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Skype App Updated, Allows 3G Calling On the iPhone

Posted by kdawson on from the free-for-now dept.

silverpig sends this excerpt from the Wifitalk.ca blog: "Skype has just announced that an updated version of its iPhone app has been released to the App Store and now allows calling over 3G. While this functionality has been available on the iPhone since a January update to the SDK, and while other apps such as Fring have enabled 3G VOIP calling through their apps, Skype has been noticeably absent from the VOIP-over-3G landscape. Until today." A reader adds: "Included in the app update are some UI tweaks and a call quality indicator to help you predict what your VOIP-over-3G call quality will be like. Most interesting in the announcement is the suggestion that while Skype-to-Skype over 3G will be free for 2010, Skype is investigating pricing options and may charge for it in 2011. This could lead to smartphones being sold with data only + Skype plans."

23 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. I don't get it.. by TyFoN · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why would skype over 3g be different than skype over wifi? They are both tcp/ip connections right?

    1. Re:I don't get it.. by bcmm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because they can, and because iPhone users (and to some extent all smartphone users) are accustomed to paying extra for random things.

      On a semi-OT note, this sort of thing happening with "normal" internet connections (like the one your house has) is one of the things net-neutrality campaigners are worried about.

      --
      # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
      Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
    2. Re:I don't get it.. by gad_zuki! · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Right, in the sane world there would be no difference. I was doing Skype over 3G EVDO like 3 or 4 years ago, but then again my Treo wasn't controlled by Apple and the network it ran over was Sprint.

      In the AT&T/Apple world, you the consumer don't make choices. You don't run software willy-nilly. They allow you to run software, and if that software is seen as taking away profits from either entity then it won't get approved. Or in this case gets approved after 2 years of complaints, threatened lawsuits, and the FTC breathing down AT&Ts neck.

    3. Re:I don't get it.. by ducomputergeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Competes with the phone company selling minutes. I have a skype in number and the last two weeks I've been directing conference calls to my skype account. I still use Skype on my iPhone for talking, just connected to my WiFi router at home. If I had taken those calls directly to my cell, I would have been way over on my minutes this month.

      I'm sure the cell phone company would much rather bill me for the over use of minutes. (although I do have like 2800 roll over minutes)

      --
      "The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
    4. Re:I don't get it.. by Spy+Hunter · · Score: 2, Informative

      Net neutrality campaigners aren't just worried about "normal" internet connections, whatever that means. Net neutrality principles apply to *all* internet connections.

      This situation is the reverse of the normal network neutrality problem. Normally you would expect AT&T to charge extra for the use of Skype, and that would be a clear net neutrality violation. Having Skype charge extra for using AT&T's network is less bad; Skype is not an ISP and there are many competing VoIP alternatives which do not charge. However, if AT&T is involved in Skype's decision to charge, for example if AT&T is charging Skype directly and Skype is passing that cost on, then it's still a net neutrality problem.

      --
      main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
  2. Awesome! And good timing for iPhone OS 4 by Wrexs0ul · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've been playing around with VoIP on 3G using the SIP client from Acrobits and it's fairly reliable on low-bandwidth codecs in most areas around here. Bad reception does affect VoIP calls more than cell calls, but overall this covers about 90% of places where I talk outside of the car.

    Then again, if there was better prices on airtime maybe I'd be less inclined to go 100% VoIP. Canadian carriers offer unlimited incoming minutes for $15/mo, but after the upper cap on packages they can't do better than 3 cents/minute for outbound? So long as pricing is designed to deter cell phone use I'm going to continue migrating away as fast as possible.

    I am very curious about the technical details of Skype's service. What Codec are they using for their VoIP traffic? Is it GSM/g.729 for the low-bandwidth, or something proprietary they cooked-up? I'd love to see what they considered a reasonable call quality trade-off for 3G service limitiations.

    -Matt

    --
    --- Need web hosting?
  3. I predict... by dargaud · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I predict that in the near future all 3G subscriptions will be data only, paying by Gb. Voice will be data like any other. As soon as one provider starts pricing like this, all the others will be forced to follow suite.

    --
    Non-Linux Penguins ?
    1. Re:I predict... by bcmm · · Score: 2, Informative

      Doesn't seem likely with 3G, but 4G is expected to be IP-only, which would really make that look like the only sensible model.

      --
      # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
      Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
    2. Re:I predict... by sssssss27 · · Score: 5, Informative

      That's actually one of the requirements for 4G, "An all IP, packet switched network." Wikipedia has a pretty good entry on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G

    3. Re:I predict... by NevDull · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Personally, I think Google is waiting for Skype to fight the data vs. telephone case and then follow the "open" path Skype has created to swoop in with Google Voice end-to-end VoIP apps and scale out like sand in a sandstorm.

    4. Re:I predict... by MBCook · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That doesn't mean the carriers have to expose that to us meager peons, or price services in a way that reflects that fact.

