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Communications Technology

Skype With Your Cell Phone 109

Posted by Zonk from the nice-change-of-pace dept.
Praxiteles writes "Seen on Gizmodo, apparently a USB device called 'imFONE' allows you to use your existing cellphone as a VoIP phone From the article:"You simply plug this thing into your PC's USB port, pair it via Bluetooth to your phone, and you're ready to go...It currently works with imtel and Skype..." No extra contact management and caller ID works properly."
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Skype With Your Cell Phone More

Skype With Your Cell Phone

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  • Stupid (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mikejz84 ( 771717 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @01:44PM (#13532473)
    So basically it turns a Cell Phone into a wireless handset for your computer. It combinds the voice quality of VoIP with the speaker and microphone of a cell phone and the great range of bluetooth--Great thinking buddy! This is not news, just another stupid crap product that will never go anywhere.
    • Except for the fact that you can make calls between cell phones for free on most vendors plans. Do the math.

      • Re:Stupid (Score:5, Insightful)

        by cpu_fusion ( 705735 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @01:54PM (#13532533)
        I will add that I don't see that listed as a supported feature of this particular product, but the scheme works something like this:

        You buy two phones on a plan that allows unlimited in-network calls. You leave one phone at home hooked up via bluetooth to software that connects that cell phone to VOIP. Then you go out with the other cell phone and ... (3) profit.

        I think I'm seeing the light of the other posts though, and I definately don't see this listed as a feature of this particular package...

        • Re:Stupid (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Tony Hoyle ( 11698 ) <tmh@nodomain.org> on Sunday September 11, 2005 @03:25PM (#13533014) Homepage
          So for only twice the monthly cost of a standard phone you too can make calls at slightly lower than normal landline rates!

          You'd have to use the phone a hell of a lot before 'profit' would be in the equation.

          • Re:Stupid (Score:3, Informative)

            by cpu_fusion ( 705735 )
            You might be surprised to discover that most cell phone plans allow you to add an additional cell phone for around 5 bucks.

            So you could get the lowest minute rate plan, say $60 a month, add a phone for $5, and have unlimited VOIP calling.

            I'm not saying that is ethical, just possible. And that you're incorrect in equating that cost to be twice the normal cost.
            • Maybe where you are... darned lucky.

              I've been unable to find *any* that allow this around here.. and only one that provides free mobile->mobile (and they cut off after 15 minutes).

      • Soon to be sued and outlawed!!!

    • Re:Stupid (Score:4, Interesting)

      by }InFuZeD{ ( 52430 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @01:50PM (#13532514) Homepage
      If you look at the picture you'll realize that there is *some* usefulness in this. Take a laptop, pick up a wifi spot, and you can use your cellphone to make free long distance/roaming calls.
      • Of I take my Wifi PocketPC with Skype and do the exact same thing. (Or better yet wait for the Cellphone/PPC hybrids to come out and load Skype on them)

        • Re:Stupid (Score:4, Interesting)

          by }InFuZeD{ ( 52430 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @01:57PM (#13532549) Homepage
          Not everyone has a WiFi Pocket PC device. Lots of people have Bluetooth-enabled cell phones.

          I don't know how much this thing is going to cost, but I imagine that it's reasonable ($30 or so) then it's less than the price of most bluetooth headsets and obviously lower than the price of a PocketPC (I'm not saying you won't get more value in a PocketPC, but that has nothing to do with this niche market).

          The purpose of this device is taking what you already have (or the lack of what you have) and making it more useful.

          • Re:Stupid (Score:4, Informative)

            by mikejz84 ( 771717 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @02:01PM (#13532571)
            So for portable communications I need the following 1) A Wifi Laptop 2) This USB adapter thingy 3) A bluetooth phone Total cost: Over $1,000 Making a call 1) Find a hot spot 2) Sit down, boot up laptop 3) connect to Skype 4) go though laptop case, find bluetooth adapter 5) attach to laptop, load up whatever software you need 6) Take out your cell phone, go to a few menus to connect to your computer 7) Make your call Point: Sometimes i pays not to be so cheap and just get a better cell phone plain or learn how to talk and get to the point.

            • Re:Stupid (Score:3, Insightful)

              by timmyf2371 ( 586051 )
              Or, if like I was this summer, you're on vacation and staying in a hotel with either wifi or ethernet ports, rather than use the hotel's phone system or pay International Roaming charges to phone home - I can use my cellphone as a handset to talk via the Skype system rather than be limited with a fixed wired headset.

