelessly in bed with corporate interests (in particular the current administration), the U.S. government actually does strive for balance. In comparison, the Japanese government is shamelessly pro-business; the idea of domestic antitrust action is relatively new and foreign. The story behind NTT and the Japanese government is a well used (and complicated for the non-Japanese) case study for international business.

      As a side note, high level bureaucrats in Japan often do finally receive financial rewards later in life when they retire from government service and land cushy private sector jobs. There is an idiom that describes this as, loosely translated, "descending from heaven."

    4. Re:What's the problem? by Gulthek · · Score: 2, Informative

      Dude, my wife and I use VoIP as our landline. Our regular phones plug straight into the phone wall outlets and in every respect act just like regular phones...except that calls to the US and Canada are completely free. Long distance calls are also dirt cheap, to China for 15 cents a minute! 15 cents a minute! I remember when that was a tag line for long distance in the US!

      We use the VoIP service from Time Warner Cable in NC.

      It's just a little black box plugged into a dedicated cable line and then into a phone wall jack. With the box hidden away, we can treat the wall phone jacks as if the phone company had set them up.

      In case you can't tell, we are extreme advocates of the service. Having family spread across the country (and the globe) makes for expensive phone contact, but not for us :-).

  4. really missed the point by frovingslosh · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I think they really missed the point. What the educated user wants is a box that you plug your phone into one end, and that you plug the other end into your Ethernet router. Not something that you have to plug into a USB port on a computer.

    Heck, at almost no extra cost it could even include a small router(that could be disabled), so if the customer doesn't already have a router they just plug their computer into the box rather than the other way around. This just makes sense on so many levels, where as using a USB connection through a computer (and the required software that must go along with it) is really ugly.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:really missed the point by DarthBart · · Score: 4, Informative

      Already built. Grandstream makes the HT486. Plug a phone in one port, one port goes to your cable modem, other port is NATed to your local lan.

    2. Re:really missed the point by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 2, Informative

      I hope the linksys one is better than tha sipura branded one...

      I bought one, and it had a really annoying background hiss - so loud sometimes it was unusable (this is a common problem with the Sipura if you google for it). I RMA'd it, and the tech guy tried to convince me that this was the *first* faulty Sipura they'd ever heard of (yeah, right...).

      They shipped me a new one. Within 48 hours smoke started coming out if it and it died. I never bothered RMAing that one - it went straight into the bin.

  5. Has anyone here ever played... by Biomechanical · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...Shadowrun, the pencil and paper role play game (ignoring the whole mysticism aspect), or read William Gibson's books?

    VoIP communications proliferating around the western world, phones with 3D-accelerated chipsets, desktops with 3D environments, UI's that operate via trodes on the skin, WAN's LAN's and PAN's integrating hardware, software, and wetware...

    The technology is getting very cool. Now if only we can keep the politics out.

    I can see a day when your ISP will link to another ISP via Wi-Max (or an equivelant tech), and another ISP, and another... creating an independant Internet not reliant on a wired and "restrained by Big Brother" infrastructure.

    Your phone calls will be over VoIP through either your PC, PDA, or mobile phone. Your email will be routed through independant nodes remaining detached from governmental or multinational corporate infrastructure.

    The space program will progress to the degree where many more privately owned satellites will be launched into space and create a global network that overcomes the latency and dataflow problems of satellite sheerly through it's if not anything else.

    People, technically minded ones, will drive for more "personally empowering" software - mainly communications software that increases the speed, scope, and deliverable nature of all manner of data.

    We will encounter a "wall" where the government tries to grasp control of this exponentially growing network, and the wall will be broken through.

    These are strange days for tech. Big companies are embracing technology for the soul purpose of squeezing every dollar, pound, and euro out of it, while the public and the publically minded private enterprises are pushing for person-orientated tech.

    We are looking at the beginning of a technological cold-war.

    It's between you who would use the technology available to you to better your life, and those who would have you remain ignorant - eating happy sound-bites and tasting media tidbits.

