Average Rating: Rate this article:

AT&T Will Allow VoIP Calls From Apple's iPhone By Barry Levine October 7, 2009 2:17PM AT&T has removed barriers to VoIP calls on Apple, Inc.'s iPhone. Until now, AT&T had blocked the Skype app for the iPhone from using its 3G network, although VoIP calls could be made by Wi-Fi. AT&T has argued that VoIP calls hogged the data channel, but pressure from the FCC may have helped remove barriers to 3G VoIP on Apple's iPhone.   Related Topics AT&T VoIP Apple iPhone Skype 3G Wi-Fi FCC Latest News Endeavour Inspected for Damage Autism Risk for Kids of Older Mothers Go Online and You Can Save the Planet In Haiti, Relief Gaps Are Spreading U.S. To Form Climate-Change Agency VoIP over 3G is coming to the iPhone. On Tuesday, AT&T announced that it had "taken the steps necessary" so Apple can enable Voice over Internet Protocol calls on the iPhone through the carrier's 3G network . Before this announcement, VoIP on the iPhone could only work with Wi-Fi. AT&T has allowed VoIP apps to work on some of the other wireless devices it offers over 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi. Evaluating Expectations AT&T President and CEO Ralph de la Vega said the move came "after evaluating our customers' expectations and use of the device compared to dozens of others we offer." Sometimes called Internet telephony, VoIP allows voice and video communications over IP networks such as the Internet. This contrasts to using the public switched network, through which ordinary phone calls are made. The leading free VoIP application is Skype, which allows a user to make free phone calls to another Skype user and charges a small amount to call a regular wireless or landline phone. Various commercial services, such as Vonage, also offer VoIP. Until now, AT&T has blocked Skype on the iPhone. Because Skype-to-Skype calls are free, and Skype-to-phone calls are very cheap, the Skype application has been seen as a key driver in lowering the cost of voice calls. Because of this, carriers are trying to add as many non-voice, paid services as possible. Even with Skype on the iPhone, however, the user must still subscribe to a wireless data plan. 'Surprised and Not Surprised' Bill Ho, an analyst with Current Analysis, said he was "both surprised and not surprised" by AT&T's announcement. He said he's surprised because carriers have made "the technical argument that VoIP calls occupy the entire data channel" and it was better to keep the data channel open to be used for other things as well. But, Ho surmised, "technology marches on, and apparently they've found a way to do this" that doesn't hog the data channel. The reason he's not surprised, he said, is that "there has been so much pressure from the Federal Communications Commission and the media to be able to do this. "VoIP over 3G on the iPhone," Ho said, opens up "a whole universe of other AT&T phones" that might also get VoIP. Recently, the FCC has been looking at whether network-neutrality principles, which it wants to apply to any Internet access or bandwidth provider, should also apply to wireless data providers such as AT&T. Network neutrality means, among other things, that an Internet service provider cannot pick and choose which Internet services and sites to carry. AT&T has opposed applying net-neutrality rules to wireless networks.   Tell Us What You Think Your Comment: Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com Advertisement  Apple/Macintosh 1.   Macworld Focuses on Mobile Apps 2.   Analysts Expect iPad Price To Drop 3.   iPad Blitz Yields Low Buying Plans 4.   With No Killer App, iPad Is a Hard Sell 5.   iPhone Location-Based Ads Banned With No Killer App, iPad Is a Hard Sell The iPad still needs to prove its worth. Average Rating: Reporters Invited To Apple Event New tablet could be low-end MacBook. Average Rating: French Exec Confirms Apple Tablet With a webcam and 3G connectivity. Average Rating:

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Nvidia Auto-Switches Notebook GPU To Save Battery Life Nvidia has taken the wraps off a notebook technology that chooses the best graphics processor for any given application and automatically routes the workload to Nvidia or Intel processors.   Microsoft Says Battery Woes Not Caused By Windows 7 Battery problems on Windows 7 machines are not caused by the operating system. That's the position of Stephen Sinofsky, head of the Windows division, in a long posting on the Windows engineering blog.   IBM's New POWER7 Servers Save Energy with Big Loads IBM has unveiled high-capacity servers that are the first to be based on its new, multi-core POWER7 chip. It said the new line is designed "to manage the most demanding emerging applications."

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

To Love or Not To Love: Apple iPad Pros and Cons Now that the iPad has officially been announced, opinions are rolling in on this device that combines the features of an iPod, e-reader, and tablet PC. Will the iPad turn fewer heads than the iPhone?   Analysts See iPad Price Drop, with Some Cannibalization Just weeks before Apple officially rolls out the iPad, financial analysts are making pricing predictions. But could the analysis itself hinder the initial demand for the pricey tablet computer?   Bar Codes Go Mobile, Get Hip Again For decades, retailers have used patterns of black dots and lines to encode data onto products. Now, bar codes are gaining favor as an easy way for cell-phone users to view ads and other data instantly.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

Google May Add Facebook, Twitter Links to Gmail Google will reportedly roll more social-networking features into Gmail, the fastest-growing e-mail service. The new features could save users the trouble of switching to Facebook or Twitter.   IBM's New POWER7 Servers Save Energy with Big Loads IBM has unveiled high-capacity servers that are the first to be based on its new, multi-core POWER7 chip. It said the new line is designed "to manage the most demanding emerging applications."   IBM Opens Eco-Friendly, Cloud-Focused Data Center IBM has opened its latest data center in North Carolina. Big Blue said the $362 million facility in Research Triangle Park is designed to support cloud computing and other new computing models.

Navigation Sci-Tech Today Home/Top News | Computing | Digital Life | Discovery | Space | Innovation | Health | Science News Environment NewsFactor Network Enterprise I.T. Sites NewsFactor Technology News | Enterprise Security Today | CRM Daily NewsFactor Business and Innovation Sites Sci-Tech Today | NewsFactor Business Report NewsFactor Services FreeNewsFeed | Free Newsletters | Free Whitepapers | About NewsFactor Network | How To Contact Us | Article Reprints | Careers @ NewsFactor | Services for PR Pros | Top Tech Wire | How To Advertise Privacy Policy | Terms of Service © Copyright 2000-2010 NewsFactor Network. All rights reserved. Article rating technology by Blogowogo.