      • Re:Stupid (Score:4, Informative)

        by PornMaster ( 749461 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @01:54PM (#13532538) Homepage
        Except you're likely to get considerably better audio quality with your laptop and a headset. Hell, if you could connect the cell phone via USB cable directly to the laptop at least you wouldn't have to kill your cell phone battery.

      • Re:Stupid (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Kadin2048 ( 468275 )
        I agree. This is a product I've been waiting for awhile now.

        I don't have landline service. At all -- no local dialtone, nothing. However I do have a cell phone. And broadband, via cable. Of course because I'm cheap I have the minimal service plan on the phone, which is only a few hundred free minutes per month.

        So anything that would let me make calls via Skype or VoIP from home without using up my cell minutes is great news to me. Especially if I know it's going to be a long call (tech support, a conferenc
        • ummmm why not just get a headset for ur pc and use that with skype??? MUCH better quality, and yeah ok you have to be sat at the pc...
        • Why pay for cell minutes at all if you're not going to "use them up"?

          By the time you pay for Skype plus all this extra equipment, wouldn't it be cheaper to just bump your celly plan up a notch?
      • If you look at the picture you'll realize that there is *some* usefulness in this. Take a laptop, pick up a wifi spot, and you can use your cellphone to make free long distance/roaming calls.

        Great! Well, except for the fact that my phone plan already has free long distance without using a laptop, wifi, or any other complicated scheme.
    • Exactly my thoughts. You would be much better off with a plain old USB phone-like SIP audio device, or a USB to RJ-45 audio device adapter. Then you could hook unplug your existing phone cabling from the phone network and plug your house phone cabling in, making all of your phones hooked up to the computer.

      Just make sure you buy a current model so the software is current. Mine was discontinued so the software is really old and the phone buttons don't work (have to use the skype dialer directly).

    • Even if the quality is not the best, those of us who pay up to several dollars a minute for cellphone use will find it pretty useful.

      I am roaming with GSM - and am thinking of direct crediting my pay straight to vodaphone to save on bank charges. Its just ridiculous - every call (even local to where I am) is charged as a toll call.

      I can only imagine mikejz84 is an American who does not travel overseas very much. Local calls in the US are very cheap, wireless plans often build in hundreds (or thousands) of m
    • Actually, this little device could serve a purpose for me:
      1) I live in an apartment small enough for the bluetooth signal to propogate easily throughout
      2) I have no home telephone
      3) I have occasional desire to speak at length with friends and family, but am somewhat limited by the expense of high-minute cell plans
      4) Skype offers a call-forwarding plan that routes calls to other phones if unanswered on your computer

      The net result is, for a small fee, I could have a "home" telephone number that anyone could c

    • So basically it turns a Cell Phone into a wireless handset for your computer

      Nope, it does more than that. To quote from the article (that you obviously didn't read)...
      The best part is that even if you are using the Skype service to make an international call, it is your cell phone number that will be displayed to the caller ID of the other party


  • And the name of this website bringing us this... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Limecron ( 206141 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @01:45PM (#13532478)
    PhoneyWorld. ::sigh::

  • why use a cell phone? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by almost-empty ( 861377 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @01:47PM (#13532494)
    but why use your cellphone as a voip phone? does it work for dialing also, or just speaker/headphone? in my opinion I'd rather use a usb headset than my cellphone for VoIP or Skype, but thats just me.
    • And you don't have to use minutes that way, if you use a bluetooth headset.

      BT headset + BT dongle/laptop = skype fun.

    • why use your cellphone as a voip phone? does it work for dialing also, or just speaker/headphone?
      It allows you to use your phone's phonebook. That's a real gain. And if you're on the road, why carry both a headset and a phone?
    • I just realized something- I already have an aircard (PC Card) on my laptop with unlimited data access for 79.99 a month. It comes with a phone number, and I have a Bluetook headset. Maybe I could use Skype for unlimited flat-fee phone calling, no cell phone required! Of course, I've never used Skype and hence don't know what its limitations are, but it should work in theory!

  • Looks like a Bluetooth adapter... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by frostman ( 302143 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @01:51PM (#13532521) Homepage Journal
    Assuming this actually works (and actually exists), it looks suspiciously like... a Bluetooth Adapter! And it looks a lot like you're just using the phone as a headphone/mic combo, and the central contact list just means you have to use your PC, not your phone, to dial.

