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Turning an iPod Touch Into an iPhone

Posted by kdawson on Tue Feb 10, 2009 04:54 PM
from the at&t-not-best-pleased dept.
Wireless (Apple) Cellphones Hardware
David Burnett recommends an eWeek article on the leading contenders to make an iPhone out of an iPod Touch. Of course your newly phone-capable iTouch needs no activation and no binding carrier contract, just Wi-Fi. One of the companies working in this space, JaJah, is bundling the software with back-end services such as billing, so that carriers — or anyone really — can offer free-calling iTouch phones.
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Submission: From iTouch to iPhone with a Download by Anonymous Coward
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  • "Just needs wifi" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nurb432 (527695) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @04:57PM (#26804517) Homepage Journal

    Ya thats nice, but haven't you noticed that open/free wifi is starting to become more and more scarce? If you cant just whip it out at anytime and make a call, its rather limited in its usefulness.

    It would be worse then it was when having a cell phone back in the old days when coverage was spotty at best and you were paying for that privilege.

    • Re:"Just needs wifi" (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 10 2009, @04:59PM (#26804555)

      Oh I can just whip it out anywhere I feel like it.

      I'll whip it good.

      *ahem* Now its time to read TFA, to find out what the hell you're talking about.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by defenestr8 (1002010)
      that's interesting, considering that 1) free wifi seems to be more and more prevalent where i live; and 2) no, it wouldn't really be "worse" since you wouldn't be paying for it. other than that, spot on.

      • Not here, its becoming less and less common every time i scan.

        • I can confirm this in my area (Fargo, ND), too. It seems the average user has learned how to turn WPA on. On the flip-side, I've noticed more and more restaurants offering free wifi.

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by Tony Hoyle (11698) *

            Even paid wifi is becoming scarce here... with 3G being so prevalent and laptops being offered cheap/free with 3G dongles the use of wifi is dropping.. there's no money in running a hotspot any more. Both starbucks have shut down their Wifi and the only one left is Costa Coffee at £5/hour.

            • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

              by aaarrrgggh (9205)

              Paid wifi is dying because they charge too damn much for it! I bought an unlocked $250 3G dongle because it would pay for itself on a two week trip.

              The traditional telco model of paying off your infrastructure after 6 months of service and making pure profit until the end of days is why high speed internet is such a mess in the first place. These paid providers need to switch to a pricing model where they keep closer to a 30% margin over operating costs or they will become completely irrelevant.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by MrCrassic (994046)
        It's not even about that. This "hack" essentially gives you VoIP service, while also:

        A) Making it easier for someone to listen in on your call,
        B) Kill the battery life and
        C) Not make it into a reliable phone.

        If you can't dial 911 in a jiffy in an area that cell phones can cover just as well, then it's useless for emergency situations. Then again, I don't think that this was what the article was attempting to advocate.

    • Re:"Just needs wifi" (Score:5, Funny)

      by the_humeister (922869) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:23PM (#26804971)

      They should do this with the Zune, because not only can you whip it out, you can squirt other people too!

    • Re:"Just needs wifi" (Score:5, Insightful)

      by vitaflo (20507) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:38PM (#26805171) Homepage

      Really depends on what your definition of "limited". Of course you're not going to be able to use it everywhere, but if you want that, that's what cell phones are for.

      Not everyone wants (or needs) to be available to take a call all the time. The main times I want to be around a phone is at work (where there's wifi) and at home (where they're also wifi). Anywhere else that happens to have free wifi (like my local coffee shop) is a bonus. For me this would allow me to use the phone 90% of the time where I am normally. That would be enough for me and I wouldn't find it limiting at all.

    • It wouldn't be as convenient as a an iPhone, but it would me much more convenient than finding a pay phone (remember those?) and much cheaper than the convenience of a cell phone.

      It wouldn't be worse than an "old days" cellphone with limited coverage because you wouldn't be paying for the (false) perception of convenience. You could, conceivably, get the same shitty service for free.