    Good for Siemens. I like it when companies put out useful tech. Hopefully they will produce more of this kind of technology in the future.

    --
    His name is Robert Paulsen...
    1. Re:Has anyone here ever played... by danwarne · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I can see a day when your ISP will link to another ISP via Wi-Max (or an equivelant tech), and another ISP, and another... creating an independant Internet not reliant on a wired and "restrained by Big Brother" infrastructure. This already happens, in Australia, at least. Here, we have a particularly dominant carrier - Telstra - that owns the very great lion's share of the country's telecom infrastructure. As a result, peering 'internet exchanges' (IXs) have been set up in every state, which serve as central points for ISPs to exchange data with each other directly rather than their upstream providers.

  6. Close, but no cigar. by lennart78 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Props to Siemens for being the first to jump on this bandwagon, but why still use the 'plain old phone'?

    Nowadays, World+Dog has a PC with built in WiFi and Bluetooth support. Or else you buy an USB adapter at the local supermarket. Instead of using a telephone to access skype, use a Bluetooth headset like this one: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/speakers/headse ts/65ff/

    It shouldn't be too hard to program a speech-to-text interface to allow you to "call" one of your contacts by speaking the name. And if you don't want to be caught speechdialing, there must be other alternatives. You could run a small program on your cellphone to control skype while walking around the house.

    The solution Siemens offered here is a nice way to cut costs on long distances calls, but not really groundbreaking. I'd like to see a company build an 'out-of-the-box' remote solution for Skype.

  7. Linux drivers ? by dago · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In fact, this is more generally a DECT interface for computers, with the SDK, you can basically make software to run on your (siemens) portable phone and only be limited by your imagination.

    If only there was linux drivers ...

    --
    #include "coucou.h"
  8. Re:What is Skype, anyway? (Credit Card Mystery) by Sircus · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you've not used Skype, it's credit card fraud. Call your card issuer, get your card locked and initiate a chargeback/Request-For-Information process on those two charges.

    --
    PenguiNet: the (shareware) Windows SSH client
  9. Newbie Skype questions? by iceteep · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been reading about Skype recently but have not got around to installing it. I believe it was written by the same people who wrote Kazaa. That set off a few alarm bells for me. Anyone know of any security/spyware issues? What are your experiences of running it on Linux?

    1. Re:Newbie Skype questions? by ortcutt · · Score: 4, Informative

      There aren't any spyware concerns. The business model for Skype is based on charging for Skype-to-POTS calls not on spyware like Kazaa. There are always security concerns when you run any network software, but I haven't heard of any exploits.

    2. Re:Newbie Skype questions? by geighaus · · Score: 2, Informative

      Kazaa was originally developed to be free of any spyware/adware. Only after it got bought by Charman Networks, they had started bundling a bunch of crap with it. If my memory serves me, the original Kazaa developers got pissed off at it, quit the company and founded Skype. So there you go. Skype is free from any malware for the time being. Hopefully it stays this way in the future.

  10. Don't hype Skype by SYRanger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There are open standards for Voice over IP, and Skype does not use them - they try to "hijack" the VoIP-market with their own proprietary standard.

    1. Re:Don't hype Skype by adolf · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Right.

      The world would be far better off if everyone installed Linux on a spare computer so they could run Asterisk. You then just need to buy a bunch of hardware, and then either spend a few hundred dollars each on WiFi phones, or spend tens of hours recabling your house.

      Oh, and then you get to configure the mess, after learning all about such eccentricities as G.711, G.723.1, GSM, IAX, and SIP, SCCP, plus a whole lot of other defacto telephony standards and Ways Of Doing Things that were obviously developed in a cave.

      Once you solve the echo problem, all you gotta do is make DUNDi work, and you can finally call other people Just Like You. Or, you can sign up with any of dozens of shady small VOIP telephone companies and pay a few tenths of a cent per minute to talk to regular people via a SIP, IAX, h.323, or MGCP connection.

      Sweet.

      Alternatively, one could always download and install Skype. I understand that it does work fairly well, and is easy for mere mortals to use. It seems that Siemens now has an easy way for you to use their handsets with it. Neat.