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  4. Er, not to intrude on the soapbox by Wrexs0ul · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...but there's a half-dozen carrier-neutral SIP/IAX2 apps on iTunes, and even more free apps purpose-built by companies offering VoIP over wifi/3G. I use one to connect to an Asterisk server and get great integration with my office PBX that is effectively a high-quality wifi phone.

    The announcement here was that Skype feels it solved problems inherent with changing latency of 3G to the point you can walk around and have a decent phone call. That's huge if it works because service quality where I am can change block-by-block. I'm sure they'll have an Android version of this too in no-time if that's the case.

    Apple is "Evil to the core(tm)". By choosing their products and harsh requirements for software reliability I'm forcing vendors to jump through hoops to sell me something. Maybe that's the trade-off for a device that just works.

    -Matt

    --
    --- Need web hosting?
    1. Re:Er, not to intrude on the soapbox by Weezul · · Score: 4, Informative

      All that shit "just works" on my N900, including Skype. Imho, the only mobile platform that doesn't "just work" is Window Mobile.

      --
      The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
    2. Re:Er, not to intrude on the soapbox by Luckyo · · Score: 3, Informative

      Skype has been working over any data connection on nokia phones for years, both via 3rd party applications as well as native one.

      Heck, the main complaint is that native skype app on nokia won't give you video calling at the moment, unlike the 3rd party apps that do.

  5. Emergencies by LBArrettAnderson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Are they finally going to allow emergency calling (and locating) for skype?

  6. That's nice by Majix · · Score: 5, Informative

    Gee, thanks for "allowing" this, you're all too kind. Of course the Nokia N900 has had Skype over WiFi and 3G since last fall, and with the latest update does Skype-to-Skype video calls as wells (over whatever TCP/IP connection you have of course, including 3G)! But I'm sure it will be a great innovation and a lot of fuss about it when the iPhone 4G or whatever invents video calls later on.

    1. Re:That's nice by bushing · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Gee, thanks for "allowing" this, you're all too kind. [...] But I'm sure it will be a great innovation and a lot of fuss about it when the iPhone 4G or whatever invents video calls later on.

      You do realize that the company that is "allowing this" is Skype, not Apple, right? There was an Apple-imposed restriction on apps using VOIP over 3G, but that was lifted back in January -- hell, that's even in the summary of this article! Other apps that were released or updated since then have supported it.

      The news here is that Skype finally updated their own app, and Skype may start charging for their service when used over 3G -- money that would go to them, not to Apple, AT&T or anyone else. That's the only "innovation" we're talking about here.

  7. Re:even slower? by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 3, Informative

    iPhone OS 4 will support keeping Skype and other similar programs running in the background (essentially), if you hadn't heard.

  8. Just use the iPad plan by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Interesting

    1) Buy an iPad

    2) Use a MicroSim adaptor to use the iPad data only connection in your favorite mobile device.

    3) This step intentionally left blank.

    Although I can't find any reports of someone ACTUALLY doing this (just lots of reports of people using an iPhone SIM in the iPad3G) it seems like it should work.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  9. Yes, but it works the other way... by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Informative

    The cell company will still have access to your IEMI and know that you aren't using an iPad.

    That is true, but just because they have access do that data does not mean it's blocked or will not work. There has been plenty of success in people using the iPhone sim in the iPad 3G (though the phone companies have less reason to care about use in that direction).

    In a data only plan, data is just data and because the plans are sold with explicit data caps it seems like they would be OK with other devices using the plan, as long as originally you had bought an iPad to use the plan to start with.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  10. Skype 3G VOIP "Just Worked" on WM Since 2007 by meehawl · · Score: 3, Informative

    the only mobile platform that doesn't "just work" is Window Mobile.

    Skype Mobile on WM has done 3G VOIP since 2007 on my Sprint network. It pretty much Just Worked. Bonus: have been enjoying occasional Video VOIP calls since then with Microsoft Portrait. That Just Works as well.

    --

    Da Blog
  11. Typical Apple Newbie Profound Lack of Knowledge by meehawl · · Score: 2, Informative

    Skype has been noticeably absent from the VOIP-over-3G landscape. Until today

    Skype has been doing VOIP over 3G on my Sprint HTC Windows Mobile phone since 2007. And fring has also been doing that for almost as long. Bonus: for several years I have proudly demonstrated my nose hairs to a chosen few with Video VOIP using Microsoft Portrait on Windows Mobile. I hear that Apple's newest phone may finally have Video VOIP thus summer... I guess we will have to eagerly anticipate a bunch of Apple Astroturfers chiming in with "Video VOIP has been noticeably absent from the mobile phone landscape... until today"-type comments.

    --

    Da Blog
  12. PR1.2 by Weezul · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nokia only just added video calling for Skype on the N900 last week in PR1.2, but that delay seems like just Nokia's Symbian heads acting like douche bags with respect to the Maemo/MeeGo platform designed to help them hold the high end phone market.

    --
    The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell