Truphone demos VoIP for iPhone

Are you ready to have your brain go flying out of the back of your skull? If you said yes, be prepared to lose your mind... repeatedly. One of the Holy Grails / Seven Wonders of the iPhone World has been loosed upon the Earth today, namely: VoIP. According to a company called Truphone, they have unlocked the secret of IP telephony on the iPhone, and demonstrated said ability today at DEMOfall 07 in San Diego. Executing commands via the Terminal (i.e., on a phone which had been jailbroken), Truphone CEO James Tagg was able to call another mobile phone using only an IP connection -- all without breaking the SIM lock. According to the company, the software is still in beta, but they soon plan to have a version which will simplify activation, and allow seamless switching between WiFi and SIM use. Clearly, an exciting development for iPhone users, but a cringe-inducing situation for AT&T. Check the video after the break to see it all in action.

[Brad @ Sep 26th 2007 5:43PM]

Its funny, WinMO phones can run Skype no problem and the carriers have never tried to stop it. Do you really think they'll care? I mean, on the surface perhaps, but care enough to do anything about it? I doubt it.

[alek @ Sep 26th 2007 7:07PM]

yes, many do try to stop it.

[Mike Klein @ Sep 26th 2007 7:06PM]

Not true...carriers do flag Skype via cellular as violation of your terms of service.

Only wifi allows unlimited web access...cellular is quite restricted (except for sprint).

[MasterCKO @ Sep 26th 2007 8:50PM]

yay, Sprint!

[Brad @ Sep 26th 2007 8:59PM]

I didn't know that actually. I only use / develop on Sprint because unlimited data means UNLIMITED DATA.

Although given the speeds of the iPhone's laughable EDGE connection I can't imagine anyone using it's cellular connection for Skype.

[ethana2 @ Sep 29th 2007 3:26AM]

Then use VoIP that's more flexible, like Ekiga. I'm trying to switch from Skype to Ekiga currently. Bit buggy though, as of yet :(

[blade417 @ Sep 26th 2007 5:43PM]

sweet!


now if I could only get rid of this helio....

[gjp303 @ Sep 26th 2007 5:55PM]

Damn, the iPhone gets all the cool stuff. What are the other 5% of people who don't have one like you and me do.

[Frank @ Sep 26th 2007 5:44PM]

Great!! AT&T will likely have an answer to this, but at least its a step in the right direction. WiMax phones for everyone!

[selimbaygin @ Sep 26th 2007 5:44PM]

So the MobilePhone.app has "plugins", maybe? and they have been able to re-direct the voice to the WiFi interface?

[Nate @ Sep 26th 2007 5:48PM]

So, it worked today... what are the odds it will work after the up and coming firmware update?

[Macinjosh @ Sep 26th 2007 5:48PM]

Honestly, what does it matter now. Apple is clearly gonna break these hacks with each software update.

If I were these developers, I'd concentrate on a platform that actually welcomes these applications & doesnt treat you like a criminal.

[Brad @ Sep 26th 2007 6:37PM]

Oh, you mean like all the other ones? Symbian, WinMobile, and Palm?

[dj-kenpo @ Sep 26th 2007 8:43PM]

so then don't update.
you can run zonealram or other software on windows/mac to stop itunes from even updating itself.

they can only brick your phone if you let them.

[beefy6969 @ Sep 26th 2007 5:49PM]

omg, i think i just creamed my shorts =)

[Jesus Christ @ Sep 26th 2007 5:51PM]

I'm sure this will be blocked within a week with an Apple update. Then the day after that update it will be hacked again.

[dv @ Sep 26th 2007 7:10PM]

so don't update!

[MEAT! @ Sep 26th 2007 5:52PM]

Does iTunes require users to update their iPhones? What's the big fuss about Apple stopping it? Can't you just not update and continue to use your phone with the hacks you want?

[beefy6969 @ Sep 26th 2007 5:53PM]

iphones are gonna sell like hotcakes now...no more wasting my precious minutes (barebones AT&T Package).

[stillen @ Sep 26th 2007 5:55PM]

Now if only the iPod Touch had a microphone on it...anyone catch my drift?

[adambadam @ Sep 26th 2007 6:00PM]

OK VOIP n00b question here --

I've never used any VOIP services...Do you need a voip service provider to make calls? Or do you simply need (in theory) this application and a wifi connection, therefor not counting as an AT&T call and you don't get charged?

