Wireless

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Vonage announced Tuesday that its mobile voice over Internet Protocol app has been approved for use by Apple on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The Internet telephone service provider said it's conducting a beta test of the app and that general availability will be announced at a later date.

Last week Apple confirmed that Vonage's request for app approval was being held up by technical issues with the Vonage software. An Apple spokesperson told CNET News at the time that Apple was working with the developer to resolve the issue but would not elaborate on the nature of the issue.

That delay came to light on the heels of federal regulators opening a probe on Apple's decision to keep the Google Voice application from the App Store. AT&T--Apple's iPhone partner--has denied playing a role in that decision.

Google Voice, which allows users to receive calls placed to a single telephone number in multiple places and make cheap international calls, was deemed unfit for App Store inclusion in July, after it was released for BlackBerry and Android smartphones.

Apple, however, has said the Google Voice app was never actually rejected.

Truphone 3.0 gives Skype a run for the free-call money.

A new version of popular voice over IP app Truphone just hit the App Store, offering better call quality, single-screen instant messaging, and various interface improvements.

In case you're unfamiliar with it, Truphone leverages Wi-Fi networks to provide free voice calls--worldwide--to other Truphone users and to your Google Talk and Skype contacts. In other words, if you're in range of a hotspot, you can gab all you want without spending a penny.

Truphone also lets you call landlines and cell phones at low rates--great if you routinely burn through your allotted AT&T minutes and don't want to rack up massive overages, or if you're looking to make international calls on the cheap.

Calls to India, for example, cost about 10 cents per minute--less if you sign up for one of Truphone's monthly plans (which can quickly pay for themselves if you make a lot of calls).

In addition to "radically improved" call quality (which is hard to gauge given how many variables come into play for a VoIP call), Truphone 3.0 lets you manage all your instant messaging from one screen. The app supports all the major services: AIM, GTalk, MSN, Skype, and Yahoo. You can also access your Twitter account, though that happens on a different screen.

Truphone now lets you see the rates for a call before placing it, view call history, and top up your account from within the app--all nice perks.

Still, truth be told, there's nothing too earth-shattering about Truphone 3.0--it feels more like a 2.5 release. And I had lots of trouble staying connected to my various IM accounts, and frequently received errors when trying to send messages.

Even so, Truphone trumps Skype for iPhone with its multiplatform calling and chat support. The app itself is free, and you get a $5 credit when you create a Truphone account--more than enough to test the VoIP waters.

AT&T has pulled the plug on its CallVantage voice over IP phone service, according to letters from subscribers this week.

The service competed with other VoIP services like Vonage. VoIP services use broadband networks to place phone calls. These services are much less expensive than traditional landline phone services and cost between $20 and $30 per month. But even this price is proving too high for consumers who are cutting their traditional phones to use their cell phones or are signing up for voice services with their cable providers, which are bundling the phone service in with broadband and TV service.

AT&T launched CallVantage in 2004 when AT&T was still just a long-distance phone company. But the company hasn't disclosed subscribers numbers in recent years. The Associated Press reports that at the end of 2004, the service had 53,000 subscribers.

It is not a huge shock that AT&T is getting rid of the service. Last summer, the company stopped signing up new subscribers. Also AT&T has been pushing a new flavor of the VoIP service that it sells to its U-verse customers. U-verse is a new fiber network that AT&T is building to deliver high-speed broadband, TV, and phone service to consumers. Like the cable companies, AT&T is bundling the voice service with TV and broadband.

Verizon Communications also recently shut down its VoIP service called VoiceWing. It also sells an IP-based telephony service to its Fios fiber-to-the home customers as part of a triple play package.

An AT&T spokesman has said that the CallVantage service will be disconnected in phases throughout the year. And the company will send several more reminders to its customers before it shuts down the service.

Verizon Communications is trying to keep customers tied to the old idea of a home phone with updates to its new Verizon Hub.

(Credit: CNET)

The Verizon Hub, which was introduced earlier this year, is essentially a souped-up voice-over IP handset. It's designed to be the main phone and communication "hub" for the household, providing not only phone service, but also sports, weather, and other news.

But given the device's hefty price tag of $199 with a two-year contract, it seems a bit steep for consumers who can already get that information and functionality from their cell phones. In addition to the pricey cost of the hardware, Verizon also requires a $35-a-month phone service. While this VoIP service is cheaper than Verizon's regular phone service, it's pricey considering that Vonage and other providers offer similar services for about $20 a month.

Verizon is selling the device through Verizon Wireless and the service is offered to all consumers and is not limited to users in the Verizon broadband or wireline telephone territory.

