Recently rumbling from across the pond at Skype have revealed that a new Skype iPhone 3G app is on the horizon.
The news was announced by Skype towards the end of January and recent updates on the Skype blog have filled in a few more blanks.
While issues have been raised as to phone companies, who generally charge the customers through multi-minute packages, teaming up with a company that offers free-to-no-much calling via IP connections, it can’t be ignored that this could potentially be a massive win for the business market.
There seems to be an upward trend in modern media companies to offer their staff company iPhones and with the benefit of low-cost, “cd-quality” communication being available, the trend can only continue upwards as companies see an opportunity to cut costs.
Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg – here’s to modern smartphone culture linking up with the growing VoIP market.
Full article via DSLReports.com can be found here
According to TechCrunch Google has acquired skype-like VoIP venture Gizmo5 in a $30 million cash transaction.
Similar to Skype, Gizmo5 allows users to call other Gizmo users at no charge, offers cheap call rates to landlines and mobile phones and allows for SMS and Instant Messaging.
Google has not confirmed or commented on the buyout but the general consensus amongst industry experts is that the deal has indeed been done.
VoIP Watch blog author Andy Abramson considers the search giant’s acquisition a key component of its VoIP strategy. The Gizmo5 technology serves as a PSTN (public switched telephone network) link for Google allowing users to make conventional landline or mobile calls. This, combined with Google’s own Google Voice call management application and Google Talk (its voice/chat application), the path to a whole new all conquering service, “a lot more powerful than Skype” has been laid.
How exactly Google will shape its new masterpiece and what this will mean for consumers is still unclear but Abramson speculates that Google may offer a “free, ad-support phone service”, that is a service that is free and driven by advertising revenue.
Regardless of the details, VoIP is bound to change the face of telecommunications as we know it.
Last month iPhone users were able to download a Skype application from iTunes.
Users who have downloaded the new app from Apple will not be able to make calls over 3G connections and will not have all of the functionality offered by alternative Skype clients, so many have asked why have they bothered?
The news was announced at the CTIA – The Wireless Association – the iPhone application will allow users to make free calls to other Skype users and will provide them with cheaper calls using SkypeOut, but one of the users will have to be connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Although many industry bods have said that this is a great step and development, other functionality such as text messaging, file transfer and integrated voicemail are still missing. You also cannot pay for the additional Skype services in the usual way and instead have to go through iTunes, which seems a rather cumbersome way around the issue.
The iPhone is not able to run more than one application at once, which will make multi-functional applications like Fring and NimBuzz a lot more popular as these use multiple messaging and VoIP networks, including Skype.
There is much discussion around Skype and the iPhone, which seems to be advancing all of the time. Read more about this at The Register.
