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Skype With Your Cell Phone

Posted by Zonk on from the nice-change-of-pace dept.

Praxiteles writes "Seen on Gizmodo, apparently a USB device called 'imFONE' allows you to use your existing cellphone as a VoIP phone From the article:"You simply plug this thing into your PC's USB port, pair it via Bluetooth to your phone, and you're ready to go...It currently works with imtel and Skype..." No extra contact management and caller ID works properly."

8 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Stupid by mikejz84 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So basically it turns a Cell Phone into a wireless handset for your computer. It combinds the voice quality of VoIP with the speaker and microphone of a cell phone and the great range of bluetooth--Great thinking buddy! This is not news, just another stupid crap product that will never go anywhere.

    1. Re:Stupid by cpu_fusion · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I will add that I don't see that listed as a supported feature of this particular product, but the scheme works something like this:

      You buy two phones on a plan that allows unlimited in-network calls. You leave one phone at home hooked up via bluetooth to software that connects that cell phone to VOIP. Then you go out with the other cell phone and ... (3) profit.

      I think I'm seeing the light of the other posts though, and I definately don't see this listed as a feature of this particular package...

    2. Re:Stupid by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So for only twice the monthly cost of a standard phone you too can make calls at slightly lower than normal landline rates!

      You'd have to use the phone a hell of a lot before 'profit' would be in the equation.

    3. Re:Stupid by timmyf2371 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Or, if like I was this summer, you're on vacation and staying in a hotel with either wifi or ethernet ports, rather than use the hotel's phone system or pay International Roaming charges to phone home - I can use my cellphone as a handset to talk via the Skype system rather than be limited with a fixed wired headset.

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  2. Correct me if I'm wrong.. by dr.matrix · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ..but isn't this just a Bluetooth dongle with some additional software? This piece of Linux software
    http://www.soft.uni-linz.ac.at/_wiki/tiki-index.ph p?page=ProjectBluezHandsfree
    seems to do basically the same..

  3. Skype is "good"? by Saeed+al-Sahaf · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So, right now, Skype is "good". Will is still be "good" whaen AOL buys 'em out?

    --
    "Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
  4. Or... by hkb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Uhm. Or just use Skype on a Windows Mobile-based cellphone with built-in/sdio wi-fi. It works greats and I find it more stable than Symbian phones.

    --
    /* Moderating all non-anonymous trolls up since 2004 */
  5. article must be incorrect... by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It will likely let you use your laptop as a headset/speaker for your phone, but not use your phone as a headset/speaker for your laptop.

    I say this because although virtually all Bluetooth phones will USE a Bluetooth headset, virtually none of them (none I've seen) will BE a Bluetooth headset. There's just not way to get most phones to pretend to be on a call (turn on the speaker and mic) and send the data elsewhere to be transported.

    As to using your computer as a handsfree system for yor phone, that's been possible for some time already. The question is, why would you do it?

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95