The first app to open up Apple's device to third-party VoIP services

Jun 4, 2008 13:05 GMT  ·  By

As simple as it sounds, sipgate brings VoIP to your iPhone. Just yesterday, we were talking about this iPhone 'Voice Broadcast' app due out via the App Store in July. However, with sipgate, you will be able to place and receive calls over Wi-Fi using any SIP-based VoIP service. Best of all, the app is absolutely free!

"We love VoIP and we love the iPhone so we are giving people like us who always wanted VoIP on the iPhone the ability to use any SIP-based VoIP service they want," Thilo Salmon, CEO of sipgate commented. "We are thrilled that Apple is opening up the iPhone and we look forward to taking part in future application development." he added.

So, as an iPhone user, you can use sipgate to place and receive calls over Wi-Fi. The software is 100% standard compliant and is not tied to any particular SIP service, sipgate claims. Already applied for a VoIP service? Great! You can use that one with sipgate.

You'll probably ask yourself: "why would I be interested in a service like sipgate's?" Well, first of all, sipgate is not a service, but the actual application which provides the means for you and your friends to chat for free over a Wi-Fi network. You save mobile minutes (whenever Wi-Fi is available), bypass roaming charges and place calls at virtually no cost when traveling abroad. Is there anything that can beat that? I don't think so.

However, interested iPhone owners must understand that sipgate isn't the one offering all this, but the SIP service provider who will allow the Wi-Fi connection between its device and someone else's smartphone.

There are a couple of issues to be taken into consideration too, just before you agree to download and install sipgate on your iPhone. One problem is that incoming cellular calls will hang up VoIP while in a call. The other is lacking volume support. But, since sipgate is currently in beta, these issues will surely be dealt with in the first stable release.

NOTE that "'sipgate for iPhone' may not be compatible with current or future firmware releases by Apple. It comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY OR GUARANTEES OF ANY SORT." the company warns.

Click HERE to download sipgate.

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