VoIP Calling Over 3G Arrives on the iPhone

Posted on: 01-28-2010 Posted in: High Tech

iCall, a service that allows for free calls on the desktop, web and iPhone, has come across an interesting revelation in the new iPhone/iPad SDK released earlier today: Apple has dropped the restriction that made it impossible to have VoIP calls over 3G.

In a news release, the company declared that it is now “the first and only VoIP application that functions on the iPhone and iPod touch over cellular 3G networks.” Regardless, there is now at least one app on the market that can make 3G VoIP phone calls.

We knew this was coming. At the CTIA conference in October, AT&T confirmed that it would support VoIP over 3G for the iPhone. With that announcement, we knew it was only a matter of time until Apple allowed 3G VoIP calls.

Now that the restriction have been lifted, you can expect Skype to soon work over 3G networks. It’s server-side, rather than software-side, so there shouldn’t be a need to download a new version of Skype to get this functionality. The Google Voice for iPhone should also benefit from this change, as it’s one less reason to deny the app from the App Store.

http://www.ijachouf.com/iphone/

This also opens up one other possibility: VoIP phone calls on the iPad. Would you really want to hold that thing to your head like a phone, though? Too bad there’s no camera for 3G teleconferencing.

http://www.ijachouf.com/iphone/