    If your computer has built-in Bluetooth, is there any software out there to get Skype talking to your handset? Isn't that something Skype is likely to offer?

  • Correct me if I'm wrong.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dr.matrix ( 36588 ) <dr@matrix.gmx@net> on Sunday September 11, 2005 @01:51PM (#13532522) Homepage
    ..but isn't this just a Bluetooth dongle with some additional software? This piece of Linux software
    http://www.soft.uni-linz.ac.at/_wiki/tiki-index.ph p?page=ProjectBluezHandsfree [uni-linz.ac.at]
    seems to do basically the same..

    • Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @03:50PM (#13533139)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Because if your computer can send arbitrary audio out your cellphone's speaker, things just got a lot more interesting.

        Also from the "bluetooth pairings you wish you could do" department, why can't a pair of earpieces act as walkie-talkies?

        For that matter, if a building was blanketed with Bluetooth accesspoints, could this be used to route local voice traffic over an in-building PBX, while letting cellphones behave normally when they were away? I got into just such a discussion last week, but the bluetooth
    • Why use bluetooth?
      In Europe siemens and some other companies sell a DECT adapter so you can use your DECT phone to call with skype.
      This is already 2 years on the market.
      Second, using a GSM phone with bluetooth as a mobile handset in combination with your computer isn't new either.
      About two or three years ago locustworld had an option to connect your GSM phone to their meshap box.
  • The IM Fone is compatible with two services at this point of time, imtel and Skype. The IM fone allows you to use your cell phone and its contacts as usual, the difference being that you are not actually using the cell phone service network but rather the internet to make and recieve these calls. The best part is that even if you are using the Skype service to make an international call, it is your cell phone number that will be displayed to the caller ID of the other party. ...unfortunately it works only w
    • No, you don't need roaming on the cellphone. As people have said above, it just uses your cellphone as the handset, and you're still making the call through Skype. You're right that it doesn't say which phones are compatible, though, and I'd really like to know that.


      I actually think it's a good idea. Using headsets is nice for driving or at home, but in public it's kinda weird. I'd rather talk on my phone than to a bluetooth headset, if I'm in an airport or coffee shop.

  • So, right now, Skype is "good". Will is still be "good" whaen AOL buys 'em out?

  • samsung i730 and skype for pocket pc (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 11, 2005 @02:03PM (#13532579)
    I have a samsung i730 smartphone with Verizon's EVDO broadband internet access on it. Recently installed the pocket pc version of skype on it and now I can call the whole world for almost free of charge. Works fabulous and it has already cut down my phone bills by a good measure.

  • Or... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hkb ( 777908 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @02:04PM (#13532585)
    Uhm. Or just use Skype on a Windows Mobile-based cellphone with built-in/sdio wi-fi. It works greats and I find it more stable than Symbian phones.
  • If this requires a bluetooth enabled phone then you would (or should) already have a bluetooth enabled headset. If I have a headset that does not require me to be connected to my phone (see: tethered cord) then why not just use a bluetooth dongle and my headset for my PC anyways?

    Some may say that the battery is longer on your phone than a headset but my Jabra has some pretty good talk time http://www.jabra.com/JabraCMS/NA/EN/MainMenu/Produ cts/WirelessHeadsets/JabraBT250v/JabraBT250v [jabra.com]

    Now what would be nice
  • I mean, if I have bluetooth at my laptop, I can connect to my cellphone directly anyway, right? Why would there be a need for some separate gizmo? Does it do something beyond a simple USB BT-dongle?

  • What about the reverse? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ASaidi ( 105261 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @02:18PM (#13532664)
    I think it would be much more useful to be able to use your cellphone to make outbound phone calls. Coupled with a POTS VOIP gateway you could have normal phones in your house that used your cellphone to dial out when you were there, and when you wern't you could take your cellphone with you.
  • The IM fone allows you to use your cell phone and its contacts as usual

    If this is true, then Bluetooth CTP (Cordless Telephony Profile) must be involved. Last time I checked, no manufacturer was implementing CTP in their mobile phones, and you needed an expensive smartphone and an additional Symbian application to pull this off. Of course telcos prefer to sell their proprietary versions at a premium (e.g. BT Bluephone [theregister.co.uk]).

