Apple, AT&T allow VOIP on 3G
January 29, 2010 by Valerie HelmbreckPosted in: Communication, Gadgets, Hardware, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Software, Travel and entertainment, VOIP, Wireless carriers, cell phone, mobile technology, smartphones
Apple and AT&T delivered some big news in a very small voice this week — news that was somewhat overshadowed by all the hoopla over the iPad. The announcement: The partners will allow VOIP on Apple products that use 3G.
Apple updated its iPhone software development kit on Wednesday to allow Internet telephony apps to work on the 3G network. The little-noticed move effectively unlocked the ability for the iPhone — and the upcoming iPad — to be used as Web phones.
Because the iPad includes a microphone and will run iPhone apps, that means the tablet will gain Internet telephony, too.
iCall, a voice-over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) calling company, couldn’t be happier. The company promptly released an update to its iPhone app today, adding the 3G support.
Arlo Gilbert, CEO of iCall, wrote on his company’s blog this week: “Yes, believe it or not … the moment that we have been eagerly awaiting has arrived and we are proud to finally say that iCall for the iPhone is fully functional over 3G networks.
“We have thoroughly tested the voice quality over 3G and it exceeds even our expectations … so now anywhere where you have a 3G data network you can make free phone calls.
“Existing users do not need to upgrade, the 3G block was a server side block on our end and it has now been removed. If you are using version 1.2.5 or newer of iCall for the iPhone then just restart iCall while on a 3G network and enjoy calling.
“The only caveat here is that AT&T’s 3G network is overloaded big time and call quality will depend upon the 3G signal you are able to get.”
Good luck with that.
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Tags: 3G, allow, Apple, apps, AT&T, iPad, iphone, software developement kit, VOIP
February 9th, 2010 at 11:33 am
And don’t the iPhone and other AT&T data plans max out at a certain # of GB/month, which could means lots of VOIP calls will put you over your data limit and cause huge overage charges?
February 9th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Base plan is 5G but there is an unlimited plan as well.
The 3G network issue is more of a problem at the moment (infrastructure lag), however the iPhone unlike the Blackberry will automatically switch between 2G and 3G to get the best possible coverage.
February 10th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
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June 21st, 2010 at 2:31 am
Really looking forward to getting the new apple ipad, looks awesome!