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Skype Start-Up To Undercut International Wireless

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the doing-new-things-with-tech dept.

Mob-Money wrote to mention a Boston Globe article describing a Skype-based startup that is set to undercut the exorbitant fees wireless companies charge for international calls. From the article: "Through a $10-a-year software rental that goes on sale today, iSkoot promises to let people make international calls to other Skype users for nothing more than the price of local air time for the link from their cellphones to their broadband-connected home computers. Just as Internet phone technology has slashed the price of making conventional landline long-distance calls and enabled unlimited calling for as little as $20 a month, the iSkoot technology could put pressure on still-exorbitant wireless international calling charges."

103 comments

  1. the logo... by scosol · · Score: 1

    ... is a dog wiping itself on the grass in your yard.

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    I browse at +5 Flamebait- moderation for all or moderation for none.
    1. Re:the logo... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Umm no it isn't. Their logo is an image of a purple scooter. Check out their homepage for an image of it: http://www.iskoot.com

    2. Re:the logo... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps you'd be interested in this article.

  2. You can only call Skype users? by stratjakt · · Score: 1

    Sounds pretty useless then.

    Note to VoIP droolers, the shit ain't going to work until you're *all* using the same protocols, and it interoperates seamlessly with POTS.

    Paying 10 bucks to call skype, 10 to call this, 10 to call that.. It'd add up pretty quick. And the Bells have plenty of room to slash prices if they feel the need to.

    --
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    1. Re:You can only call Skype users? by tarquin_fim_bim · · Score: 0

      No, the Feds will be able to pick up your call as well.
      Sorry.

    2. Re:You can only call Skype users? by mottie · · Score: 1

      from iskoot.com

      With iSkoot, You Can Now Make and Receive FREE Phone Calls with Any Cell Phone Through Skype

      from the article (aka RTFA)

      Making outbound calls is a little more complicated. After registering the cellphone number with iSkoot, the user creates and sends a text message to the e-mail address dial@iskoot.com. The text message can contain either a phone number, a Skype speed-dial number, or a screen name for someone in the user's Skype ''buddy list."

    3. Re:You can only call Skype users? by eln · · Score: 1

      Vonage, AT&T, etc have VoIP services that integrate seamlessly with POTS. I call people on my ordinary phone hooked up to my VoIP box from AT&T, and it rings their ordinary (non-VoIP) phone. It costs about the same as a normal phone line, except I get free long distance. Quality is comparable to POTS too. There are long distance charges to places outside of the US and Canada, but the rates are very, very low compared to regular phone service.

      Basically, if you want a totally free VoIP solution, you'll have to deal with not being able to contact POTS customers. However, for about the same cost as a POTS line, but without the long distance charges, you can get a VoIP line that can contact POTS customers, and can even be used as a fax line.

    4. Re:You can only call Skype users? by Chosen+Reject · · Score: 1

      So if the Bells slash prices to that below the cost of VoIp what's the problem?

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    5. Re:You can only call Skype users? by Uber+Banker · · Score: 1

      I sort of share your sentiment.

      VoIP 2 local exchange works great, in my experience. I subscribe to Skype to make calls to fixed lines and mobiles regularly. Great call quality and consistently good reliability.

      To make cheap international calls I use 'calling cards'. These guys use a variety of technologies. One of my favourites (due to cheapness and consistent reliability) have used a mishmash of VOIP for at least 5 years. Here's how it works: you buy a calling card (like a phone card), call a land number listed on the back of that card, type in a scratch-off security number, then make your international call. Billing works by your phone company charging you for the call to the calling card service (typically local rate, if mobile operators decide to charge a premium for the listed number (not sure how legal that is) then the calling card helpline will offer a further number (also not sure how legal that is)), then receiving a charge from the call card service.

      Using this calling card service, I daily call the US for GBP0.04p/min (o/w 0.02p/min calling card charge, 0.02p/min domestic mobile charge), and Hong Kond for GBP0.05p/min (o/w 0.03/min calling card charge, 0.02p/min domestic mobile charge).

      Explicit VOIP services don't interest me much in this system of fuzzy technologies. Whatever works. VOIP/Skype is great to save that few pennies, but very similar services already exist.

      [My knowledge of calling card services refers to the UK only. I have no knowledge of equivalent services in the US.]

    6. Re:You can only call Skype users? by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      i don't make internation calls but i've used calling cards in other situations and they are a PITA for short calls.

      i spent most of last year in a uni block where you had to use a university supplied card (no they wouldn't let you direct dial the 0800 access numbers for other cards for some reason) to make all calls. I switched to voip on my laptop simply because i could direct-dial that way.

