Filed under: iPhone, App Store, SDK
iCall VOIP for iPhone
We covered a number of iPhone VOIP applications, but iCall looks particularly impressive. As you can see in the above video, it allows you to seamlessly transfer a regular inbound cell phone calls to VOIP. This means you can save your minutes any time your iPhone is connected via wifi. As of right now calls are free in the US and Canada, and there is an iCall Pro account that lets you make international calls for a fee. Unfortunately, the iCall application is only available for Windows at the moment but they're promising a Mac version soon. Nonetheless, it's clearly the iPhone application that's most exciting and the company is apparently part of the iPhone Developer Program.
Thanks, Ryan!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Max said 7:24AM on 6-20-2008
awful audio!
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Matt said 7:25AM on 6-20-2008
Sounds good - but I'm sure I don't get charged or my free minutes reduced for my INBOUND calls. Not in the UK anyway.
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Matt said 7:30AM on 6-20-2008
To Clarify - The FAQ on the iCall site states:
2. Transfer inbound calls from a regular cell call to WiFi instantly and seamlessly - save your expensive minutes
Graymalkin said 7:45AM on 6-20-2008
I don't get it. In Germany I don't have to pay for inbound calls either. What gives?
DrWho said 8:36AM on 6-20-2008
What gives is that in the US you get charged minutes whether you make the call or not.
Tony said 8:36AM on 6-20-2008
Yeah it seems to me that the app would be useful it if worked with outbound calls.. but inbound? They're free anyway, so it's pointless.
Probably a US thing.
Rich UK said 11:52AM on 6-20-2008
I've always wondered why people complain about US call plans thinking they were blessed with minutes. Now it all makes sense.
mjgrothaus said 7:27AM on 6-20-2008
Hmm. Looks promising. But I'm really waiting for Skype on the iPhone. Has Skype announced any plans for iPhone? Are they an SDK developer?
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Ryan Schmidt said 7:39AM on 6-20-2008
Oh, you're welcome! :)
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Toph said 7:44AM on 6-20-2008
What happens if your on a iCall and you get normal phone call? Does the iCall call get dropped?
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Tom said 7:50AM on 6-20-2008
I always find it kind of ironic how a lot of iPhone applications like this were made for Windows but not Mac...
Anyway, looks promising :)
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FoundInTheFlood said 8:45AM on 6-20-2008
Yeah could someone explain what this means for people in germany?
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psxp said 8:55AM on 6-20-2008
you wont see an official Skype on the iPhone. Developers are NOT allowed to create VOIP applications for the iphone
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jorn said 11:19AM on 6-20-2008
uhm http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/08/apple-to-allow-voip-on-iphone/
Paul said 11:53AM on 6-20-2008
I remember Steve saying that VOIP would be allowed during the SDK announcement?
john said 12:22AM on 6-22-2008
you're right. VOIP is not allowed according to the iPhone SDK agreement. Read it and you'll see yourself.
Welly said 1:46PM on 6-20-2008
psxp, you seem quite certain that that is the case. It's not the case at all. VoIP won't be allowed over the cellular network but will be allowed over wifi.
psxp said 2:49PM on 6-20-2008
Hi,
yes, sorry, I didnt realise Apple had now made the destinction with 3G and Wifi.
Kyle Derouen said 11:23AM on 6-20-2008
Wow! This looks very promising :)
Aside from saving people minutes (because in the US you DO get charged for inbound calls), it would mean better call quality for areas with hardly any service (i.e. my house).
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kevanhloy said 12:59PM on 6-20-2008
i remember seeing this on digg a few weeks ago. looks pretty cool, but i wish they would give us a little bit more info on things, a mac client/a way to go pro via the web, etc. or you know, they could just take the code they've written in xcode under that nasty nda/developer limits and compile it and send it to big boss or ste so we could test it now for them, and by test i mean enjoy and use the hell out of it.
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