Packet8, Truephone bring VOIP to iPhone [video]
updated 09:35 am EDT, Fri July 11, 2008
Two VOIP apps for iPhone
Two VOIP companies -- TruPhone and Packet 8 -- have announced support for the iPhone, allowing users to make calls through Wi-Fi hotspots. Truphone says its VOIP application acts just like the regular iPhone dialer, except that calls are made through the internet at what it claims are "incredible low rates." Calls to landlines in 40 countries cost 6 cents per minute; 30 cents for calls to other mobile phones. The dialer is free at the AppStore.
8x8 is also entering the iPhone market, adding the iPhone device to a list of over 450 handsets supported by its VOIP service. Unlike Truphone, The company's Packet 8 service uses a web-based interface, so there is no dialer to download. Calls are routed to a special access number on the Packet 8 VOIP network. Once a call is established, the company says, the call is "carried to completion over the users cellular network with Packet 8's reduced international rates."
"With the tremendous adoption rate of Apple's first generation iPhone and today's release of the new 3G version, the potential market for the Packet8 MobileTalk service has increased exponentially," said 8x8 Vice President of Sales & Marketing Huw Rees. The company says beta tests have show the iPhone web interface to be simpler to install than for other smart phones.
