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Cringely Shows How to Get Free Cell Calls

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the all-depends-where-you-hop-on dept.

SafariShane writes "In this week's pulpit, Bob describes how to properly use new software from a company called IPDrum. Basically, you use the free mobile-to-mobile feature of any major carrier to call a dedicated cell phone attached to your computer. That call is then connected to Skype, allowing you to make free cell calls just about anywhere. Just how long till someone does this on a large scale, by overselling the dedicated lines, and starts selling true unlimited cell plans?"

6 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. A new acronym? by bfizzle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Talk about a hack...

    Makes me wonder how much delay there is between talking and the other party listening with the cell to cell to skype to skype to cell to cell.

    We have a new acronym c2c2p2p2c2c

  2. Voice compression hell by Strom+Carlson · · Score: 5, Informative

    By running from Skype to a mobile phone, you use two fairly crappy codecs: iLBC at 13 kilobits per second on top of GSM at 12 kilobits per second. On their own, each one is marginally tolerable, but I would rather gouge my eardrums out with a dagger than listen to the two codecs combined.

  3. Sure it's free, you just ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... have to pay $60/month minimum for two-phone wireless service and 2c a minute to termine the call at a real phone.

    You've met "free-as-in-speech" and "free-as-in-beer" -- now meet "free-as-in-really-expensive"! Yayyyy capitalism!!

  4. Free? by Blindman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The plan requires two active cellular phone connections. Last I checked that isn't free. Sure, it will be cheaper than actually making direct calls, but that is not the same as free. Furthermore, it doesn't sound like it handles incoming calls, so really what you have is a flat fee for unlimited outgoing calls. This doesn't sound particularly free.

    --
    I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person that I'm preaching to.
  5. Re:Link to Microsoft.com? by NetNifty · · Score: 5, Informative

    You're using Firefox I guess? If firefox doesn't recognise a url entered as a url it does an "I'm Feeling Lucky" google search on the "url" entered. The link is broken and is starts with "http" and the first result on searching for http (and thus the I'm Feeling Lucky link) on Google is Microsoft.com.

    --
    Linux Wireless Hardware in the UK
  6. Another way by eugeneiiim · · Score: 5, Funny

    Another way to get free cell calls

    *ducks*