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    7. Re:You can only call Skype users? by timeOday · · Score: 1
      Basically, if you want a totally free VoIP solution, you'll have to deal with not being able to contact POTS customers.
      Now here's a different question... now that more people are getting VOIP and have SIP devices on their home networks (e.g. all Vonage users), can I place a call to them from my laptop, by connecting to their SIP device over IP? This would bypass the POTS network and the VOIP "provider" (e.g. Vonage) entirely.

      In case you're wondering why anybody would want to do this, I'm a business traveler who can voucher Internet access, which is unmetered, but not personal calls to home. Some hotels charge outrageous fees even for local calls, which rules out calling cards. Besides, why use up my Vonage minutes (I'm on the $15/mo plan) when I don't need their POTS bridge? Since I'm a Vonage subscriber with a SIP box at home, could I call home with my laptop? I realize I could make a laptop-to-PC call home, but it will never fly unless my wife can pick up the regular phone.

    8. Re:You can only call Skype users? by patio11 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Move to Japan. The future is already here. Telephone service comes from Yahoo BB (my ISP) but feels exactly like telephone service: you pick up the phone and dial. And you're done. The only way you can distinguish it from regular telephone service is its 80% cheaper (great for long-distance calls back to the States). There are some regulatory headaches (I have to pay the telephone monopoly to be able to receive calls from certain classes of people, costs about $10 a month plus the one-time licensing fee that is a weird artifact of Japan's late-industrializing telephone scheme) but after it was set up its totally seamless. Why should you have to care about protocols for a telephone? Thats like having to program your microwave or flash the firmware on your alarm clock -- these sorts of devices should just bloody work.

      --
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    9. Re:You can only call Skype users? by Hockers · · Score: 1

      It's 10$ per year, not per month. Not exactly significant.

    10. Re:You can only call Skype users? by bertybassett · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Get a BroadVoice connection

      Then get Asterisk. Hook Asterisk to BroadVoice and then call your Asterisk box from the cell phone and if you signed up for the $20 plan, you can call pretty much anywhere in the world from your cell for the price of a local call.

      Been doing it for months and it works like a charm. Plus of course, hook your regular phone up at home and its totally free when you're in the house too!

      --
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    11. Re:You can only call Skype users? by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      Since I'm a Vonage subscriber with a SIP box at home, could I call home with my laptop? I realize I could make a laptop-to-PC call home, but it will never fly unless my wife can pick up the regular phone.

      Why not just add Vonage's softphone? Then you can call a landline; don't know if you can call you're own Vonage number.

      OTOH, some hotels that offer internet access include free long distance in the mix - such as Marriott.

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    12. Re:You can only call Skype users? by timeOday · · Score: 1
      Why not just add Vonage's softphone? Then you can call a landline;
      It's $10/mo, and I would use it only occasionally.

      Besides, Vonage is a POTS-to-IP bridge. There's no need for such a thing if I'm calling from my laptop to my home network - it's pure IP, and there should be no need for Vonage to have anything to do with the call.

    13. Re:You can only call Skype users? by Uber+Banker · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah. Many calling cards blow chunks. A good one that is widely available, should you ever need it (and be able to call the 0800/0845 number), is First National.

  3. iSkoot by kihjin · · Score: 1

    Since the /. editor didn't feel like giving you a direct link to iSkoot, here's one right now:

    http://www.iskoot.com/

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    1. Re:iSkoot by cshark · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the link.
      Is it me, or does this software not sound like much of anything?

      What we know:
      1. It connects skype to you phone. Sort of
      2. It will at some un named date in the future provide you with msn, aim, and yim, which most cell phones these days can do anyway.
      3. According to this you should be able to make long distance calls for a fraction of a penny. Nice feature, but they don't really explain what they're doing with it, or how it actually works. Do you think that's too much to ask from a page entitled, "How it works?"

      My question:
      So it looks like they're using the skype api and doing some potentially neat things, but they are in no way related to Skype. What's to stop Skype from undercutting them, and putting them out of business?

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  4. Twiddling Our Thumbs by MikeMacK · · Score: 1
    Executives at top wireless carriers, who could lose millions of dollars in international calling revenue, are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

    What else are they going to do? If it becomes successful look for iSkoot to be bought out quickly.

  5. Wait for the hand-wringers ... by timothy · · Score: 1

    "What if you're calling International 911? The system won't know where you are!"

    Reminds me of the V. Postrel book "The Future and Its Enemies" -- it's always nice to see things like this where the Enemies are temporarily set back ;)

    timothy

    --
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    1. Re:Wait for the hand-wringers ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      911 isn't the emergency number internationally. In the UK its 999 and in NZ its 111. Not sure about other countries.

      (When I first heard of the show 'Rescue 911' I thought it must have been a couple of paramedics or firemen racing around in a Porshe.)