[FRiC @ Sep 26th 2007 8:39PM]

You need a voip provider, which Truphone is. The current Truphone service on Nokia phones uses standard SIP protocol, but hides the password so you are forced to only use their service on Nokia phones and to install their "presence" client.

[Firebird @ Sep 26th 2007 6:04PM]

I don't think carriers give a damn about voip. I mean sure, with voip you could get away with a barebones contract, but firstly the vast majority of people are going to care enough to use voip, and secondly you'd kinda have to break contract to downgrade any time in the next two years to even take advantage of these wonderful 'savings'. And it isn't like voip is free to 'real' phones anyway. And who wants to wander around trying to find an open hotspot just to make a cheap call?

[Wwhat @ Sep 26th 2007 6:14PM]

Here's a thought: instead of desperately hacking an iphone why not simply buy a working phone?
And does the 'image' of having an iphone even work after you have the thing hacked and full of buggy tricks to enable basic functionality?

[kazzaf @ Sep 26th 2007 6:19PM]

well it would be awesome to use when overseas

[smack @ Sep 26th 2007 6:33PM]

You are right Meat! you don't HAVE to update your iphone but if you want to put songs, video or pictures on it you will have to connect to itunes and at that point it will direct you to upgrade. If you never want to load your iphone again with media then can play with the hacks all you want..

when is someone going to write software that allows you to manage your music and video library sans itunes??

[Brad @ Sep 26th 2007 7:46PM]

They broke that "feature" with this generation (iPod Touch, Classic, etc) as well. All files must be digitally signed by iTunes, and the brute-force signing crack that's available isn't perfect, and still doesn't work on many types of files, nor does it exist in a usable tool yet.

[Matthew @ Sep 26th 2007 10:01PM]

Maybe use little snitch- Block itunes network access when the iphone's plugged in. That way it might not realize theres an upgrade.

[tits @ Sep 26th 2007 11:33PM]

OMG that's awful! hahaha! only Itunes... you cant just get your mp3 from your mp3 folder???

[Fraunhofer Plug @ Sep 27th 2007 1:16PM]

That is until Apple fixes the m3u playlist issue in MobileSafari. Then expect a PHP solution where you can simply drag and drop from your desktop to a samba folder shortcut.

Any media you can play in MobileSafari, including high-res images, docs, and pdfs could be manipulated by an elegant web-app hosted on the iPhone itself.

[Joseph Souffrant @ Sep 26th 2007 6:53PM]

Actually, if you dont update your phone, you can still connect to itunes and sync your phone along with all the other current features. You just wont be able to get the new features that the update contains.

[Herbert Neal @ Sep 26th 2007 7:14PM]

iBored

[Jon @ Sep 26th 2007 8:53PM]

Then why did you iPost? Some people are actually interested in this.

[Herbert Neal @ Sep 27th 2007 1:13AM]

iDon't know.

[SteveB @ Sep 26th 2007 7:20PM]

VoIP over WiFi needs special power management implementations! Port a softphone application to iPhone does not mean you get a real voice over WiFi phone!

[Sclath @ Sep 26th 2007 7:24PM]

I speculated this hack would happen. It only makes sense that if you can browse the web you can probably take advantage of nearly any webapp.

I think this goes in the 'neato' category. Cool, you can do it, but would you? You have to have a WiFi connection to make or receive calls. That's fine if you are sitting in one place connected all day, not quite so cool if you have to find a hot spot while driving around town.

[jbodar @ Sep 26th 2007 8:12PM]

Did you not read the "allow seamless switching between WiFi and SIM use" part? Therefore you could make WiFi calls on-demand, like say when you're at home, and save minutes. That's clutch if you're one of those people who burn through minutes. There are people - myself included - who don't bother to pay for a landline, though I've only gone over my cell minutes once.

I say, if it saves you even 1-2 months of overage charges, it's worthwhile.

[Sclath @ Sep 27th 2007 9:04AM]

Nope, I missed that part to be honest. Thanks

[shay @ Nov 20th 2007 4:39PM]

You people that bitch about having to sit in a hot spot all day are foolish. The point is that many of us spend copious amounts of time on the phone at school, work, home, etc which ALWAYS eats into your rate plan. I don't know about you guys, but I've got wifi in all the above locations where I spend most of my time. Just cause I don't sit in a starbucks all day which is where most people think a "hot spot" are, doesn't mean this breakthrough isn't leaps and bounds beyond any wireless communication at this time. They are just now starting to come out with DEDICATED wifi phone such as Linksys's iphone. These are single use devices that cost $150 at the cheapest! Try telling me again the iphone is an overpriced "toy" when it can accomplish much more than the avg phone. Just wait to see what the future holds.

