the iPhone that will melt the world- WIFI CALLING AND VIDEO iCHAT

[flykangaroo]

Okay. So most people know about t-mobiles new service that allows free calls to be made over wifi networks. Think about this- almost any urban area has some sort of wifi place... so making calls from those hotspots is not only free but amazing quality. So we know AT&T is going to come out with this service to and some wifi phones, along with most other providers... but what if the next generation iPhone used its already built in WiFi feature as a method of making calls?? Would the world collapse? and when apple realizes they need to make a camera that faces forward to the subject or atleast has the ability to pop in and turn around... they will enable the use of iChat video on the iphone. Imagine sitting with your friend on the subway in new york city.. having a nice conversation face to face, only your friend is in tokyo at restaurant. will the world collapse or will this just be the beginning of the future?
ideas?

 

[overcast]

Yes the sky will fall and the dead shall inherit the earth.

 

[The Prise]

i believe that wifi on tmobile is a system only set up in your home. i don't think you can just go to any wifi and use that. it has to be through this new tmobile. i don't think all the other companies are gonna jump on bored with this one. this is tmobiles idea of a answer for the iphone.

 

[kdarling]

A real breakthrough internet device wouldn't need to find free Wifi.

We all just need a decent device with a cheap unlimited 3G data plan

And yes, there are worries that the net is not capable of handling a world full of constant video calls. Someone has to pay for all the undersea and land cables that make it fast enough to use.

 

[flykangaroo]

i believe that wifi on tmobile is a system only set up in your home. i don't think you can just go to any wifi and use that. it has to be through this new tmobile. i don't think all the other companies are gonna jump on bored with this one. this is tmobiles idea of a answer for the iphone.

w-r-o-n-g !!! I am a tmobile wifi user. I use my wifi phone everywhere i go, the phone just quickly connects to the nearest unsecured network and makes magically beautiful sounding calls. I have already heard about other companies getting in on it- they dont need to do much to their infrastructure except set up a net calling service like vonage has. it was super easy for tmobile. and about tmobiles answer to the iphone? wtf???
il give at&t a year or so before you see commercials for at&ts wifi phones. but my point is- some towns (aurora, il) for example.. have set up a city wide free wifi paid for in taxes that allows anyone in the city of aurora to use wifi anywhere. imagine making calls anywhere in the town for free..?


and the web is a system of clients and servers, it has no limit. most of the overseas data travels via satellite or fiber optic cable, and especially with the avanced compression technology, there is no "limit on the number of video chats" the web can handle. unless another bush is elected.

 

[The Prise]

well ill take my iphone and att any day over your wifi and POS tmobile service.

 

[GFLPraxis]

well ill take my iphone and att any day over your wifi and POS tmobile service.

Wow, talk about hostile.

I'd like to point out that, at least where I currently am in the state of Washington, AT&T has absolutely THE worst coverage of all the cell phone companies. Verizon is the best. I'm on T-Mobile, which is in between.

I've heard it's the opposite on the east coast, but in many places Cingular has poor coverage. Don't be a fanboy bashing everyone else.

 

[maokh]

Have you actually used any metro wifi network? Why do people think these things actually work, and are better than existing cell coverage? Some of these systems are soo poorly designed, you'd be lucky if you could get one packet across.

95% of hotspots out there are premium service anyway. good luck.

 

[The Prise]

once again, i love my iphone. which happens to have att service. o what's that? a 5 year exclusive contract between apple and att?