      • Re:Scarce wifi? Not really. (Score:4, Interesting)

        by commodore64_love (1445365) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:48PM (#26805321)

        Yeah right. Try finding a McDonalds between Harrisburg and circa Uniontown PA, along the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76). Out in the mountains it's hard to get just a "normal" cellphone signal, much less Wifi. I think some of ye who make comments like "a McDonalds every 1/2 mile" never leave further than 25 miles from the city. Try driving across North America sometime and you'll see LOTS and LOTS of open space, with, shocking, no technology. I named the PA Turnpike. There's also the wide-open stretch between Richmond and Charlotte. Or the isolated Interstate 81 corridor... which could be nicknamed Redneck Alley.

        Off-topic:

        How do I get my Iphone, Ilaptop, Iwhatever to receive Shoutcast radio while I'm driving in my car? I was thinking maybe I could cancel my satellite Sirius-XM and just go with "free" internet radio.

          • Re:Scarce wifi? Not really. (Score:4, Informative)

            by MaggieL (10193) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @07:48PM (#26806855)

            No, King of Prussia is named for the bar that the town grew up around. The bar was named for Fredrick the Great (aka "Frederick the Queer"), some say in the hope of attracting the business of Prussian mercenaries encamped at nearby Valley Forge.

            The Turnpike comes though here too...

  • Add WiMax or cell-wifi bridge (Score:4, Insightful)

    by weston (16146) <westonsd@cann3.1 ... ral.org minus pi> on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:06PM (#26804677) Homepage

    I'll give 'em credit for following the idea of using a WiFi mobile device with VoIP, but that's really not particularly revolutionary. What's needed next is WiMax or a small portable cell-WiFi bridge. If the bandwidth's high enough (EVDO rev a is almost there), then you have affordable unlimited talk and data...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Barny (103770)

      We have them available in aus, a wireless router with a 3g (using telstras NextG) modem built in, just add power and you have your own portable hot-spot anywhere*.

      *being limited by telstras NextG network of course, which, without a good aerial on the sucker, will be rather limiting.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by batkiwi (137781)

        They have them for any ISP. Linksys WRT54G3G will work with almost any PCMCIA based 3g modem (works with all providers in AU, theyupdate often).

        There's ones by netcomm that work with any USB 3g dongle as well.

  • Something is missing... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mouse_8b (854310) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:07PM (#26804687)
    I looked all over my iPod Touch and didn't see a speaker or microphone. No bluetooth either (well, sort of). So you can make a call, but you can't talk to anyone? Am I missing something?

  • Open high speed wireless networks (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nine-times (778537) <nine.times@gmail.com> on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:11PM (#26804767) Homepage

    This is why I really hope we get some actually *open* wireless Internet built as a result of the analog TV spectrum being reallocated. I was very disappointed that the government didn't adopt the openness rules recommended by Google in the auction.

    Imagine how great it would be to not be beholden to cell carriers, but to be able to buy any kind of Internet device you want, and use it as a phone if you want. It would open up competition between hardware manufacturers and service providers. Competition is good.

  • The new ipod touch has bluetooth and apparently line in capability, so this is feasible. But is this going to back a hacked solution, or is the application going to be on the App store. Since it will not work over the cell network, I can see that it might be.

    Even so it this a reasonable solution. The iPod touch is a $200 gadget. One has to assume that some use outside of the spec are going to be used. For instance, if Apple is not saying it can support a microphone, then one assumes that feature cann

    • Re:interesting concept but (Score:5, Insightful)

      by nuttycom (1016165) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:23PM (#26804977)

      There's one application where VOIP is significantly preferable to the standard cellular network: international calling. I can use a VOIP app to talk to my cousins in Australia for free; being able to walk around my house or sit at the local coffeeshop while doing so would be nice.