      --
      Kid-proof tablet..
  11. Re:What is Skype, anyway? (Credit Card Mystery) by ortcutt · · Score: 3, Funny

    You had two mysterious charges on your credit card for $32.34 and you didn't think to type "skype" into Google? Instead you decided to wait until you ran across an article on slashdot to find out?

  12. Re:What is Skype, anyway? (Credit Card Mystery) by SamMichaels · · Score: 4, Informative

    This may not technically be on topic, but I'm hoping someone might be able to shed light on what might have caused this, apart from credit card theft/fraud. Anyone? (Help!) Thanks!

    What does the name of the charge matter? It could have been from SkippyDoodle. If you didn't make the charge, then your card was compromised.

    If you're asking for help on the topic, then I'm not surprised your card number was stolen. Cancel the card, get your money back, and get a pamphlet on credit cards before attempting to use another.

    And yes, that email you got from CitiBank and Paypal to enter your information were fake.

  13. Re:Skype is Number One! by Bitsy+Boffin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Skype is about marketing, sure thier product might not be as good as existing ones, sure it might flaut standards and use a proprietry protocol, sure it doesn't do this and that... but the long and the short of it is that Skype is getting the mass market attention.

    If you think you can do better, well, go for it I look forward to seeing "glomph-o-phone" take the world by storm.

    But I think a better focus of your attention would be towards skype, extending it via thier API, and pressuring them into making thier core system better/more open because I don't see Skype going away any time soon. "Skype Me" is going to become the next "Google It" whether you like it or not.

    --
    NZ Electronics Enthusiasts: Check out my Trade Me Listings
  14. The parent post is a troll by Compact+Dick · · Score: 5, Informative

    - No encryption support now, none planned.

    Skype uses 256-bit AES encryption, which, if implemented properly, should be secure enough for just about anyone.

    - No compression on the audio, bandwidth hog.

    The speech codec used by Skype outputs a compressed stream which cannot be compressed further; try zipping an MP3 and you will see what I mean.

    - Skype rhymes with hype.

    How is this relevant?

    The other points can be debunked by those who actually use Skype.

    --
    Use ISO 8601 dates [YYYY-MM-DD]
  15. Better than this Siemens... by freitasm · · Score: 2, Informative

    There are some companies offering USB adapters for any handset and any computer: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=36 71

    The Siemens model works only with a few handset models made by Siemens only... Pretty close I'd say.

  16. For everyone posting "better" alternatives... by tuxedobob · · Score: 3, Insightful

    (To Skype itself, not the accessory.)

    It must meet these, Skype's current basic functions:

    1. Be able to use a computer microphone/headset.
    2. Be able to use Mac or Linux also.
    3. Be able to call for free another user (not out to traditional phone).
    4. Be able to call a traditional phone (for a fee: 1.7 cents/min in US and most of Europe, I think).

    I'm very tempted to give up my cell phone over this. We have no landline phone here, either. My wife has a cell phone, just in case.

    (Side note: why doesn't /. allow the cent sign (AKA option-4)?

  17. Yet another alternative by usheletz · · Score: 2, Informative

    Olymia DU@Lphone, actually manufactured by RTX
    Allows to do both Skype and land-line calls, implements DECT standard.
    Base station intrefaces via USB to PC and RJ-11 to PSTN. Better than Siemens product in the way, that it does not require a separate DECT base station to do PSTN calls.
    As well as Siemens Gigaset M34 USB , does not have drivers for anything but Windows. I don't think the drivers will be available, because unlike Siemens RTX does not have a signed partnership with Skype.
    Said to be available in December, pre-order ~100euros.

    Now I wonder if it would be possibe to reverse engineer the thing and make it work with Skype in linux. Hmm, where do we start...

    Does anyone know how the software for the Siemens works in Wondows? Does it involve any userspace soft dialer like all those PC/USB-to-RJ11, or the is a direct interface SkypeSiemens USB driver? I would hope for the later....