    Either that, or it's a hack involving downloading the contacts to the PC over Bluetoo

  • article must be incorrect... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by YesIAmAScript ( 886271 ) on Sunday September 11, 2005 @02:25PM (#13532705)
    It will likely let you use your laptop as a headset/speaker for your phone, but not use your phone as a headset/speaker for your laptop.

    I say this because although virtually all Bluetooth phones will USE a Bluetooth headset, virtually none of them (none I've seen) will BE a Bluetooth headset. There's just not way to get most phones to pretend to be on a call (turn on the speaker and mic) and send the data elsewhere to be transported.

    As to using your computer as a handsfree system for yor phone, that's been possible for some time already. The question is, why would you do it?
    • At least on Symbian phones (eg my Nokia 7610), u can conenct 2 a PC + make it look like a COM port connection. You could send any data through this. I dont know how fast it would be for audio though.

      I'm waiting for the Nokia N91 with built in wifi. Mmmmm
  • Can I also use my phone in order to send text messages via the internet?
  • A colleage and I were discussing this and wondering if you could use this to place free calls from anywhere in your respective country. Imagine having 2 cell phones, both with an account that has free calls between accounts of the same kind, for instance 'Comviq Kompis' here in Sweden.

    Then make a setup like this:

    Your cell -> free call -> Phone at home -> Computer with Skype

    If it is possible to use this device as a bridge you can make free calls to anyone on Skype from anywhere in your country. You
    • You'd probably be better off connecting the phone to an asterisk server... you could then route the calls over the cheapest providers depending on the destination - many landline providers have free international and national diallng now & skype can't match that.
    • I read a couple weeks ago in Metro Göteborg that a pair of natives wrote a program to do just that, using the cable that connects to the mobile phone. Of course, in the best Metro tradition of "journalism", there we no pointers, no names, not anything that a person could use to research further. Pity since i am interested in the exact same thing.

      /Pedro

  • Using a phone to make PHONE calls. I just thought they were for anoying drivers!
  • if you need to be 10 feet from your computer, why bother?

    if wimax takes off, a phone with support for that would be very useful. i really don't know much about wimax besides what it generally is, but even if whoever sets it up charges money for it, if you could use a city-wide internet access for all your (free) phone calls, internet browsing, etc., then, well, that'd be pretty awesome.
    • The two-phone idea sounds servicable, provided you can find a provider that does cheap internal phone calls (I could only find one in this country, and they have a 15 minute cutoff so not much use).

      OTOH you could do the same with 3G mobile data & a VOIP client on the phone, if you could get a plan that allowed a reasonable amount... again, I couldn't find any that are practical (average cost is ~1000* the cost of ADSL per volume) but I'm sure it'll happen one day.
  • There should be a native Skype client for the Linux, Symbian and Windows Mobile based smartphones before the end of 2005, since Skype co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennstrom made an announcement in the Voice On the Net (VON) conference held in April 2005 in Toronto [mobilemag.com].

    Furthermore, Skype uses technology from the Global IP Sound, which announced [globalipsound.com] availability of their VoiceEngine Mobile platform for the Symbian.

    So it should be here Soon(TM)

  • I tried to get some numbers in cities where I have friends and family.. Nope.. There was ONE number available in one city I check and that number, while in the right area code was of a prefix that was long distance. Same thing with other cities I tried.

    I'm not impressed with the Skype landline deals at all.
    But as far as PC to PC, it's great. But not all my friends and family have PC's...

    Keep trying Skype...


  • Pulver Innovations [pulver.com] had a WiSIP [pulverinnovations.com] phone that would connect over your LAN to act as a standard SIP phone, which you could use, for example, with Free World Dialup [freeworlddialup.com] or asterisk@home [sourceforge.net]. Unfortunately, as one article [wi-fiplanet.com] points out, most WiFi hot spots don't co-operate and the the phone connect, so it has some major limitations. Even Pulver doesn't push it anymore... I had a tough time finding a link to it on any of their sites.

    They also had a gadget that you could plug a cell phone into that would allow you to prefe
  • This should be pretty simple: any bluetooth phone and any bluetooth computer can connect and you can use the phone as an audio device for the computer or the computer as an audio device for the phone, you should even be able to stream the phones camera wirelessly to your computer and have net access on your phone for web-browsing/email around the house.

    Unfortunately... in reality this doesn't work as I have spent the whole day finding out. If you have a reasonably new Nokia phone you are shit out of luck be
    • I've got a bluetooth video thing working on my Nokia 7610 to my PC. It was a bit slow though.