    2. Re:Wait for the hand-wringers ... by timothy · · Score: 1

      Yes, it was a joke :)

      There's no such thing as "International 911" -- it's just that it seems with any telecom method even semi-similar to conventional POTS service, everyone gets up in arms about it not supporting 911 in exactly the same way (or at all) that the old conventional system has evolved to use it.

      911 is an interesting, positive thing for the most part, but it's far from a birthright, and shouldn't be the basis on which new means of communication are applauded or rejected. That's all I meant :)

      timothy

      --
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    3. Re:Wait for the hand-wringers ... by BurnFEST · · Score: 1

      911 isn't the emergency number internationally. In the UK its 999 and in NZ its 111. Not sure about other countries.

      000 in Australia.

  6. Apple... by Sr.+Pato · · Score: 1

    i Skoot, How long before Apple sues?

    *ducks*

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    1. Re:Apple... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unlikely seeing IBM has iSeries machines before apple started using the prefix.

    2. Re:Apple... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So does the exclusive use to preceeding any word with i belong to Apple, or is this all imaginary?

      *rimshot* (please god let somebody understand the joke)

    3. Re:Apple... by Sr.+Pato · · Score: 1

      You mean, iMaginary?

      --
      Nobody's gay for Mole-Man. :-(
  7. Crigley by VoiceForSanity · · Score: 1

    FYI... Cringely's Column this week is on the same topic

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  8. price is not right by u19925 · · Score: 1
    I frequently make a call to india using Reliance and they have excellent service and the charge is only $0.129 using their toll free number. I don't have a land line, or internet phone. Just a cell phone. Other companies like Onesuite too provide very low cost service to many destinations including europe and india. So don't see really any great value in this.

    Note that behind the scene, many carriers use voip and toll free number call charge in USA, is only 2 cents a minute. So most companies like skype, vonage can barely afford more than 2 cents a minutes discount compared to these discount carriers. In my own personal search, I have found that most broadband based voip service cost more than these discount carriers for international calls. As for calls within USA, I rarely exceed my free minutes.

    1. Re:price is not right by flithm · · Score: 1

      I frequently make a call to india using Reliance... the charge is only $0.129 using their toll free number. Other companies like Onesuite too provide very low cost service to many destinations including europe and india. So don't see really any great value in this.

      First of all reliance is not cheap. 13 cents per minute. Onesuite is also not cheap (ranging from 2 to 14 cents per minute).

      Skye is... say it with me: FREE.

      Also this is totally different than using some cheap long distance carrier. This is using a phone to connect to the iSkoot service which routes your phone call over the Skype network.

      You're making calls to other Skype users for free (10$ / year), from any phone including your cell phone (which only incurs the cost of local calls... for which many people get for free).

      Did you even read the article? Do you even know what Skype or VOIP is? 2 cents a minute is massively expensive compared to Skype and traditional VOIP.

      My VOIP plan, the cheapest and crappiest possible plan, gives me 1.6 cents per minute TO ANYWHERE, and that's the most expensive long distance you can get from the company I chose. (I don't use long distance, only local calls).

      You may not see any great value in this, but that's because you have no idea what this is all about. You're comparing traditional low-cost long distance providers to a service that connects people's phones to the Skype network.

      Also, you're not thinking forward enough. This is another nail in the coffin to LD carriers. Think about it. Skype has them scared, because now anyone can talk to anyone for any period of time for free (provided they're both on the network).

      This means if you spend most of your time talking to a few people (which is almost always the case), and they also have a computer (which is often the case) you can just say "Why don't we use Skype!"

      Problem being: I need to be at my computer to talk to them.

      Problem solved!

      This is an indication of a growing trend. People are unwilling to pay stupid amounts of money for LD when the means exist to do it for practically nothing.

      I haven't paid a cent for long distance in the past year, and I haven't given my local Telco Monopoly a single dime either. My home phone costs me $15 a month, and I am not paying anything more!

    2. Re:price is not right by nacturation · · Score: 1

      My VOIP plan, the cheapest and crappiest possible plan, gives me 1.6 cents per minute TO ANYWHERE, and that's the most expensive long distance you can get from the company I chose.

      Out of curiosity, which company is this? Is it a raw provider of long distance over voip, or a Vonage-like company?

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    3. Re:price is not right by glesga_kiss · · Score: 1
      I frequently make a call to india using Reliance and they have excellent service and the charge is only $0.129 using their toll free number.

      Here in the UK, there's a company offering much better. You can use your network bundled minutes on your mobile phone to call a gateway, which then allows you to dial out globally. All for the cost of a local call, which (if I'm within my bundle limit) is completely free.

      Any new startup looking to make money out of voice calls really should look into their competitors a bit more. It's my belief that within 5 years, voice will be mostly free to anywhere civilized. You won't see me investing in any company that intends to make money that isn't there to begin with!

