By: Ben Robinson, IntoMobile Sunday, September 7th, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Tesco (UK Supermarket) has launched a new service called ‘Talkwifi‘, which allows customers to make cheap mobile calls, via VoIP, over WiFi. The offering makes use of a service developed by Australian company Freshtel, and requires an app download to get things going. Once that is done, and the user is in a ‘free’ WiFi area, then calls can be made, at a pretty cheap rate (for how cheap, you’ll need to check the website here).
The service is currently restricted to only a limited amount of handsets, all of which are Series 60, WiFi-toting, Nokias – the E51, E81, N95, and E65. However, more handset support is due soon.
I favour WiFi for certain scenarios of mobile connectivity when I am out and about, but that’s all about the data – whether VoIP can and will run consistently, and suitably, is another question. Any IntoMobile readers regularly using their Mobile devices for VoIP are welcomed to input….
The Tesco Talkwifi site can be reached by clicking here
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career
when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has
now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the
next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas!
He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently
became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years
when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to
'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make
your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device)
isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question
of why you continue to use it...
His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and
infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the
occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience
in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with
regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
Mark J Laris
I have used mobile VoIP on my Nokia phone for over two years and it weeks very well. Truphone is the best and easiest to setup but I also use Sipgate, which is nearly as good and has better rates to some of the countries I call in Europe. I have not used a landline is nearly 5 years.
Mark
Grozbat
I have tried Skype and Gizmo on my new Nokia E51, using various routers and operators. In all cases the voice quality and latency (delay) make it unusable.
Mark J Laris
Grozbat, I have never used Gizmo but I have used Skype through fring and had no problems with either quality or latency. The volume was a little low but I could hear fine. I have experimented extensively with mobile VoIP on Nokia phones and have found that you really need a good broadband connection. For example, if I’m downloading a large file off the Internet, the call quality will degrade. However, under normal conditions, the call quality is perfect and I have never experienced a latency issue over wifi.
Mark
David
Freshtel launched their Mobile Voip Wifi in Australia yesterday (9th Sep 08) and my wife set it up in 5 mins on a E51. We have tested it with our son in the USA and others on Freshtel in Aust – works a treat, great voice quality and no delays and cheap as chips call costs – this is the real deal.