voip - 2/2 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Goodbye, Voice Minutes? First Signs Of Google Voice VoIP Emerge

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, News

We may have just seen the reasoning behind Google's announcement last week that they were shutting down VoIP service Gizmo5. Apparently a SIP address has surfaced that allows those with an SIP-to-SIP account (such as sip2sip.info) to call Google Voice users for free. While this may not sound Earth-shattering at first, this is most likely an early sign that true Google Voice VoIP (that many users have been eagerly anticipating) is on its way.

Say you are wanting to contact your friend, whose Google Voice Number is (555)123-4567. You could now sign up for a free SIP to SIP service, register your account via an SIP app (such as csipsimple or sipdroid), and contact +15551234567@sip.voice.google.com.

Mar

VoIP Service Gizmo5 Going Offline April 3

Posted by Will Shanklin in Carriers, News

The VoIP company Gizmo5, which was purchased by Google in 2009, is going to be officially ending its service next month (April 3 to be exact). Many Android users who have a setup which utilizes Gizmo5's compatibility with Google Voice to make cheap or free internet calls will need to look elsewhere for cheap VoIP calling.

An email (submitted by Reddit user Bizurke) from Gizmo5 cites the Gmail calling service as a viable replacement after notifying users of the termination. Alternate VoIP services such as Sipgate, pbxes, and VoIPUser appear to be alive and kicking if GV users are looking for an alternative.

Dec

OneMoreFace Bringing Video-Calling To The Nexus One, In Concept Form At Least

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Development, News, Nexus One (Passion)

In the world of design mock-ups, where phones are seen with operating systems as-yet unavailable to them, the Nexus One can make video calls. Nope, this isn't an internal hardware hack like we saw on the Vibrant; it's a simple attachment in the form of an array of prisms and mirrors called OneMoreFace. We've already seen a few examples of this idea implemented for the older (pre-iPhone 4) iPhones, but this is probably the slickest design so far.

Right now it exists only in concept form, but the designer promises to add more info soon regarding availability for purchase. The piece looks small and sturdy enough to keep in your bag for whenever you feel an overwhelming urge to broadcast your mug to all and sundry.

Nov

Skype For Android Updated, Packing QVGA Support And Performance Enhancements

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Today is obviously the day for popular applications to add QVGA support. As Rovio did only hours ago, Skype have added support for the increasingly-common 320x240 resolution in their application. That's good news for owners of the HTC Wildfire, Motorola Charm, Huawei IDEOS and LG Optimus T/S, who were left out in the cold until now. Skype for Android has had some nice bug fixes and improvements added, too:

Improvements:

320*240 and 240*400 screen resolutions are now supported.

Hardware back key is now supported.

Reduced power consumption in idle mode.

Signing out from Skype now exits Skype.

Improved login stability and behavior.

Oct

Skype For Android Can Now Make Calls Over 3G In The US, No Thanks To Skype

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Development, News

This is really no big deal for Verizon users who have been able to do that since March but, thanks to some creative tweaking, the all-carrier version of Skype for Android can now make calls over 3G in the US. If you remember, the version distributed in the Market prompts you to enable WiFi in order to make calls to both Skype and regular phone numbers.

Xeudoxus (known for his work on Dark Edge) got a bit creative with the Skype apk and has released it to the on-the-go Skyping masses. If you're a Skype user who frequently makes phone calls via the service, this could potentially be a godsend.

Mar

Skype Mobile Launches Exclusively On Verizon, Does Not Work On WiFi, Makes Non-Verizon Users Irked

Posted by Android Police Team in Applications, News, Verizon Wireless

As promised, today at CTIA Wireless 2010 Skype launched its Skype Mobile application, available on select Verizon phones (Blackberry and all of Verizon's Android lineup - Droid, Droid Eris, Devour) because of an exclusive deal between the two companies.

Features

Here are the features of the new application:

make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype contact around the globe
send and receive unlimited instant messages with other Skype users
manage the Skype contact list directly from the mobile application
call international phone numbers at competitive Skype calling rates

Skype Mobile promises to have an Always-On capability, so that you can be permanently logged in, similar to the Google Chat application that comes with every Android phone.