      Read http://gagravarr.org/series-60/#bt-ip>, http://www.russellbeattie.com/notebook/1001649.htm l> and http://www.itfreaks.com/forum/guide-bluetooth-inte rnet-s60-mobile-phone-3444.html>

      I also managed 2 get the computer 2 b a wireless headset 4 my phone, tho i didnt realise at the time when some1 called me + i had no mic...
      • 6630 and many newer phones are screwed, apparently they just ripped out all the useful software. Bluetooth should be easy - if i want to route winamps audio to my phone and then play it around the house wirelessly i should be able to do that in 5 seconds, bluetooth implementation is appauling.
  • I mean, that's all nice and good, but all those "normal telephone adapters" seem to require me to have my computer on all the time. And running Windows, while we're at that.

    I would pay up to $100 for an ATA that would let me use my DECT/GAP cordless phone with Skype AND SIP at the same time. Maybe $20 more, if it was DECT/GAP station by itself. I will not pay double that for stupid usb-to-pstn or usb-to-dect adapter, that's useless w/o dedicated computer. I guess that's the real problem with closed, proprie
  • I wish that system worked with Vonage. They've got much more reliable/hifi VoIP calling for much less money. They've promised radiophones, but haven't delivered yet.
    • Vonage is trash ... I had 2 friends that each had it for less then 1 month.

      Cellphones have better sound quailty and with the proper plan are still cheaper then a land line.

      You get what you pay for if you go VoIP.
      • I don't know about your friends, but I've had Vonage for about 2 years, and it's perfectly adequate. I have no sound quality problems, though I've had voicemail problems (mostly "message waiting" failures) and a few other glitches. But I use the $25 unlimited US/Canada calling, including calls when I've thrown my ATA in my suitcase and travelling away from my home, even in other countries.

        You're kind of missing the point of this device: it doesn't replace a cellphone, it relies on a cellphone. With this dev
      • Sure, Vonage is crap, but not because of quality... It's crap because it doesn't play nice with other VoIP users, forces people to buy locked ATAs, and is expensive.
  • Anybody know if I can Skype from my land line to get long distance with my local-only land line service? That would be GREAT. There is no benefit to me to use my cell phone with Skype, as many have said, it looks like a glorified bluetooth mic adapter to me.

  • Not too many phone choices:

    V6900, LG-KF1000, SPH-E3700

    I found that, along with some interesting facts on the actual product page.

    Wool of guard post elder brother and carbide quantity ten one design

    Rambling ease: When with inside location relationship without only the computer and the Internet it is The Internet transformation possibility which uses the hand phone

    Currency possibility of quality

    Use bias characteristic: In the USB pot of the computer where the messenger is executed the imFONE It aff

  • A bluetooth headset plus a bluetooth USB dongle for your PC achieves the same thing. I'm using this setup at the moment to use "Wireless Skype".

    -----
    People are just like Animals. Some live
    in the wild, some live in the Zoo
          - Chen Wen Ping
    -----
  • A lot of cell carriers already have unlimited anytime US minutes plans (e.g. MetroPCS). Why would you want to couple cell phone with Skype???
  • gives a home wireless SIP telephone.
    There is currently development going on for the access point distribution OpenWRT to build a SIP phone on it.
    The access point with USB (e.g. Asus Wl-500g(x)) is running asterisk and bluez and has a Bluetooth dongle connected. It is paired with a Headset and a Mobile. The Mobile is used for typing in the numbers, the headset for the call.
    See this thread: http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=2187 [openwrt.org]
    Any help is highly appreciated.
  • Far more useful is "cuphone", it will forward skype calls from your computer to any number even your cell. Never miss a skype call !

    Anyone tried this product or a similar one?
  • Skype is really NAFF because they do not allow SIP clients or interoperbility with other SIP services.

    A mobile phone handset is useful, but as SIP is the public RFC standard that has existed for ages for this kind of thing it should be bluetooth to SIP.

    Skype are a closed shop. Dump Skype and get yourself a real VOIP provider that uses SIP.

    Make a bluetooth to SIP dongle and I might be impressed.

  • Nobody here knows about iSkoot and SkypeOut in tandem? Y'all should read something besides this blog bacon strip. I call China from Boston on my cellphone anytime for 6 cents per minute. http://www.iskoot.com/ [iskoot.com]

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