[N8 v2.0]

Kinda nifty....


Vonage V-Phone: Future of VOIP?
Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:00AM EDT

It's almost that time again. The kids are going back to school, and although most kids have cell phones these days, Vonage V-Phone offers a cheaper alternative.

This doesn't look like any phone you've seen before, because the V-Phone is a portable 256MB USB flash drive pre-loaded with Vonage Talk software, and includes a pair of headphones with a built-in microphone so users can make calls from any computer without installing software.

Vonage offers two plans: Unlimited calling for $25 per month and $15 per month for a 500-minute plan. As with other VOIP phones, with the V-Phone you don't have to install software on every machine you plan to use. Unfortunately, you must be plugged into a computer to use it, but it's possible to forward calls to your cellphone if you want to receive incoming calls.

The USB drive will cost you $40 aside from your monthly plan.

 

[jonKranked]

it's possible to forward calls to your cellphone if you want to receive incoming calls.

so you'd have to pay for the vonage service as well as cell phone service?

 

[chicodude]

Oh jebus, Did you really have to move this?

 

[binary visions]

so you'd have to pay for the vonage service as well as cell phone service?

Why not? Vonage works as a home phone, then you have your cell phone for all portable uses.

You can, in real time, set up Vonage to forward all calls from your home number to your cell phone number.

 

[Tenchiro]

They have cell phones (in europe & asia) that will bounce between 3G & WiFi when it is available. That way you only have one account and one device. America (as is usual) is way behind the rest of the world in this respect.

 

[chuffer]

skype has free calls to land lines and mobile phones in n. america for the rest of year.

www.skype.com

 

[jimmydean]

They have cell phones (in europe & asia) that will bounce between 3G & WiFi when it is available. That way you only have one account and one device. America (as is usual) is way behind the rest of the world in this respect.

Intel helped develop this and a lot of Intel employees have phones that do it. Some of the buildings at Jones Farm are isolated for testing, but you can use the campus wide WiFi instead.

There is a little lag when switching and you might lose the call, but for the most part, it's cool.

As for the Vonage softphone, I think there is an additional charge to use that service on top of your monthly service (unless they changed that). Vonage has been great for me, but the softphone requires Windows