    4. Re:price is not right by gklyber · · Score: 1

      3u Telecom is also a great service for mobile-only international calling. here

  9. I already have that setup. by Jeet81 · · Score: 0
    This is an easy setup through asterisk for no-monthly cost.
    All you do is setup asterisk to recieve SIP URI calls and have a SIP dns entry added pointing to your asterisk server. Then you just forward all your incoming SIP calls to your cell phone or home phone or a SIP phone in Canada or Europe or all of them.

    I am sure the slashdot community can get away with the $10 monthly fee by spending an hour or two on an asterisk setup with much much greater functionality.

    --
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  10. get a calling card by cahiha · · Score: 1

    Get a calling card with a local or 800 access number. Yes, they do work from your cell phone as well (duh), and if you shop around, you can find dirt cheap ones. Program the number into your cell phone for extra convenience.

    No need to waste time, money, or electricity on a complicated software/hardware/broadband setup.

    1. Re:get a calling card by HatofPig · · Score: 1

      Couldn't they combine the two? A 1-800 number you can dial from your cell-phone (or anywhere) to connect to your iSkoot account? Then all the vo-ip could be handled at their end, which should help quality.

      --
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  11. Wow by Jailbrekr · · Score: 1

    Lets combine the quality and reliability of cellular service with the quality and reliability of VoIP. Remember kids, degradation of signal is additive. Crappy VoIP connection plus crappy cellular signal = really really crappy call.

    Its an interesting idea, but a little too early to be taken seriously.

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    1. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Option 1 - Using your POTS home service using your long distance carrier of choice. Price? Extremely expensive.

      Option 2 - Using your cell phone and using their international rates - Extremely expensive.

      Option 3 - Using the phone of your choice (Cell/pay phone/home phone) coupled with a calling card. Reasonable reliability and proabaly 2-20 cents a minute.

      Option 4 - Use this service for unknown reliability and fractions of the cost.

      Do not use it if you do not want it. I would not try to join a business conference call with it but for talking to an old friend or your relative in China? Why the hell not? If it turns out to be a flop, how much do you really loose?

      On a side note. I have outstanding cell phone service and very few drops within a 100 mile radius of my house. I can make 100 calls and use 1000 minutes and not have a single dropped or echoed call and I am not using Verizon. Not everyone has bad cell service.

    2. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have always wondered where is this 3rd world/developing country that has crappy cellular reception? As far as I have experienced my cellular call is in most cases better than the one on land line. Todays technology is called "digital", in last century there was the thing called "analog" that caused lots of degradation on call quality.

  12. Can already do it for free on Yahoo Messenger by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    it's built in, one of the options, at least on my WinXP laptop installation.

    And since my laptop has very good speakers and a reasonable microphone, plus there are tons of free wireless outlets in my neighborhood, can't get much cheaper than that ...

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  13. Uh. I already do this for less... by EvilMagnus · · Score: 1

    Using a calling card on my wireless phone.

    I use cognicall. No monthly fee, 800 access number (so for me it only costs me minutes btw 6a-7p M-F), and 10c/min calls to the UK. Not the absolute cheapest rates around, but they're convenient and good enough.

    Cognicall also has plenty of international access numbers, so it works in reverse when I'm traveling with a pay-as-you-go mobile, or from a regular payphone.

    The good thing about cognicall is they'll pre-authorise your cell number, so you don't have to enter an account # and pin every time you dial the access number - they use caller ID to check the inbound #.

    --
    -EvilMagnus
    1. Re:Uh. I already do this for less... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      good thing you can't hack Caller ID or anything...

    2. Re:Uh. I already do this for less... by EvilMagnus · · Score: 1

      Well, given that there's still a 2-sec delay btw connection and tone, and that the number of cognicall users is a vanishingly small subset of phone # in the US, brute-forcing it would be both time-consuming and horribly inefficient.

      Also, not every cognicall user does this, which reduces the set even further. But yeah, it's not good security. It relies mostly on obscurity - and even once you know about it, it's pretty worthless unless you also know the # of an existing, authorised DID subscriber.

      --
      -EvilMagnus
  14. Damn... by l33t.g33k · · Score: 1

    Well, until I read the part about only being able to call other Skype users, I was excited because I was looking forward to making international prank calls... drat ;)

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    1. Re:Damn... by mottie · · Score: 1

      RTFA

      Making outbound calls is a little more complicated. After registering the cellphone number with iSkoot, the user creates and sends a text message to the e-mail address dial@iskoot.com. The text message can contain either a phone number, a Skype speed-dial number, or a screen name for someone in the user's Skype ''buddy list."

    2. Re:Damn... by l33t.g33k · · Score: 1

      I see your point. If making an outbound call is really that complicated, then I guess that Skype's idea isn't really that practical... I mean, how would Joe Sixpack figure it out?

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  15. REALLY? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Since the /. editor didn't feel like giving you a direct link to iSkoot...

