There’s my MacBook Pro and my iPhone, but a close third in my heart for most useful gadget is my Phillips Skype phone. I bought it used off of a friend who, for various shady reasons, was rapidly fleeing Berlin, and while the benefit was obvious to me — the ability not to be tethered to my computer when talking to friends or family or colleagues oversea — the sheer convenience and interface satisfaction of making VOIP calls on a real phone has surprised me. I’d recommend one as a must-have accessory for anyone who does a lot of Skypeing, even if you aren’t quite sure you really need one.
This Ipevo Skype Phone looks like a good bet if you’re willing to take that advice. It has an attractive 1.8-inch LCD with a UI modeled similarly to Nokia’s, backlit keys and 802.11b/g WPA/WPA2/WEP support. Just plug it into your router and you’ve got yourself a Skype landline… and like most Skype Phones, you can also plug in a landline.
This looks like a nice handset for $129.99, and just like regular cordless phones, once you buy one, you’ll probably not upgrade it for years.
S0-20 Skype Phone [Ipevo via Crunchgear]
I’ve computer phobic in-laws who would be interested in this if only it had Web cam capabilities.
I really wish that someone would come up with a multi-phone system for skype – something like what they have now with other VOIP systems, where I can just plug my existing phone system into a box and it magically skypes.
I’m disappointed that Boing Boing would pimp the closed proprietary Skype system over standard VoIP (Gizmo, Wengo, T-Mobile @Home, etc.)
I really wish Skype wasn’t proprietary-but-popular (like AIM), compared to SIP which is open-but-nerdy (like Jabber), for VoIP.
Many DECT phones (especially in the Eurozone) include SIP support. The Sony Ericsson C905 includes SIP in addition to being a mobile phone.
If I’m just calling back into the States, though, I can use T-Mobile’s UMA/GAN service anywhere in the world with 802.11 “Wi-Fi” internet access.
I’ve found having the Skype client on my Nokia E71 to be extremely handy. Its great to not be tethered to the computer. (If only they’d use the forward-facing video camera in the darn thing.) But around my place I have two notebooks, a Dell Axim, a PSP and two mobile phones with Skype. Is there really still a market for a dedicated Skypephone at that price point? Many other devices at just a bit more than that can do Skype and a whole lot more.
as somebody who hasnt used a landline for personal use in years i have to add that you could also simply use fring on your iphone (e.g. ..
) and have the same effect without the need for another gadget..
I just have my regular landline phone plugged into my voip modem.
Free local and national calls with our ISP and with the addition of a calling card I can make international calls for the cost of the card divided by the hundreds of hours…
The plan is slightly more expensive then a regular internet plan but its more than offset by the fact we pay no line rental or call charges.
This is in Melbourne if anyone cares.