As part of the upgrade, Verizon is offering more Widgets for the device that include instructional cooking videos and games. The company is also launching a new application storefront where users can download applications for the device, much like they do for smartphones like Apple's iPhone.

My colleague Nicole Lee from CNET Reviews gave the device high marks when she tested it, but she also noted the high price tag as potential deterrent. And I tend to agree. At a time when people are cutting the phone cord and using their cell phones to reduce their monthly expenses, it seems ridiculous that they would be willing to spend an additional $200 on a new device plus $35 a month on a phone service.

If Skype for iPhone seems like a big deal to you, you're right. It's topping iPhone App Store charts in nine countries, Skype says.

The Skype for iPhone VoIP application, which became available Tuesday after an announcement at CTIA, is now the top free app in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Russia, and Spain.

"I'm delighted that consumers have voted with their fingertips and chosen to download Skype in such phenomenal numbers," said Skype Chief Operations Office Scott Durchslag.

You can read more about Skype for iPhone in our hands-on review or see screenshots in our slideshow.

Hot on the heels of releasing Skype for iPhone, the VoIP communications company has come to the table with news of a free, "lite" version of Skype for BlackBerry. Already downloadable for Android, Java, Symbian, and Windows Mobile, BlackBerry has remained Skype's missing link.

Just don't expect to share photos of your cat quite yet. While Skype's core capabilities will debut in Skype Lite for BlackBerry, not everything Skype can do will be available right out of the gate. You'll be able to call other Skype users for free, and can initiate calls to landlines and mobile phones using Skype Out credit. You'll also be able to receive inbound calls to your online Skype number. Instant messenger and SMS features will also stay intact, but features like voicemail and file transferring, which are also available on other platforms, will be delayed on BlackBerry for the time being. Also, unlike the iPhone version just released, you won't need Wi-Fi to connect to Skype. Skype Lite will work over your BlackBerry's data plan, so long as you have a calling plan.

Skype's announcement is just part of the company's three-pronged mobile strategy, Skype's chief operating officer, Scott Durchslag, said in a press conference on Tuesday at CTIA. Skype's first goal is to create a native application for all major smartphone operating systems. After BlackBerry, Palm's unreleased Web OS platform would be the last major hurdle. After conquering native applications, Skype will work to get its VoIP client preloaded on mobile phones and other Internet devices. To this end, Skype has already cut a deal with Nokia to be featured on the Nokia N97 when it ships. Lastly, Skype will court carriers to integrate Skype-to-Skype calling for phones that don't have Wi-Fi.

Skype plans to release a beta version of Skype for BlackBerry in May, starting with BlackBerry Bold any Curve phones, and gradually adding support for more BlackBerry smartphones. Skype Lite for BlackBerry will be available in ten countries to start with, including the U.S. and U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil, and parts of northern and eastern Europe.

Related stories:
Skype for iPhone: It's official
Skype gets SMS, file transfer for Windows Mobile

Photos: Inside Skype for iPhone

Months after teasing us at CES with an announcement of Skype's native VoIP client for the iPhone, the free Skype for iPhone will finally be available to download from the iTunes App Store sometime on Tuesday. We got a chance to sit down with the application's principal engineer before the announcement was made at CTIA 2009, to see Skype for iPhone do its thing. While most of the features aren't too surprising--Skype does want to maintain some consistency across its mobile applications, after all--there are a few capabilities that are notably missing, and a few iPhone-only perks that are refreshing to see.

At long last, Skype has come to the iPhone.

(Credit: Skype)

In terms of navigation, Skype's VoIP app for iPhone looks more like your traditional iPhone app than it does Skype 4.0 for Windows. For many who already prefer Apple's sleek interface archetype, that's a triumph, but those who enjoy Skype's branding may feel disappointed.

Skype's screens are well organized and use the iPhone's ability to add filters, for instance, to sort your contacts alphabetically, or by who's online. There's chatting as well, though Skype's flagship feature is its VoIP calling that's free to other Skype users and an inexpensive per-minute fee to landlines. Calls on Skype for iPhone work only if you're in range of a Wi-Fi network, so your call quality will in part be at the mercy and strength of wireless networks nearby--calls will not work over the cell phone network on the iPhone (but chatting will.) Assuming your connection is solid, you can dial a number or quickly call a contacts stored in your address book. iPod Touch users will need earphones with an embedded mic to talk. During a call, you can mute the line, go on hold, or put the call on speakerphone. In the My Info window, you can follow a link to buy more SkypeOut credit online.

Taking a photo from within Skype to serve as your avatar image, or pulling a picture in from the camera roll are two iPhone-only features that makes use of the phone's hardware attributes. Another imperfect, but still neat, feature is the ability to accept incoming conference calls. While you won't be able to initiate a call, we're told, you will be able to jump on one if a buddy invites you in. We hope the next version includes placing conference calls from the iPhone.

