Steve Ballmer at 3GSM

Mobile Phone Running Windows Mobile Used to Make Internet Calls

[trillianjedi]

MICROSOFT has developed a Skype-style free internet voice service for mobile phones that City analysts believe could wipe billions off the market value of operators such as Vodafone.

Hmmmm.... ok. Which "City analysts"?

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer dropped his bombshell at the mobile operators’ annual 3GSM show in Barcelona last week. The significance of his remarks was missed because of his effusive and eccentric delivery.

Hehe, yeah he's good but I still prefer it when he throws chairs ;-)

He went on to demonstrate how a mobile phone running Windows Mobile can be used to make a free voice call over the internet. Ballmer told the audience: “That was a VoIP call.”

Add salt to taste:-

Operators such as Vodafone and O2 believe they will be able to fight off the threat from Microsoft’s entry into the mobile voice market.

Original article on Business Online [thebusinessonline.com]

[grandpa]

Well that's certainly something to look forward to.. I mean, throwing another chair. He's the best.

[Receptional]

Skype works perfectly well already on my PDA (XDA Exec), using Windows Mobile.

When I say perfectly well... The processing power needs to get a bit better (Or windows mobile needs to get less bloated) but it does work.

[donpps]

Its about time .. however I hesitate to make a call on anything remotely connected to MS .. I mean .. "sorry you have performed an illegal operation. Please restart your phone" in the middle of an important phone call is .. to put it mildly ... unacceptable..

Huum... I wonder what the guys at googleplex are conjuring up?

[thegreatpretender]

Well, my xda atom works like a regular phone with skype over wifi. I can call a relative in japan from here in hong kong for free, and it was like calling using a regular phone.

[Crush]

Actually Nokia unveiled one too. Everyone wants to be the first at this. All it means is that we will get a fixed montly rate for calling. I use skype all the time anyway and with offices in 6 countries it helps.

[ronin]

What would really capture my attention is a Skype-style service which enables calls to normal mobile phone numbers but at a significantly cheaper rate than mobile-to-mobile calls.

I bought an MDA a while back originally with the intention of making all my calls on Skype (or similar) but then found that all the VOIP-to-mobile rates were more expensive than the mobile-to-mobile rates I was paying on Virgin.

So I have a mobile phone which can do pretty much everything but I still can't make cheap voice calls on it whenever I want to whomever I want. (Which is, I find, the biggest problem with mobile phones).

[SlyOldDog]

Ronin - surprise surprise. Can you think of a good reason the mobile operators are going to give away cheap interconnect to Skype?

Someone has to pay for the mobile infrastructure, or it will disappear and we'll have to drive around looking for a wifi spot.

[NazaretH]

"Someone has to pay for the mobile infrastructure, or it will disappear and we'll have to drive around looking for a wifi spot."

This is going to happen anyway and I think mobile operators would just charge for internet conenction like GPRS/3G/4G and forget about plain call charges. Cheaper calls - inevitable. Lower revenues for vodafone and alikes...hm, these guys always find a way to make money.

Call it GSM call, or VoIP over WCDMA, or else... you would still pay about same money, but for more bells and whistles (video calls, fast internet, email, music streaming, tv reception, etc).

[walkman]

good move. Once wireless internet is available in most areas, why would one need to pay Verizon, Vodafone and so on? You would either connect via free Wi-Fi or pay only for the internet connection...

[4crests]

I have had several VOIP companies contact me in the past couple weeks trying to buy a domain I own. Not sure why they want it. But, it's really making me angry, because they won't give me a price. They just keep asking me what I want for it and I keep asking what they will pay.

I'm acquiring a disdain for these voip people.

I'd like to play around with the Nokia 6136 hybrid GSM-WLAN phone. Sounds fun.

[walkman]

>> They just keep asking me what I want for it and I keep asking what they will pay.

don't worry too much, Make sure you pay the yearly fee, and put it on registrar lock :). The value will only go up

[4crests]

walkman, I'm kind of domain-dumb. I have my domains hosted with godaddy. on the managment screen it says:

"Status: Active (LOCKED)"

I didn't set it, it's just there automatically. Does this mean it's on "Registrar Lock" ?

[xalex]

"4crests" Yes. That means its locked. If its unlocked any one can initiate a transfer.