Skype With Your Cell Phone

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."

Comments

Stupid

[mikejz84]

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.

Re:Stupid

[}InFuZeD{]

If you look at the picture you'll realize that there is *some* usefulness in this. Take a laptop, pick up a wifi spot, and you can use your cellphone to make free long distance/roaming calls.

Re:Stupid

[cpu_fusion]

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...

Re:Stupid

[PornMaster]

Except you're likely to get considerably better audio quality with your laptop and a headset. Hell, if you could connect the cell phone via USB cable directly to the laptop at least you wouldn't have to kill your cell phone battery.

Re:Stupid

[}InFuZeD{]

Not everyone has a WiFi Pocket PC device. Lots of people have Bluetooth-enabled cell phones.

I don't know how much this thing is going to cost, but I imagine that it's reasonable ($30 or so) then it's less than the price of most bluetooth headsets and obviously lower than the price of a PocketPC (I'm not saying you won't get more value in a PocketPC, but that has nothing to do with this niche market).

The purpose of this device is taking what you already have (or the lack of what you have) and making it more useful.

Re:Stupid

[mikejz84]

So for portable communications I need the following 1) A Wifi Laptop 2) This USB adapter thingy 3) A bluetooth phone Total cost: Over $1,000 Making a call 1) Find a hot spot 2) Sit down, boot up laptop 3) connect to Skype 4) go though laptop case, find bluetooth adapter 5) attach to laptop, load up whatever software you need 6) Take out your cell phone, go to a few menus to connect to your computer 7) Make your call Point: Sometimes i pays not to be so cheap and just get a better cell phone plain or learn how to talk and get to the point.

Re:Stupid

[Kadin2048]

I agree. This is a product I've been waiting for awhile now.

I don't have landline service. At all -- no local dialtone, nothing. However I do have a cell phone. And broadband, via cable. Of course because I'm cheap I have the minimal service plan on the phone, which is only a few hundred free minutes per month.

So anything that would let me make calls via Skype or VoIP from home without using up my cell minutes is great news to me. Especially if I know it's going to be a long call (tech support, a conference call meeting, calling the family), I could use SkypeOut and save myself the minutes for when I'm actually out of the house and need the cell minutes.

Plus, this allows me to use the contacts already stored in my cellphone, which is a big plus since I have several hundred stored in there.

I can also see this being a boon for people who do a lot of international calling, since Skype is significantly cheaper than even the best international plan I've ever seen.

Overall I think this is a neat gadget, although perhaps one with a very niche market.

Re:Stupid

[Tony Hoyle]

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.

Re:Stupid

[cpu_fusion]

You might be surprised to discover that most cell phone plans allow you to add an additional cell phone for around 5 bucks.

So you could get the lowest minute rate plan, say $60 a month, add a phone for $5, and have unlimited VOIP calling.

I'm not saying that is ethical, just possible. And that you're incorrect in equating that cost to be twice the normal cost.

Re:Stupid

[lakeland]

there is one out already! Good specs, nice looking. Pretty much everything you want in a cell-phone.

NEC makes it, the N91 or something, I forget the model number.

It won't be sold outside Japan.

Re:Stupid

[timmyf2371]

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.

And the name of this website bringing us this...

[Limecron]

PhoneyWorld. ::sigh::

why use a cell phone?

[almost-empty]

but why use your cellphone as a voip phone? does it work for dialing also, or just speaker/headphone? in my opinion I'd rather use a usb headset than my cellphone for VoIP or Skype, but thats just me.

Looks like a Bluetooth adapter...

[frostman]

Assuming this actually works (and actually exists), it looks suspiciously like... a Bluetooth Adapter! And it looks a lot like you're just using the phone as a headphone/mic combo, and the central contact list just means you have to use your PC, not your phone, to dial.

If your computer has built-in Bluetooth, is there any software out there to get Skype talking to your handset? Isn't that something Skype is likely to offer?

Correct me if I'm wrong..

[dr.matrix]

..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..

Re:Correct me if I'm wrong..

[squiggleslash]

The way most people are interpreting this, it's the opposite - the link you point to has the computer as the "bluetooth headset" and the handset as the device to connect to the network. However, what the write-up appears to be suggesting is that this is the handset as the headset and the computer as the connection to the network.

Now, quite honestly, I don't see how it can work. To the best of my knowledge, cellphone handsets cannot act as external headsets for other devices, even with bluetooth. At least, they don't genericly (there are cellphones out there that support something called UMA, GSM over IP over Bluetooth or 802.11, but that's still nothing like what's being described here.)

Does anyone out there who knows bluetooth and knows what cellphones "have to" implement explain how this works, if indeed, it really does? The entire thing looks like a warped misunderstanding. Actually, it looks like it's made up.

Re:This is pointless...

[}InFuZeD{]

You aren't using your cell phone minutes. You're connecting via BlueTooth to your computer/laptop and using it's WiFi connection to place calls.

Skype is "good"?

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

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

samsung i730 and skype for pocket pc

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a samsung i730 smartphone with Verizon's EVDO broadband internet access on it. Recently installed the pocket pc version of skype on it and now I can call the whole world for almost free of charge. Works fabulous and it has already cut down my phone bills by a good measure.

Or...

[hkb]

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.

So why use your phone as a headset?

[spo0ner]

If this requires a bluetooth enabled phone then you would (or should) already have a bluetooth enabled headset. If I have a headset that does not require me to be connected to my phone (see: tethered cord) then why not just use a bluetooth dongle and my headset for my PC anyways?

Some may say that the battery is longer on your phone than a headset but my Jabra has some pretty good talk time http://www.jabra.com/JabraCMS/NA/EN/MainMenu/Produ cts/WirelessHeadsets/JabraBT250v/JabraBT250v

Now what would be nice is to be able to place bluetooth access points throughout the house so you don't have to worry about the 30ft (not counting dense walls) limitation.

Nitch product with no nitch market.

What about the reverse?

[ASaidi]

I think it would be much more useful to be able to use your cellphone to make outbound phone calls. Coupled with a POTS VOIP gateway you could have normal phones in your house that used your cellphone to dial out when you were there, and when you wern't you could take your cellphone with you.

article must be incorrect...

[YesIAmAScript]

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?

Who'da thunk it?

[Cptn_Zippy]

Using a phone to make PHONE calls. I just thought they were for anoying drivers!

Skype client for Symbian (et al.) in the works

[Stack_13]

There should be a native Skype client for the Linux, Symbian and Windows Mobile based smartphones before the end of 2005, since Skype co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennstrom made an announcement in the Voice On the Net (VON) conference held in April 2005 in Toronto.

Furthermore, Skype uses technology from the Global IP Sound, which announced availability of their VoiceEngine Mobile platform for the Symbian.

So it should be here Soon(TM)

Re:Skype client for Symbian (et al.) in the works

[Tony Hoyle]

That's interesting.. google talk is based on Global IP Sound too...

Re:Skype client for Symbian (et al.) in the works

[pmsr]

So is the Voipbuster client and plenty of others. Global IP Sound will be the winner of the Voip wars, whatever happens in the end.

/Pedro

Buetooth Headset plus Dongle

[Essef]

A bluetooth headset plus a bluetooth USB dongle for your PC achieves the same thing. I'm using this setup at the moment to use "Wireless Skype".

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