[Ben van Leeuwaarde @ Sep 26th 2007 8:41PM]

well but there is always www.jajah.com

[Theresa @ Sep 26th 2007 8:47PM]

What's new about this? I've been using IM+ on my iPhone for weeks now. Open Safari--go to s4iphone.com--type in Skype name--sorted.

[Addy Osmani @ Sep 26th 2007 8:59PM]

Although I highly commend any efforts to further the development on the iPhone, I can't help but feel a little bit sorry for all those that put down a large amount of money for this phone.

Say what you like about it, but WinMo never had any of these problems - you're free to place whatever applications you like on them right out of the box, NES, SNES, Megadrive emulators are all plentiful and considering we are just talking about limited VoIP use over WiFi, Skype takes care of that just dandy.

I guess being "cool" with the iPhone comes at a price. I just hope Apple don't hamper efforts to bring the cripple factor of an otherwise great product down.

[Macinjosh @ Sep 26th 2007 9:32PM]

All you guys screaming "well then just dont update your iPhone & they cant kill it" are really grasping for straws, IMO. Sometimes, you may HAVE to restore your iPhone at times & iTunes always gives you the latest version, so you will be screwed. So, thats no kind of answer guys.

And yes, I know there are ways around that too. The point is, there are always ways around something, but this is far too much trouble to go through to just load some 3rd party apps on a phone. Especially when all the other smartphone platforms let you do whatever you want with YOUR equipment.

iPhone is good, but it aint THAT good. Some of you guys act like its the second coming of Christ. I guess to justify the price you paid & to ease the pain of getting gang fu*ked by Apple/AT&T.

[Sergio @ Sep 27th 2007 12:12AM]

FYI
You can save the current firmware version on your computer, and next time when you need to restore click shift + restore and you'be given a chance to point to this file.
and that's it

[ComingSoon @ Sep 26th 2007 10:58PM]

Can anyone explain to me why this development is different or significant compared to the Skype for iPhone beta at http://s4iphone.com/index_iphone.jsp which I assume lets you log into skype and make calls from Safari on your iPhone (I don't own an iPhone, yet...).

thanks

[Jeff @ Sep 26th 2007 11:24PM]

VoIP on the iPhone is different from current skype on iphone because the call is actually placed directly from the iPhone via VoWLAN. Try roaming internationally and using the skype on iphone... you pay for the data charges and then for the international roaming call. Might as well place the call directly via cellular.

This is a major achievement for the iPhone and it is fun to watch everyone else introduce all these cool apps while Apple sits around saying future firmware versions might break everything. I for one do not intend to upgrade my firmware (and you have that choice - iTunes doesn't just slam it onto the phone) unless Apple has a lot of more compelling apps to offer vs. what I can get from the hacker community now.

[ComingSoon @ Sep 26th 2007 11:57PM]

thanks for the explanation... ive just been playing around more with skype and realised I can open a skype account in the UK and get a skype to go number (local in the UK) which connects to my cellphone number in Canada (i get charged skype out rates in canada) and so all my friends and family can call me locally and I get the call through on my iPhone!!

I understand the difference with true VoIP however...

I agree with the firmware updates... Apple has even conceded they are not intentionally going to attempt to relock phones... they are just warning it might happen. as they are obviously not intentionally investigating the unlock process to find a solution to prevent this, any changes to the iPhone will be easily overcome by the hacking community as any chages will probably be minimal.

I'm going to get mine this weekend on a trip to Portland, and unlock it for use with Fido in Canada!

[Stevo @ Sep 27th 2007 3:59AM]

Hope everyone hasn't forgotten that Cisco/Linksys also have a VoIP iPhone....


http://www.linksys.com/iphone/
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/24/the-iphone-reviewed-no-the-other-iphone/

[Lineman @ Sep 27th 2007 8:06AM]

Well as a sprint employee (currently reading from work) yes, sprint is Unlimited. it works great, depending on software vers, device, and location. Seriously though folks - the only thing that I thought was cool about the iphone (after trying to type a text on it's screen that resembled chinese when done) was that it's now been hacked. This phone, other than looking beautiful - more like a work of art than a phone.

Everyone please unlock your iphone, and use Tmobile. YAY!

[rey @ Sep 27th 2007 1:00PM]

Could this work with T-Mo HotSpot at Home?