Skype Challenge
Skype Challenge February 22nd, 2007Nicholas WolfgangI recently got the Belkin skype wifi phone. This thing can send and receive Skype calls and do SkypeIn and SkypeOut. I looked at the plans and its roughly $70 for unlimited calls in and calls out to a landline phone for a year. $70 a year for unlimited for a year that’s Fantastic! Cell providers charge $70 a month for like 1500 minutes or something like that. What I plan to see is if I can replace my cellphone with the Skype phone. The phone is first generation so it will have some limitations and SkypeIn is in beta. I will be looking at the idea behind this and not the actual technology. If all goes well with this test then I could safely say that this is the future, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

First off, the Belkin wifi phone, I could have used the Netgear phone but both work for what I want to do. The Belkin phone feels and looks like a regular cellphone. It doesn’t have a camera and has a very simple button layout. It’s charged through a standardUSB mini-B plug and the screen is bright and easy to read. I can see no problems with this device physically.
As a background SkypeOut is a service that you pay $30 a year and it provides you unlimited calling to any landline phone in the US or Canada. SkypeIn is a server that you pay $40 a year for a phone number and unlimited calls in. SkypeIn allows people to pick up their cellphone or house phone and call your Skype Phone.
Btw here is the link to the phone: Amazon.com
Tonight I will start using it and lets see were the tests go.

February 22nd, 2007 at 11:09 am
When I came to Philly, it was pretty impressive for me to use my SkypeOut account on that phone to call my grandparents. The only issue that I saw with that device was the battery life. But one benefit that I definitely saw was the ability to scan for wifi access points without having to boot up a laptop or even a PDA. In a city like Philadelphia (and now Pittsburgh), where there are free wifi initiatives, it makes a certain amount of sense to have one of these; particularly if you’re in free wifi coverage zones. With more malls (particularly Robinson Mall in Pittsburgh) now offering free wifi to their patrons, it becomes even more valuable.
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