Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Turning an iPod Touch Into an iPhone

Posted by kdawson on from the at&t-not-best-pleased dept.

David Burnett recommends an eWeek article on the leading contenders to make an iPhone out of an iPod Touch. Of course your newly phone-capable iTouch needs no activation and no binding carrier contract, just Wi-Fi. One of the companies working in this space, JaJah, is bundling the software with back-end services such as billing, so that carriers — or anyone really — can offer free-calling iTouch phones.

21 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. "Just needs wifi" by nurb432 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ya thats nice, but haven't you noticed that open/free wifi is starting to become more and more scarce? If you cant just whip it out at anytime and make a call, its rather limited in its usefulness.

    It would be worse then it was when having a cell phone back in the old days when coverage was spotty at best and you were paying for that privilege.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:"Just needs wifi" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh I can just whip it out anywhere I feel like it.

      I'll whip it good.

      *ahem* Now its time to read TFA, to find out what the hell you're talking about.

    2. Re:"Just needs wifi" by defenestr8 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      that's interesting, considering that 1) free wifi seems to be more and more prevalent where i live; and 2) no, it wouldn't really be "worse" since you wouldn't be paying for it. other than that, spot on.

    3. Re:"Just needs wifi" by the_humeister · · Score: 4, Funny

      They should do this with the Zune, because not only can you whip it out, you can squirt other people too!

    4. Re:"Just needs wifi" by vitaflo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Really depends on what your definition of "limited". Of course you're not going to be able to use it everywhere, but if you want that, that's what cell phones are for.

      Not everyone wants (or needs) to be available to take a call all the time. The main times I want to be around a phone is at work (where there's wifi) and at home (where they're also wifi). Anywhere else that happens to have free wifi (like my local coffee shop) is a bonus. For me this would allow me to use the phone 90% of the time where I am normally. That would be enough for me and I wouldn't find it limiting at all.

  2. Re:an iphone that's missing 3g and edge by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 5, Insightful

    in other words, a defective phone, only useful in areas where you trust the wifi connection.

    Yeah, like the cordless phone you have sitting on the charger at home. Only it doesn't cost anything per month and doesn't necessarily need to be restricted to just working at home.

    It sucks that it wouldn't help you much if you travel through time and space, but it's not exactly a lump of nothing, either.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  3. Add WiMax or cell-wifi bridge by weston · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'll give 'em credit for following the idea of using a WiFi mobile device with VoIP, but that's really not particularly revolutionary. What's needed next is WiMax or a small portable cell-WiFi bridge. If the bandwidth's high enough (EVDO rev a is almost there), then you have affordable unlimited talk and data...

    --
    Tweet, tweet.
  4. Something is missing... by mouse_8b · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I looked all over my iPod Touch and didn't see a speaker or microphone. No bluetooth either (well, sort of). So you can make a call, but you can't talk to anyone? Am I missing something?

    1. Re:Something is missing... by jollespm · · Score: 5, Informative

      I think you have that backwards. The 2nd gen Touch has a speaker, but no mic. You can buy the "Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic" and you then have a mic.

  5. Open high speed wireless networks by nine-times · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is why I really hope we get some actually *open* wireless Internet built as a result of the analog TV spectrum being reallocated. I was very disappointed that the government didn't adopt the openness rules recommended by Google in the auction.

    Imagine how great it would be to not be beholden to cell carriers, but to be able to buy any kind of Internet device you want, and use it as a phone if you want. It would open up competition between hardware manufacturers and service providers. Competition is good.

  6. Re:an iphone that's missing 3g and edge by nine-times · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What's going to get shut down by Apple? VoIP on the iPhone and iPod touch? Didn't Apple already announce that they were going to allow VoIP apps in the iTMS so long as they only used VoIP on WiFi connections (not on the cell phone data network)?

  7. Watch Apple crush this by Goodgerster · · Score: 4, Informative

    "What? It competes with our own services!? Delete it from the Store! Then bring me the developers' ashes on a plate with a glass of red wine..."

