August 2, 2008

VoIP on the Apple iPod iTouch?

Apple iPod touch 8 GB Studio : Apple Computer by Apple Computer Brand : Apple Model : MA623LL/B Display Size : 3.5 Publisher : Apple Computer Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days Size : 8 GB Color : Black EAN : 0085909221039 UPC : 885909221035 Avg. Customer Rating:

(based on 248 reviews)List Price : $299.99 Our Price : $249.50

Features Of 'Apple iPod touch 8 GB'

Upgrade your player with the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch via iTunes for an additional fee
8 GB of storage provides approximately 1,750 songs; includes earphones, USB cable, dock adapter/connector, polishing cloth, and stand
Battery life provides up to 22 hours of music and up to 5 hours of video
3.5-inch widescreen multi-touch display
New applications include email; maps; and widgets for weather, notes, and stocks

First I need to state that I am NOT an expert on VoIP hacks or hardware hacks for that matter. I am also not an expert on whether or not VoIP is capable of being deployed on an Apple iphone or itouch. So please don't call me asking how to hack your iPhone or iTouch to make VoIP calls.

All I can say is,… that I know there has been a lot of Buzz and Hype that it is possible to make VoIP calls on the Apple iPhone and even the iTouch. Sadly though it appears that it is just nothing more than that….Buzz and Hype….At least making VoIP calls in an easy and practical manner on the apple devices seems to be a long way off.

Now I am sure it will eventually be possible to make successful VoIP call on the iPhone and the iTouch in a practical and user friendly manner , but it is my opinion that it is a long way off for this to happen….Who knows I could be wrong.

Look at this though:

The guys at touchmods.net have been busy readying a VoIP app for the iPod touch, and they have just released a video of the first successful call made using their software.

Here is somethin else very interesting

So we've known for just under a month that, despite not coming with a microphone bulit-in, the audio input pins on the iPod touch dock connector are active (via Engadget).

CREDIT: touchmods.blog.com

The discovery of the live audio pins immediately led to lots of speculation about using the device for VoIP. Although to be honest, having used many large screen "smart phones" over the years, the ergonomics are wrong. Without Bluetooth using the iPod touch as a phone will be pretty tiresome. But the general consensus seems to be, it looks like an iPhone, why shouldn't it be able to make calls?

Shortly after the discovery of the live audio input pins, the same people hacked a mic in a dock connector (via Engadget). Now all that was lacking was some VoIP software…

CREDIT: touchmods.blog.com

A couple of days ago reports surfaced that the SvSIP stack has now been ported (via TUAW) and is being tested and that it's been confirmed that registration and signalization is working.

CREDIT: touchmods.blog.com

The translation is that "it all just works". As far as I know nobody has made an actual voice call yet (accept for the guys in the video above), but all the right bits of software have already been written, and just need to be connected together. It's just a matter of time before that happens, and the fact that people are willing to go to this length to hack VoIP onto a device which out of the box fundamentally lacks even hardware support is telling.

Mobile phones have been commodity items, at least in the UK and Europe, for several years. What the drive for VoIP on the iPod touch is telling me is that the network providers, and the infrastructure they provide that sit behind the telephone calls you make, are starting to become exactly that. Infrastructure. The network of cell towers are just another commodity, and can be swapped out and replaced by a different infrastructure, in this case WiFi, without the user noticing much of a difference. The interesting stuff, the packet data level, sits on top, transparently.

This has been rubbed home to me by two things, the Skypephone which I've got on loan from Three, and the realisation that I haven't actually used my fixed line at home for several months now. It sits there, carries my ADSL connection, and as a consequence my phone calls which are now almost exclusively done over VoIP. But actual POTS calls? Not for a while…

Well untill there is a practical and LEGAL way to make VoIP calls on the iTouch and iPhone I am going to stick with what I know. Providing versatile and verbose business class VoIP solutions for local Tucson Businesses.