iPhone VoiP

AT&T and Apple must have finally decided to allow VoIP calls over the 3G network. The big news was revealed in the new iPhone SDK released by Apple yesterday. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) makes it possible to use services like Skype to make voice calls using the Internet, avoiding the use of cellular calling plan minutes.

AT&T has restricted VoIP applications on the iPhone to Wi-Fi only in the recent past. Now developers are free to make applications that use the 3G cellular data network to make the same calls. Reports have speculated that FCC pressure over net neutrality issues may have prompted the change in policy.

Many had speculated that the iPhone 3GS would have a front-facing camera and feature video calling, however this did not come to fruition. Now fring has released the first-ever video calling application for the iPhone.

Fring works with Google Talk, Skype, Facebook and AIM and has supported VoiP communications since the beginning. Version 3.0 with video chat support works with any iPhone running firmware 3.0 or later.

Vonage is looking for a boost from iPhone users amid sagging sales of its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. The company has submitted an iPhone application to Apple for approval.

The first version Apple reviewed came back due to a technical issue involving an icon label. The app was resubmitted by Vonage after correcting the problem and is currently under review.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls using applications such as Truphone and Fring are nothing new to the iPhone. VoIP calls using 3G, or EDGE/GPRS for that matter, have been available for three months now, and it's the jailbreak app VoIPover3G that makes them possible.

The app works by using a MobileSubstrate library that tricks applications into behaving as if they are on a Wi-Fi connection when they are actually on a cellular data connection. Fring and Truphone are tricked by default when VoIPover3G is installed using the Cydia package manager.

There have been previously released methods available for using Skype on the iPhone, but none have been particularly convenient. From the looks of things, that's changing. Shape Services, the makers of IM+ for Skype, have released a beta version of an iPhone version of their software.

IM+ for Skype is a mobile application that enables voice and text communication with other Skype users and provides cost-effective calling to landlines and mobiles. Unlike previously released