Mobile calls on the net coming
By David Frith

CHEAPER mobile phone calls seem to be on the way.

Last week at the CeBIT show in Sydney, NetGear and D-Link showed off soon-to-be-released WiFi mobile phones that use the internet, rather than costly conventional mobile networks.
Australian outfit Integrated Wireless has a gadget that will let you place free or low-cost calls over the Skype internet telephony service on conventional mobile handsets.

NetGear says its Skype WiFi phone will work anywhere a user has access to a WiFi wireless network.

That includes home, office or public hotspots, so long as browser-based authentication is not required.

This phone will come loaded with Skype software and users will be able to talk free of charge to any other Skype user, or pay just a few cents a minute to connect with non-Skype users, anywhere in the world.

You can download free Skype software, plug a headset into a PC or Mac, register an account and begin making calls, so long as you remain anchored to your PC.

A WiFi phone such as this lets you roam free, at least when in range of a wireless access point or hotspot.

WiFi phones, however, can't yet double up as conventional mobile handsets, so you will need to keep your conventional mobile for when you're out of hotspot range.

NetGear's Skype WiFi phone will go on sale in Australia early next month for $449.

Telstra, Optus or Vodafone shops won't be selling this threat to their hefty mobile incomes, but it will be on sale at retail chains such as Harvey Norman or over the internet.

Rival company D-Link claims its flip-style WiFi handset should be on sale here in July, although the price for it has not been announced.

The natty little clamshell will have a colour LCD display, a keypad with backlight, speed dialling and redial buttons, multiple ringtones and email access.

According to D-Link, the phone will come loaded with a "softphone from a soon-to-be-announced provider of SIP (session initiation protocol) internet telephony services".

SIP is a standard commonly used for internet telephony, although not by Skype.

WiFi phones are likely to have their problems because access to some public hotspots can be costly.

Casual access to the Telstra and Optus networks, for instance, is about $14 an hour.

But there are many free hotspots and the range of most is about 30m, so you can't wander from one to the next without your call dropping out.

If the technology becomes really popular, access points are likely to become overloaded.

So, for the time being, you'll need to carry a normal mobile phone as well as a WiFi handset.

Network equipment maker, Linksys, which is a subsidiary of Cisco began a joint project with Motorola last year to develop a hybrid handset that would have allowed users to switch easily between WiFi and normal mobile networks.

But last month the two companies suspended the project, the trade whisper being that it had run into heavy resistance from the big mobile-phone carriers.

The hybrid phone was probably ahead of its time, but the concept could re-emerge in a year or so if WiFi phones take off.

Meanwhile, if you don't want to spring for a NetGear or D-Link WiFi handset, Australia's Integrated Wireless has an alternative.

Although not a WiFi system, the IPDrum Mobile Skype Cable will let you make Skype calls from any Nokia or Sony Ericsson mobile, the company claims.

The IPDrum cable is a physical connection that links your mobile to the USB and sound ports of a Skype-enabled PC, so you remain anchored to your computer. The cable costs $129 and can be ordered direct from www.ipdrum.com.au

SPEAKING of WiFi, the hottest new gadget from the US is said to be a WiFi umbrella.

Dubbed Forecast and designed by Materious Design of Chicago, this well-connected brolly is expected to hit the market soon.

A WiFi chip in the handle receives regular weather updates and the handle glows with blue light when it's likely to rain. The more likely it is to rain, the stronger the pulsing light.

If the handle isn't glowing at all, you're safe to go out and leave the brolly at home.

Ah, technology, how could we live without it?