  8. As a 2gen itouch owner... by TinBromide · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I love the itouch for being all the good parts of the iphone minus the badparts (the crappy phone quality coupled with a crappy network and contract, [never met any serious phone users who praise the iphone's phone quality, uptime, and availability]). Why turn a really cool internet appliance into a kludge-phone?

    I love my ipod touch for cooking, I bring up the browser, look at a recipe, and its right there next to the stove. I love my ipod touch for games when i'm bored on the go. I love my ipod touch for movies on the go. I love my ipod touch for being 99.95% as useful as an iphone near a free wifi hotspot.

    I also love that it can do all of the above without drawing one nano-watt from my real phone's battery.

    PS. the ipod touch does not have a built in microphone or ear speaker, why kludge a microphone attachment onto a beautiful internet appliance/ebook reader/gaming device/portable movie device?

    --
    Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
  9. Re:an iphone that's missing 3g and edge by Thelasko · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Shut down by Apple lawsuit in 3...2...1...

    Lawsuit? There wont be any lawsuit... at least Apple wont be the one filing it. Apple has complete control of the iPod Touch through "The App Store". They simply wont allow these applications to be sold or downloaded.

    What's that? Your going to find a way to put it on there without Apple's permission? A simple firmware upgrade will take care of that.

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
  10. Re:interesting concept but by nuttycom · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There's one application where VOIP is significantly preferable to the standard cellular network: international calling. I can use a VOIP app to talk to my cousins in Australia for free; being able to walk around my house or sit at the local coffeeshop while doing so would be nice.

    This isn't about style; it's about adding functionality to a nice little piece of hardware. My cell phone's practically an antique at this point, but I have no need to upgrade it because I don't talk on the phone much. My iPod is a great PDA; adding VOIP capability would just be icing on the cake.

  11. Re:an iphone that's missing 3g and edge by pnevin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Does your home telephone play games and music?

  12. Re:Scarce wifi? Not really. by commodore64_love · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yeah right. Try finding a McDonalds between Harrisburg and circa Uniontown PA, along the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76). Out in the mountains it's hard to get just a "normal" cellphone signal, much less Wifi. I think some of ye who make comments like "a McDonalds every 1/2 mile" never leave further than 25 miles from the city. Try driving across North America sometime and you'll see LOTS and LOTS of open space, with, shocking, no technology. I named the PA Turnpike. There's also the wide-open stretch between Richmond and Charlotte. Or the isolated Interstate 81 corridor... which could be nicknamed Redneck Alley.

    Off-topic:

    How do I get my Iphone, Ilaptop, Iwhatever to receive Shoutcast radio while I'm driving in my car? I was thinking maybe I could cancel my satellite Sirius-XM and just go with "free" internet radio.

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  13. Re:an iphone that's missing 3g and edge by e4g4 · · Score: 3, Informative

    What's that? Your going to find a way to put it on there without Apple's permission? A simple firmware upgrade will take care of that.

    Which is precisely why I've had a voip client on my iPhone that, in blatant disregard of Apple's Wifi only voip rules works on the cellular network, and has through the last several firmware updates...

    --
    The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein
  14. Re:Scarce wifi? Not really. by MaggieL · · Score: 3, Informative

    No, King of Prussia is named for the bar that the town grew up around. The bar was named for Fredrick the Great (aka "Frederick the Queer"), some say in the hope of attracting the business of Prussian mercenaries encamped at nearby Valley Forge.

    The Turnpike comes though here too...

    --
    -=Maggie Leber=-
  15. Re:an iphone that's missing 3g and edge by amorsen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    add a link and / or some instructions and earn some modpoints!

    1) Jailbreak iPhone
    2) Install any of the available SIP clients through Cydia
    3) Profit!

    --
    Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
  16. Already there by kilodelta · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I use fring on my Touch and it works great through my Skype account.

    Already have the external mic kit for the Touch so that was the first bit. Got it from sparfun.com