“When Steve Jobs first demoed the iPhone in January 2007, he made it clear that reaching someone by typing their phone number onto a keypad was no longer acceptable, albeit tolerated. Instead, he showed an Address Book interface that unifies the concept of a “Person” across all forms of communications on the iPhone, be it iChat, e-Mail, or a Normal Phone Call,” Chris Holland writes for Internet Brands Developer Blog.
“While an ‘Address Book’ seems as trivially simple a concept as it isn’t new to anyone who’s used a mobile phone within the last decade, seeing it executed ‘The Apple Way’ in a larger synchronized ecosystem, helps paint a picture of possibilities that lie ahead,” Holland writes.
“Picture unlimited free calls over WiFi/IP without even having to ‘think about it,’ by simply picking a Person from your Address Book, and hitting ‘call’ …The same way you’d make a Normal Phone Call,” Holland writes.
“When calling somebody, the iPhone could detect whether WiFi connectivity is available, and whether there is a SIP Address for the person i’m looking to call. If both these conditions are met, the iPhone could perform a ‘pure SIP Call’ over the Internet, without ever touching the carrier’s or any phone company’s network. Blam. Free call. An icon might indicate to me that this call is a free, un-metered Voice-over-IP call,” Holland writes.
More in the full article here.
“When calling somebody, the iPhone could detect whether WiFi connectivity is available, and whether there is a SIP Address for the person i’m looking to call”
Yeah, iPhone already does this, but great suggestion
AT&T is way ahead of this. Why do you think they are trying to position themselves as also the nation’s largest internet service provider? When iPhone goes off the cell network to make a call on the internet, chances are ATT will be what’s pushing that internet signal. -or so they hope.
Gizmo Project client (http://www.gizmoproject.com) from SIPPhone is cooler than skype. Its multi platform (OS X/Windows/Linux). Since it uses the open SIProtocol, I can get free US phone numbers (ipkall.com) or free PSTN number(grandstream.com) mapped to my soft phone or harware ATAs(Grandstream Handytone). I hope iChat voice will use the open SIProtocol.
mw: some
I’m sorry guys, but this is all just mental masturbation. First, you’ve got to get the actual product out and see how good or bad that is. Then you need to see how much AT&T is going to charge us per month for the privilege. Then you need to see how fast or slow AT&T’s network service or even WiFi actually is on the iPhone. Finally, Steve Jobs needs to make VOIP and Skype available for the iPhone. There are so many big IFs in this dream that you guys have cooked up, that I doubt that any of that stuff is going to actually come true. Now, forget it, take a nice cold shower, and get back to work.
I agree with Rudge, and their are other “ifs.” It will take more than 5 years for cheap mobile continuous-access WiFi service to be available anywhere other than the largest cities in the US. In the meantime, AT&T makes a bundle.
I predict Video ‘text messages’. No need for a fast network, just record a note, send it, works just like voice mail but with video.
-c
MW: ‘stop’ (the inanity)
Apple won’t do that, until it has a relatively large footprint in the mobile phone world. Once Apple can call the shots (like it currently can with iPod and iTunes in the music industry), Apple could probably implement such a feature with trivial effort.
In the mean time, some clever web developer should see if it is possible to create a web-based iPhone app for handling such “free” calls through a web-based service. If Apple doesn’t do it, AT&T can’t complain about it.
So instead of installing Cell Phone towers, AT&T will install WiFi towers? Or upgrade Cell Towers to provide AT&T customers free WiFi in addition voice calls?
Hmmm, this could be interesting….
There won’t be any plan(s) plural..
THERE WILL BE JUST ONE iPhone PLAN.
Unlimited calling and unlimited data. That’s the only way iPhone will work.. No more rollover minutes, or additional charges or being nickel and dimed for every minute on the web.
Steve Jobs is very into the “one price for all” model. A revolutionary phone needs a revolutionary plan.
My guess is $99.
xgeek
Skype does not involved their servers for communication, it is based on the bit torrent model, therefore every user is also a server
Tom
You’ve seen the future and it is good. Finally someone with perspective on this forum
Good guess Pete
If it doesn’t interpret sign language, smoke signals, flirting, Morse code and semaphore, forget it. It’s worthless. It should also detect gas.
Hmmm… I wonder…
Veruca, my darling… drink your grape juice and go to bed. I’ll get you an iPhone on the 29th.
Free calls via VOIP will definitely be Apple’s endgame. Why? Because all kids want a limitless phone and no parent wants to pay the exorbitant cell charges. AT&T is in the ISP business as well so they can win no matter what, and they are already known to be rapidly expanding their WiFi networks, but are still afraid of cutting off their lucrative cash flow until they see how the numbers will play out. Apple will have to wait until they have a big enough market share to risk pissing off the providers by providing VOIP on the iPhone.
Another tool for the terrorists.
Oh shoot, never thought of that. I guess they should ban the iPhone then. Too bad, it was nice while the dream lasted.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
So, will the two-year-contract require a data contract, or just the cell phone part?
“‘When calling somebody, the iPhone could detect whether WiFi connectivity is available, and whether there is a SIP Address for the person i’m looking to call. If both these conditions are met, the iPhone could perform a ‘pure SIP Call’ over the Internet, without ever touching the carrier’s or any phone company’s network. Blam. Free call. An icon might indicate to me that this call is a free, un-metered Voice-over-IP call,’ Holland writes.”
But WiFi is now obsolete. Instead you will very soon be able to connect via WiMax, with a range of 30 miles, through your own ISP on your own mobile broadband account. What happens to cell companies charging for communications by the minute when mobile broadband coverage matches or exceeds cellular coverage? They die a quick (and richly deserved) death.