      This isn't about style; it's about adding functionality to a nice little piece of hardware. My cell phone's practically an antique at this point, but I have no need to upgrade it because I don't talk on the phone much. My iPod is a great PDA; adding VOIP capability would just be icing on the cake.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Sechr Nibw (1278786)
      The new iPod Touch has bluetooth? Since when? Not according to the Apple Store: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_touch?mco=MTIxMTE [apple.com] AFAIK, the new features were a physical volume control, microphone, speaker, and new case design.

  • Watch Apple crush this (Score:4, Informative)

    by Goodgerster (904325) <goodgerster AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:17PM (#26804863)
    "What? It competes with our own services!? Delete it from the Store! Then bring me the developers' ashes on a plate with a glass of red wine..."

  • As a 2gen itouch owner... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TinBromide (921574) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:18PM (#26804887)
    I love the itouch for being all the good parts of the iphone minus the badparts (the crappy phone quality coupled with a crappy network and contract, [never met any serious phone users who praise the iphone's phone quality, uptime, and availability]). Why turn a really cool internet appliance into a kludge-phone?

    I love my ipod touch for cooking, I bring up the browser, look at a recipe, and its right there next to the stove. I love my ipod touch for games when i'm bored on the go. I love my ipod touch for movies on the go. I love my ipod touch for being 99.95% as useful as an iphone near a free wifi hotspot.

    I also love that it can do all of the above without drawing one nano-watt from my real phone's battery.

    PS. the ipod touch does not have a built in microphone or ear speaker, why kludge a microphone attachment onto a beautiful internet appliance/ebook reader/gaming device/portable movie device?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Chabo (880571)

      Have fun when your frying pan spits grease onto your touch screen... ;)

      • screen covers, its nigh impossible to get an itouch without a touch screen, the raw glass is really high friction, doesn't slide well at all.

  • Mic? (Score:3, Funny)

    by ahoehn (301327) <andrew@@@edgefactor...com> on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:28PM (#26805049) Homepage

    I was fairly confused, even after i RTFA, about how you talk into an ipod touch, since they don't come with either a microphone or bluetooth.

    Google helped me find this Lifehacker Article [lifehacker.com] that is way the hell more useful than the linked one. Basically you have to buy some sort of external mic that clips onto your touch, then use your headphones to listen to the call. To me, this awkwardness seems like sort of a deal breaker for the practically of an iPod TouchPhone.

    If there were a way to hack a bluetooth module in there, it could be a whole different deal. You could talk using a handsfree bluetooth device, and in a brilliant circlejerk of redundancy, even tether your internet connection to a traditional cellphone with a data plan.

  • Already there (Score:4, Interesting)

    by kilodelta (843627) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @08:20PM (#26807231)
    I use fring on my Touch and it works great through my Skype account.

    Already have the external mic kit for the Touch so that was the first bit. Got it from sparfun.com

    • Re:an iphone that's missing 3g and edge (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MobileTatsu-NJG (946591) on Tuesday February 10 2009, @05:03PM (#26804631)

      in other words, a defective phone, only useful in areas where you trust the wifi connection.

      Yeah, like the cordless phone you have sitting on the charger at home. Only it doesn't cost anything per month and doesn't necessarily need to be restricted to just working at home.

      It sucks that it wouldn't help you much if you travel through time and space, but it's not exactly a lump of nothing, either.

      • Shut down by Apple lawsuit in 3...2...1...
      • Well... it's a VOIP phone. Landline phones have other advantages (one major one: don't go out in a power outage).

            • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

              by profplump (309017)
              If the power is down for weeks you're still counting on a generator to run your phone, you're just paying the phone company to run it for you. It's not like they've got a 600-hour battery backup.

              Second, if you're really worried about availability, you could keep a spare battery pack around to plug into your router/ATA when you needed to make an emergency call -- most of them run at 5V or 12V DC, so it's trivial to make a backup that would last long enough for several emergency phone calls, would have weeks

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by argent (18001)

        Yeah, like the cordless phone you have sitting on the charger at home.

        Does it also cost $30.00 with two handsets and extra charging station?

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