RSSNetgear's Skype Wi-Fi Phone Launched
By the Betanews Staff | Published May 1, 2006, 11:23 AM
Netgear said Monday that it would begin accepting pre-orders for its Skype Wi-Fi phone. At a price of $249.99 USD, the candy bar-shaped phone would allow for free Skype calling, as well as calls to landline and mobile phones, over both secured and open Wi-Fi networks.
The phone is the first mobile unit to receive Skype certification, Netgear said in a statement. The device will come preloaded with Skype software and a color display. Calls to landline and mobile phone numbers would require a plan and additional fee. Those interested can pre-order the phone through Netgear's partners and the Skype online store itself.
phone --- SUCKS :
- Talk Time up to 3 hours
Standby Time up to 50 hours
wats the point in being able to call ppl with skype out for a few cents a meinute when u are only able to do it for 3 hours and then have to recharge....
i would like to have more information on the phone cuz i bet the other features are gonna suck too.
also for this product to be successfull every1 would have to get it or else u could not text a regular phone user (and to my knowledge ppl text alot). this phone is a piece of $hit, dont buy it, laugh at any1 who does and punch the designers if u see them.
thx
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|You should consider learning to spell.
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|horsecharles,
Thank you for the information. I need to re-read it again to make more sense but it good stuff indeed. :)
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|God bless capitalism--esp. if they can get a few suckers to lay out those bucks, while Skype struggles with nickel & dime revenue.
dzjepp: They have to do it by law-- and can't charge you one penny from the date you request the change!
HOWEVER, here's something else you can do to both benefit you better and force the change: on the web-- change your account from billing to credit card(***if you're concerned about this, i have further hints below), then port that number to one of the myriad providers that are either totally free or at least unlimited free incoming(outgoing would be pay as you go, often with a few free starter outgoing minutes)! You will now have either totally free or partial free service w/o giving up your number!!!
Some possible providers: stanaphone, lycos, the voipbuster/cheap/stunt conglomerate, freedigits, ipkall, vbuzzer, netappel, sipdiscount, sellvoip, adcalls, evoice...
Further, if you already have cellular-- combine a voip plan w/ free forwarding to the cell service--still even further, Cingular has a $2.99 month M2M plan-- calls/forwards between cell & designated other phone # are totally free(& don't use up any minutes).
*** you can just use the switch & then cancel the voip too, but if CC worries you-- just buy and use a branded gift card(very important-- research that the gift card allows online account maintenance: you need to assign your name and address to it, because some CC processors will deny it)...even better, some credit cards allow virtual and one-time use numbers that you can further tailor to your specs like: limit to specific merchant/amount/time period.
Of course, it goes w/o saying that these CC hoops are more for convenience purposes--charges are very easy to reverse: why many international sellers refuse CC's-- some scammers make a living this way w/ their own cc's & FleaBay in this manner...
btw I'd download all isp mail w/ oe or whateve, in case they 'accidentally' drop dsl too(when service is reinstated grab old user name again, even if that not possible, old email account names should be avaible--complete with your old mail still in them)- likely that won't happen, but...then you could always re-sign w/ naked dsl thru your local, and after that switch the dsl to whomever you wish. This is the recommended step for anyone who wishes to obtain cheaper naked dsl from someone other than their non-local telco: first sign up for local phone service, add dsl, switch both to credit card billing(local telcos tend to not delay port-overs with CC's, as they're not exposed to former customer not paying last bill), drop local phone service only(or switch it--letting the voip people handle the legwork), switch dsl provider-again letting your preferred company handle the switch(you can also call up your present dls provider before switching--ask for the retention dept.: ask for both more speed and lower price). In some areas one can order naked dsl right away, skipping all steps, but often the inept telcos bungle this.
Good luck.
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|I would be interested, if at&t freed up it's dsl so I could cancel their pots line and keep the dsl. I think they are required to do so in the sbc/dsl merger sometime, but I dunno just when.
Then I would keep the dsl, but pay for cheap phone service, such as this Skype phone or maybe Vonage.
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|At this stage, I'd rather get a Pocket PC and load up Skype. $250 is a high price to pay for a proprietary product such as this.
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|seems promising but will have to wait on rates & plans prices
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