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Use Google's Nexus 7 Tablet As a VoIP Phone, For Free

Posted by timothy on from the talk-to-me-baby dept.

Lauren Weinstein writes with a link to this short-and-sweet explanation: "I don't usually do 'how-to' postings, and I'll have much more comprehensive discussions of Android 'Jelly Bean' and the Google Nexus 7 tablet later — there are some really fascinating implications to how that ecosystem is developing. But since quite a few people have been asking me if it's possible to use the Wi-Fi-based Nexus 7 as a phone, I thought I'd scribble out this quickie guide. In short, yes, even though the N7 doesn't obviously have phone-related user interfaces, you can use the N7 as a phone for both outgoing and incoming calls via VoIP, and this can be accomplished completely for free via Google Voice accounts."

5 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Really?!! Shocking!! by HycoWhit · · Score: 5, Funny

    So you meant to tell me a device with a microphone, speaker, and wi-fi connection can be used to make VOIP calls!! Wow--what will folks figure out next? When you guys get around to discovering stuff like Skype, Google Voice, etc--let me keep sleeping...

    1. Re:Really?!! Shocking!! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So you meant to tell me a device with a microphone, speaker, and wi-fi connection can be used to make VOIP calls!! Wow--what will folks figure out next? When you guys get around to discovering stuff like Skype, Google Voice, etc--let me keep sleeping...

      Unfortunately, the 'news' in this story is more along the lines of "Wow, consumer electronics device with microphne, speaker, and wi-fi connection not cryptographically crippled so hard that you can't do obviously useful things with it!"...

      In our delightsome world of carrier locked handsets, mandatory app stores, and rampant consoleitis, the fact that a device shows signs of matching its technical capabilities, not its profit maximizing capabilities, is beginning to count as news...

    2. Re:Really?!! Shocking!! by KingSkippus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You must have missed the "for free" part. Skype charges for calls to POTS lines, and Google Voice doesn't allow you to make outgoing calls directly from the tablet, though it will allow you to call a phone where you are and then dial from that phone out to your contacts.

      You can argue that this might not be earth-shattering news, but it's not like what the article is about is something that is as intuitively obvious as you're trying to make it out to be.

  2. Nothing new... by mackil · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is hardly earth shattering news. A friend of mine uses his iPod Touch as a phone and has for over a year. Wi-fi when it's available, and a 4G hot spot when it's not. Works great and is a great deal cheaper for those who aren't heavy users.

  3. The idea is to provide specific instructions by Lauren+Weinstein · · Score: 4, Informative

    No representation was made that this was earth-shattering news. Rather, a *lot* of people had been asking specifically how to make this work (not everyone is as knowledgeable about this area as some folks seem to think!) and the goal was to provide an approach with specific instructions that would function for people already using Google Voice, or who can obtain Google Voice accounts. This approach also has the advantage of going direct to Google Voice servers, rather than via third parties, which is also a plus (as far as I'm concerned, anyway).