    Slashdot has editors?

  16. Do I smell a [Law] suite here...? by bogaboga · · Score: 1
    I wonder whether I am smelling a Law suite brewing here. There is no way the huge telcos are going to leave this challenge unanswered somehow. They will argue dumping among others. Here in Canada, a basic [old-fashioned] land-line would cost you about US$ 30 per month with unlimited local calls. This excludes about 15% tax. If this arrangement is to come to Canada, these huge telephone companies would do everything possible to thwart competition. In the USA, I can see the FCC coming in to support these conglomerates with all kinds of bye-laws. Of course this would be illegal, but by the time things are sorted out, it would be too late or technology will have changed.

    On the other hand this is a question: For those that have used Skype, is it really worth a try? What about those lag issues and clarity of the sound to the talking parties involved?

    1. Re:Do I smell a [Law] suite here...? by OverlordQ · · Score: 1

      suit . . . lawsuit, not 'law suite'

      might want to look up what suite means.

      --
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    2. Re:Do I smell a [Law] suite here...? by Shihar · · Score: 1

      I am sure that there will be a legal challenge, but it will not be over "dumping". Arguing that a small start up is some how dumping when all the other players are giants is just silly and would never get to a court. The legal challenge will be over the fact that this company is not going to follow the same laws and regulations of a normal cell phone company. The big cell phone companies will claim that the small company should be held to the same regulations (911 standards, quality regulations, ect).

    3. Re:Do I smell a [Law] suite here...? by JPWhite · · Score: 1
      [For those that have used Skype, is it really worth a try? What about those lag issues and clarity of the sound to the talking parties involved?]

      Err, have you tried Skype? The sound quality exceeds that of regular phones. So Skype is unlikely to be the weak link in the chain in terms of quality. JP

    4. Re:Do I smell a [Law] suite here...? by nacturation · · Score: 1

      Dumping? Wouldn't that be the same as a telegram company suing because phones/faxes/emails have replaced telegrams?

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  17. good luck making money on that by NynexNinja · · Score: 1

    This sounds alot like what Net2Pnone tried unsuccessfully to do in 1998. They eventually gave the made the service free. Its hard to justify the cost of P2P voice calls over the internet.

  18. software rental? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    admittedly, $10/year ain't that expensive. what they're talking about here though is just a little porgram that will let your computer recognize an incoming call from your cellphone (could be as simple as the touch tone recognition that answering machines use) and route that call through skype (which is already free).

    this is worth a one-time payment of $10. maybe. i don't think that this type of behaviour is something to be encouraged.

  19. Ignore the hand-wringers ... by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    "What if you're calling International 911? The system won't know where you are!"

    Don't worry, they already have a blanket tap on you without a warrent if you're in the US, no matter if you use the Net (IP address, roaming taps are ok), cell phones (it's got an ID for your phone, and it broadcasts unless you turn it off, even when not ringing), land line (any phones you have had anything to do with, including phoning them), and payphones (ditto).

    Just another Homeland Insecurity service for you who live in Fear.

    Reminds me of Marvin the Paranoid Android nowadays, he'd fit in well here.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  20. What exactly is the difference by JediCk · · Score: 1

    ...between iSkoot and using a calling card with your cellphone. I use Ohello http://www.ohello.com/ and they have very competitive rates. The international numbers on my cellphone are programmed so they first dial the Ohello number before dialing the actual number - so all I have to do is hit dial. Sending a sms message with the number you want to dial - all seems like way to much trouble.

    1. Re:What exactly is the difference by sys$manager · · Score: 1

      The difference is that a calling card can call anyone and iSkoot can only call Skype users. So it's more difficult AND less functional.

    2. Re:What exactly is the difference by exhilaration · · Score: 1

      You're wrong. RTFA.

  21. Skype protocol by owlstead · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And here we are, the slashdot community thinking Skype is good. Or is it? Skype has a very interesting protocol (or actually, a complete protocol stack). But it is proprietary. Do we actually want to replace the old monopolies with a new one?

    What we need is an open source protocol that works just as well. Skype is a great protocol, but it is *not* the way to go forward. Come on guys, it can not be that hard to send (encrypted) voice over UDP. Let's create a nice, extendible (video etc) protocol that uses UDP - at least for the data channels.

    1. Re:Skype protocol by blackmonday · · Score: 1

      Shype isn't a protocol. It's a service, and a very, very good one. I bought 10 bucks worth of service to book hotel rooms for my vacation, and it beats the pants off of calling cards, land line rates, 10-10 numbers, etc. Sure, I had to connect a mic and headphones to my iMac, and look like a total dork, but it worked beautifully, every time.

      I can't recommend it enough.

    2. Re:Skype protocol by elgaard · · Score: 1

      As others has said we have SIP.

      I use the danish musimi.dk for interfacing POTS's. I can call my own number from a cell phone, get a dialtone, and call another SIP-phone for free (except the cell phone charge) or make a 3c/minute international call.
          Denmark do not have local calls (or you could say that all calls are local, but no PSTN calls are free), so there is no reason to waste money on your own PSTN line.

      You can also have PSTN-numbers in different countries for the same SIP-phone. I.e. I have a free US number with ipkall.com, so if any of you north americans wants to call my danish phone you do not need to make an international call.

    3. Re:Skype protocol by sci50514 · · Score: 0

      I am using the SIP adapter from www.sipphone.com. I call my girl in asia for free since she has an SIP adapter as well.

      Sipphone is releasing the SIP softphone as well. It is called the Gizmo project.

      Use SIP. It is an open protocol and it is available now.

    4. Re:Skype protocol by grazzy · · Score: 1

      Until the rest of your 10 bucks goes away becuase you didnt use your skype account for 2 months or whatever it is.

  22. Exactly by Ritz_Just_Ritz · · Score: 1

    I frequently need to call China for business. I stopped in my local 7-11 and bought a Chinese-specific calling card. I've been using the same $20 card for months (I think it costs about 3-4 cents a minute). Simple solution to a simple problem. Eventually the "market will correct" the situation and the wireless carriers will stop charging monopolist rates. As it is, they get away with murder here in the states. You can't even MAKE international calls unless you pass an aggressive credit screening. *shrug*

  23. Legal beat-down approaching ... by crimethinker · · Score: 1
    From TFA:

    Verizon Wireless spokeswoman J. Abra Degbor said the carrier would have no public comment on iSkoot but would be in touch with the company directly about any concerns it had over the acceptability or legality of the service.

    That sounds like an ominous threat. I'm sure that the various incumbent carriers will find a way to twist the legal system and stomp this one into the ground.

    Consider Vonage, which offered an excellent alternative to the pork- and tax-laden telco's in the US, until said telco's started complaining about "vonage isn't following the onerous regulations we have to follow and charging all those outrageous taxes and universal service fees!" Hello? I wanted Vonage precisely because I don't think it's the government's right to tax me so they can provide telephone service to someone else, or internet to the public schools. The solution is not to complain that "they should have to carry this same incredible load," but rather to complain about the regulatory load in the first place.

    However, I bet in this case it's just the telco's charging what the market will (currently) bear, and now this little upstart is coming in and threatening their cash cow. Given today's political climate, I'd expect comments about "terrorists could use iSkoot to plan an attack! OMG we must shut down cheap overseas phone service OR THE TERRORISTS WILL HAVE WON!!!!!!"

    -paul

    --
    Pistol caliber is like religion: everyone has their favourite, and theirs is the only right choice.
    1. Re:Legal beat-down approaching ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I don't think it's the government's right to tax me so they can provide telephone service to someone else, or internet to the public schools

      Yes, who would want our farmers to have 911 service, or our kids to be able to learn. How horrible.

    2. Re:Legal beat-down approaching ... by crimethinker · · Score: 1
      "I don't think it's the government's right to tax me so they can provide telephone service to someone else, or internet to the public schools

      Yes, who would want our farmers to have 911 service, or our kids to be able to learn. How horrible.

      You make the terrible mistake of assuming that internet access in the public schools equates with learning. When I went to school, the only computers were in one classroom, and they were used for the computer programming classes. We got along just fine writing our papers out by hand (or typing them on the computer at home), doing research in the library with those musty old things called "books," and not wasting our entire day at school on TEH INTARWEB.

      STFU and if you think it's so important, write a check to your local school, but keep your hands out of my wallet.

      -paul

      --
      Pistol caliber is like religion: everyone has their favourite, and theirs is the only right choice.
  24. Skype quality good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For those that have used Skype, is it really worth a try? What about those lag issues and clarity of the sound to the talking parties involved?

    Not excellent but far better than I expected.

    I regularly call from US to Brazil land-line phone (SkypeOut) for about $0.06 a minute. Audio quality has always been good. Lag is sometimes worse than other times. The people I call sometimes complain of a slight echo of their own voice on their end. Nothing that ruins the usefulness of the service.

  25. Seems kind of clunky to me... by B11 · · Score: 1

    And not worth the effort. I personally have no need to call from a mobile phone internationally, I can wait until I get home. I guess if you're in Europe or something, it would be worth the effort.

    --
    insert inflammatory anti-microsoft comment here
  26. Re:Skype protocol / SIP by agulliford · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Skype is naff because they do not allow SIP clients. http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3261.txt The protocol has existed for ages, but Skype are a closed shop - another Microsoft in the making. Dump Skype and get yourself a real VOIP provider that uses SIP.

  27. VoIP free calls anywhere by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sorry Skype but I use VoIP to make unlimited free calls to any wifi phone, PC, PDA, etc. in the world without the need for any "provider" or "service" charges.

  28. cheaper by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh? I call India all the time. I just dial 1-800-DELL-HELP, and it's a free call! But it's kinda hard to understand the person on the other end...

    1. Re:cheaper by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude! Your call got routed to China... not India!

  29. No Thanks! by linuxguy · · Score: 1


    So you have to:

    1. Get a land phone line.
    2. Rent this software at $10/yr.
    3. Leave a Windows computer always running at home.

    So that you can pay a little more for international calls than you currently pay with a calling card.

    Uh, no thanks!

    Why do people come up with dumb dumb business ideas and actually follow through on them?

    1. Re:No Thanks! by cornface · · Score: 0

      Stop it. You're going to ruin the surprise for everyone.

  30. Why not just use Asterisk? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I do it all the time. Call my house and then dial any long distance number I want, to any country. It's not free, but you can get a provider with great
    rates (2-3 cents to Europe and some Asian countries). Why limit yourself to just skype users.
    To protect yourself just use an authenticate pin number when dialing longdistance numbers. If they have a Free World Dialup number it's FREE ans in beer.

  31. 800 numbers cost airtime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Duh. You're either using up your minutes or incurring charges. 800 numbers aren't 'free' from cellphones.

    What, you think wireless companies are that stupid?

    Or if you're trying to avoid your carrier's extra fees for international calling, think again. If you use a calling card for that, you'll use up the minutes on your card at 10x-50x the normal rate. What's more is, most calling cards now use VoIP behind the scenes, so you're getting the same wonderful quality as you'd get with this iScoop thing.

    .
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    Slashdot requires you to wait between each successful posting of a comment to allow everyone a fair chance at posting a comment.

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    1. Re:800 numbers cost airtime by cahiha · · Score: 1

      Or if you're trying to avoid your carrier's extra fees for international calling, think again. If you use a calling card for that, you'll use up the minutes on your card at 10x-50x the normal rate.

      That's total bullshit: the calling card company is just a local phone number as far as the cell phone company is concerned (if you take the local number option), and the calling card company doesn't care where you call from. The rate is no different from that of making a local phone call--that is, it is as low or lower than with iScoop.

      What's more is, most calling cards now use VoIP behind the scenes, so you're getting the same wonderful quality as you'd get with this iScoop thing.

      First of all, you can shop around and get one with good quality. Secondly, keeping a computer running is expensive and a lot of hassle.

  32. Calling from expensive countries... by cameronk · · Score: 1

    The discussion on this posting seems to focus on calls made from US mobile numbers to international numbers. VoIP has very few competitive advantages with such a set-up.
    At the same time, if you are calling from a comparatively expensive phone market to a comparably inexpensive phone market, say from China to San Francisco, this service creates significant value. Here in Beijing, it costs me US 50 cents per minute to call the US on my mobile and ~2 center per minute through VoIP. Is saving 48 cents per minute worth $10 per year? Sure.
    Oh, and finally: should this program actually be Skype brand extention for a one-time $5 fee? Definitely.

    --
    "...What is good for General Motors is good for America." -Charles Wilson, Secretary of Defense and fmr President of GM
  33. Proudly Serving His Corparate Masters? by gov_coder · · Score: 1

    I seem to recall Adam authored a great book about his time as an employee at Microsoft. Hardly someone who should be giving us the gospel truth about the lotus breakage story.

    --
    Rob Enderle's excellent new book: Everything I needed to know about Computer Science I learned in Marketing School
    1. Re:Proudly Serving His Corparate Masters? by d1v1d3byz3r0 · · Score: 1

      I think you posted to the wrong story. Did you bychance intend to post in this story instead?

  34. Another reason why Wireless Walled Gardens Fall by Ohmster · · Score: 1

    Great to see another innovative company trying to break through the vertical industry structure of today's global wireless industry. More here: http://mp.blogs.com/mp/2005/07/on_wilting_wire.htm l

  35. Roll your own by aminorex · · Score: 1

    Skype has the advantage of negotiated low rates to other countries. A little app using
    the Skype API to allow you to call your Skype-in number and then dial Skype-out using your cellphone keypad would quickly replace this service. Of course for those who have Asterisk running connecting to a VOIP provider, it's just a matter of changing some configuration files to make this work, but a lot more people use Skype than Asterisk.

    --
    -I like my women like I like my tea: green-
  36. Brother in Iraq by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Excellent! So, can this help my brother make more cost-effective phone calls from Iraq? He's shipping out in a few weeks. And he won't be able to sit at a PC to make calls.

    If only this worked from either end, and my brother could use an International Skype calling Card so he didn't have to pay crazy per-minute fees once he's over there.

