A company I’m calling iCraw just announced a VoIP system for the iPhone that allows you to hop onto a VoIP network mid-call whenever you hit an open hotspot. It also offers free calls to the U.S. and Canada. It should be available on the Apple iPhone App store next week. Since I really enjoy T-Mobile’s Hotspot@Home UMA offerings, this sounds like a great way to save some money and get even better call quality on a non-T-Mobile phone. Here’s the feature list:
* Make and receive calls over WiFi
* Transfer inbound calls from your regular cell minutes to WiFi instantly
* Access your same address book
* Customize your voicemail options
Why is it now iCraw? Maybe if the founders could figure out mail-merge in their email application…
Uhuu… i need a iPhone!!
And about flash on iPhone.. thats important to me!!!
So they love Engadget.. maybe you like Engadget too!!
Wow this is great. Now a days lot of comapnies started giving services free. Lot of pressure for VOIP companies now. I came accross this job site http://www.leapways.com. It offers free job posting and resume search while others are charging 100’s of dollars. Its going to be a consumer world ahead!!
Rob
This is utterly impressive!
Does anyone know of any mobile operator perspectives on iCall?
i.e. are they blocking it? making it part of a mobile data package (as with 3UK and Skype on their x-series packages)? etc.
Thx
Umh, VoIP is actually not allowed by Apples terms of condition for iPhone Apps distributed through the App Store, so this won’t be available there.
But this won’t stop the developer from delivering this app through Installer.app for jailbreaked iPhone users I guess, which is a good thing.
Voip is ok with apple but it must be used over wifi it’s AT&T not apple tht doesn’t want u to use voip cause they lose money
(and Robert, please spare us the blatant SEO/External link spam comment)
Will AT&T be ok with this?
@3 Robert – I couldn’t agree more…I think the more and more our generation gains control on the industry, the more you are going to see considerable and REAL consumer-focused business.
I cannot remember where I read yesterday, but someone out there (if you have a link to the article please post it) had a great blog about how music/dvd’s online are barely beating their brick and mortar counterparts in pricing – when they have close to 75% less overhead.
The next gen consumer, and next gen companies are going to have to learn to pass those savings onto the consumer…or at least more so than they are right now.
This is awesome! I used fring for awhile before I un-jailbroke my iPhone, but it was pretty unstable and the call quality was horrible. This looks a lot more integrated and not having to jailbreak my phone would be awesome. We’ll see if Apple/AT&T actually let it happen.
How does this work? I mean, if I’m calling an iPhone user, how do I get the call setup true voip instead of GSM, without changing anything? I’m puzzled…
what about network providers – they would go for kill as well?
I’m not sure what the terms of use will be, but this does sound fishy. We’ll have to see next week when it goes live.
what about Apple embedded this to iPhone ?
Hi John,
I apologize for the copy and paste hack job.. I meant to say “we love techcrunch” because we do and are avid readers.
Apple did not disallow VoIP… they have said “no voip over edge networks”
In any case, thanks for the post, and I really really really do love TECH CRUNCH… reading your articles along with my morning coffee and donut are what make life worth living
-Arlo
Not only is this prohibited by Apple, the SDK doesn’t even have the capability to transfer a call like that.
They will be “looking for funding” indefinitely.
or rather… it’s prohibited if you have to use undocumented API’s to pull it off…
Guys, how about http://www.sipgate.com?
This is pretty cool…
Cool! I have had pretty good service with TM’s UMA service (especially with no TM service at my home, so that vast majority of my calls have been unlimited for the last 8 months) but I bought an iPhone (sucker!) and have good ATT coverage at home. Using the hotspot VOIP service is always a welcome feature.
Just curious, why is “‘free’” in quotes above? Am I missing a catch anywhere or is this John’s belief there really is no free lunch in life? Not that I’d disagree after dropping $400 on the phone and another $90/mo for service. Just wondering if iCall has a fee I’m missing. Also, is that name really trademarked? Has Apple gotten wind of it? When I saw the original post I thought it was integrated to iCal (and got much more excited).
When does the App store officially open?
@Andy, according to John Biggs, next week (see 12). I think he is wrong about this and the AppStore won’t be live until the very end of the month. But, time will tell.
Well…this is pretty DAME strange
It seems that if you want a number for people to be able to call you, you have to get the Pro version and pay about $5/month to iCall.
Still lower than Skype-In for which is about 5 Euro/Month.
I wonder if it is SIP based.
“iCraw”? I don’t get the joke. Please explain…
The problem is that stupid a$$ kids are using this service to crank call people. I received 30 prank/hang-up calls to my cell before I did a google search and discovered the number was an iCall number. I’m not the only one either (http://800notes...-646-465-7602/7). I had to use http://www.icall.com/dnc.php to get the calls to stop. It’s always the ignorant a$$ stupid people that ruin technology for the rest of us.
This doesn’t make sense on how they can do this. Everything I have found on the net says that it is UMA, but from what I have read about UMA, you need the help of the Mobile Provider. I doubt that ATT is helping them.
Does anyone know how this is working? I would love to know. Drop me a mail please.
Thanks
I am assuming this is xferring ONLY YOUR PHONE CALLS THAT ARE INBOUND to your iCall PRO number. Meaning, that it can in no way intercept a call from someone to you over a landline or cell-to-cell system TO YOUR CELL PROVIDER’S # and route it over VOIP. This would SO be a security concern if they COULD , much less DID attempt it. It is both illegal and almost (for cell to cell calls) impossible.
What it CAN do (within the SDK parameters) is allow you to do the following:
Just like Grand Central, you go to iCall’s site and get an iCall Pro account — that also has an incoming number (this is standard with iCall Pro).
Then, using their web interface, forward any calls to your iCall PRO number to the (in the US) AT&T cell # on your iPhone. The friend then calls the iCall # — NOT THE AT&T CELL NUMBER.
The call automatically gets xferred to the cell service if you are not at a hotspot.
Your iPhone rings and you answer what is a call that actually came into their pool of numbers…not AT&T’s.
When you go somewhere that you have wifi, the iCall client then senses a wifi connection and offers to continue the call using VOIP. This, they CAN do cos the caller called the iCall Pro incoming phone number to begin with, so iCall puts the caller on hold for a microsecond, disconnects from the AT&T network and connects it to the VOIP over WIFI network back to the iCall app on your iPhone–thus the cell-minute charge stops.
Neither you nor the caller SHOULD hear a thing — other than minor clicks or garble for a microsecond.
That is the only thing they can do. They CANNOT intercept a call that you placed using the AT&T network seamlessly. They CAN offer to redial the user on the other end of the call on iCall’s VOIP WIFI network, but the user on the other end must have either call-waiting or must hang up. That is why the menu says “iCall has detected an INBOUND call in process…”. It is simply that they know cos the caller called their pool of #’s.
Simple, really.
What I am NOT sure of is whether Apple’s SDK allows them to terminate a voice over cell call — or whether Apple’s T&C’s cover this. Not a biggie…but I would be surprised if they allow apps to do this.
Is there going to be a voicemail app to go along with it
Thank you Jann for your thought out comment. I was racking my brain trying to figure out how it would be possible for them to “intercept” the call from AT&T and the only plausible answer I’ve found thus far is the one from you. Kudos!
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