Skype bypassed a few more features in its maiden iPhone voyage. SMS, setting up a conference calling group, purchasing SkypeOut credit directly, and being able to field a second incoming Skype call are a few. File transferring and getting Skype voicemail native on the phone are two more. We expect to see at least two of these added in the next version, but we'll hope for more.

Skype versus the competition
Here's the big question on our minds: will Skype's iPhone app replace competitors like Nimbuzz and Fring, which focus on cross-network IM but also include VoIP calls with Skype pals even though they've been available for the iPhone for months? Kurt Thywissen, the principal engineer for Skype for iPhone, thinks so. He says what the other apps use is a workaround that requires them to channel calls through a server and transcode audio, resulting in poorer-quality calls than Skype can do in its own app. He may be right, but those who IM more than they vocalize probably won't ditch the likes of Fring too soon. They might, however, let Skype handle the calls and let another app take care of the multinetwork chatting.

Inside Skype for iPhone--photos

VoIP service Jaxtr is untethering its users from the Internet. The company was set to announce on Wednesday a new Jaxtr-on-the-go service that lets people make calls from their phones without having to visit to Jaxtr's Web site first.

Jaxtr offers 150 toll-free local access numbers around the world for customers to use to make free or low-cost calls as part of the Jaxt-on-the-go service.

(Credit: Jaxtr)

The service is designed for people who aren't near a computer with Internet access or who don't have Web access on their mobile phones.

Basically, users can dial a toll-free local access number from their mobile or landline phone and type in the number they want to call. Then, they can either pay for a low-cost direct call or wait for the service to make the connection after sending an SMS message to the other people and providing them with a local number to dial.

The company has more than 150 toll-free numbers worldwide, mostly for major metropolitan areas. Obviously, you have to go to Jaxtr's Web site initially to get the toll-free number that is nearest you.

From then on, you dial that number to call anywhere and type in the phone numbers you want to call. If you want to make a free call, you wait on the phone while an SMS is sent to the people you are calling that notifies them you are trying to reach them and offers a local number they can use to get connected to you.

Conveniently, the phone number that you both dialed can be used to reach each other thereafter, said Bahman Koohestanti, chief executive of Jaxtr.

The service is an extension of the FreeConnect service Jaxtr announced in December that lets people make free international calls.

For FreeConnect, you have to enter your phone number and the number of the person you want to call on the Jaxtr Web site to initiate the connection, and the other person has to have registered with Jaxtr.

For both services, people can call others directly using calling credits dubbed "Jax." Eventually, people will be able to purchase calling credits by phone, Koohestanti said.

In these tough economic times, everyone is looking for a good deal.

And Sascha Segan at PC Magazine seems to have found a darn good bargain if you're looking for a cheap wireless plan that offers unlimited data and voice calling. The service, which costs only $70 a month with no monthly contract, is offered by a new mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, called Zer01 Mobile.

The company also offers unlimited international calling to 40 countries for an additional $10 a month.

Segan reports in his story posted on Thursday that the company is using a form of a roaming agreement with AT&T and T-Mobile to provide access to their cellular networks. But instead of using the 3G wireless network to carry voice and data traffic, Zer01 sends the voice and data traffic over its own IP backbone.

The company's CEO explained to Segan that instead of buying wholesale cellular minutes from AT&T and T-Mobile the way other MVNOs have done, it has bought its own IP backbone and only uses the carriers' networks to interconnect or roam. Carriers throughout the world, such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel, use these interconnection agreements to provide coverage to their customers when they are not in their own coverage area.

The devices on the Zer01 network get fixed IP addresses and they each open a separate VPN session to the company's servers when a call is placed, according to the article. By using interconnect agreements, Zer01 can keep costs low and get around the carriers' 5GB per month data caps, Segan points out.

The service uses a proprietary voice over IP application that today only works with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6 phones. But the application will eventually work on other phones such as Google's Android devices, Research In Motion's BlackBerry, Symbian phones, and perhaps even jailbroken Apple iPhones.

Unlike other mobile VoIP services, the Zer01 service allows users to dial from the phone's keypad without launching a separate VoIP application.

The service isn't yet available to the public. But the company is expected to provide details about a launch date around the wireless industry's CTIA tradeshow in Las Vegas, which starts April 1, so stay tuned.

Zer01 is expected to sell three HTC phones for the service: the HTC Tilt, which was made for AT&T, the Touch Diamond, and the Touch 3G. But users will be able to bring their own unlocked GSM phones to the network.