    (Dear Trolls: No, I'm not a fan of Bush. I'm not a fan of the war. I'm not even happy that this is the path my brother chose. But dammit, I say, support our troops: bring them home ASAP! Bush is the devil.)

  37. slashdotted by foo+fighter · · Score: 1

    What the hell is wrong with /.?

    --
    obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
  38. Where is the news ? by terminal.dk · · Score: 1

    I have real SIP based IP telephony, and I have an extra number set up ($1/month) which when I call will require a pin-code, and then give me a new IP-telephon dialtone, and I can call for free to SIP phone numbers, or real landline numbers in the whole world for 10% of the cost of the Danish Telecom to somedestinations.

    There is nothing new about it, apart from it using a proprietary protocol, rather than the free and open SIP protocol.

  39. Competition at its best by Ulrich+Hobelmann · · Score: 1

    Ironic that Germans already called for more regulation, for laws that set a maximum fee for international roaming, etc. Ugh! As if that solved anything.

    Now there's this startup and prices will drop all on their own.

  40. Re:ATTENTION JANITORS: by bnitsua · · Score: 1

    people are too busy pissing their moderation points away contro^H^H^H^H^H^Hmoderating an interview with a microsoft PR man.

  41. Wow, Cringely business spin off. by TristanBrotherton · · Score: 1

    This company has obviously been an avid reader of Cringely, or has similar brain patterns. I remember reading this a while back on: http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050623. html From that page: I received last week an announcement for a product that purports to link Skype to any mobile phone system. This is really interesting, though more as an idea than a product. This was one of those press releases that gets in its own way. It took me several readings to figure out how the product actually works. It's called the Mobile Skype Cable and comes from a Norwegian company called IPDrum (or will come when it ships in August). The cable connects a mobile phone to your computer. The illustrations all show one phone and one computer, but the power of the system can only be realized if you have at least two phones. One phone stays at your PC as the interconnect with Skype. I'm hoping the cable also charges the phone, but that, again, isn't made clear. In the simplest case you could probably pick up the phone and use it as a dedicated handset to speak over the Skype network. But the true power of the Mobile Skype Cable comes from having multiple phones and some kind of family billing plan. I'm a Verizon mobile user and so is Mrs. Cringely. Our Verizon plan allows unlimited calls between our two phones. Now imagine one of those phones (or a third, they cost $9.99 per month each here in Charleston) is attached to a PC back at our house. By calling that phone and using the IPDrum software that ships with the Mobile Skype Cable, I can be linked directly to Skype where I can dial a second call over the computer network. Since the mobile call is free and the Skype call is free, suddenly I can make unlimited mobile calls anywhere in the world. Even more powerful, by linking my Skype and mobile numbers through the IPDrum software, any Skype user anywhere in the world can call me for free.

  42. wireless rates coming down by chrisranjana.com · · Score: 0

    Competition always brings down the rates.

    --
    Chris ,
    Php Programmers.
  43. can't see by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can't see any comments!!!!!! HEELLPPP

  44. Can you hear me now?? what?? hello?? you still.. by mcdade · · Score: 1

    Ya.. this sounds great until you try it, and you require next to zero traffic on your home dsl/cable link. I have vonage for a home phone, soon as my cable crapped out the phone sucked and died too.. it was a miserable month trying to get the cable company to replace my modem. The phone now works well again, but there is no QOS for VOIP, and if the cable company knows you are going to be VOIPing they can start throttling down the connections for those ports, they have started to do it for Bittorrent.. legal or illegal data, they don't care, they don't want you using up the pipe.

  45. Not really a new idea - by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

    Way back when international dialing was real expensive, companies offered dial back services - you called a number, left the number to call, they connected and then called you back - all via landline.

    Vonage and other Voip providers could do something similar - they could enable remote three way calling - you call your Voip # from a cell phone, enter an access could and get a dialout line - which you use to call overseas at the going rate. The down side is then Voip becomes a target for peopel to gain access and dialout for "free."

    Finally, if you are outside the US but call to NA alot, Vonage works fine on non-US broadband, giving you a US phone number overseas. The down side is that you need a US credit card to charge the service fee; my guess i steh reason Vonage doesn't offer a pre-pay plan is to avoid hassles with overseas PTT's.

    --
    I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
  46. Don't pay for SkypeOut! by Patrick_AUS · · Score: 1

    I thought this was great until I realised you have to pay for the SkypeOut minutes. What's the point of that?! If you want to forward the Skype call to your mobile, the cheapest thing would be for the software to dial your mobile via a local modem. Tried Googling for software that does that without any success (for Gizmo Project too).. Any thoughts why?

  47. Re:Skype protocol / SIP by erki · · Score: 1

    Skype are a closed shop - another Microsoft in the making

    So. Every software company that does not produce open source software is "Microsoft in the making". Yep. Right. You got it.

    --
    AhForgetIt tendency rated 39%