Disqus
This whole Google Voice/iPhone mess has caused enough consumer ire and FCC scrutiny to get AT&T to man up and allow cellular VoIP apps on their hottest smartphone. Services like Skype had made it into the App Store no problem, but were shackled to Wi-Fi use only, while third-party Google Voice apps were outright pulled from the shelves. Sure, AT&T deserved to have consumers up in arms about limiting their choice, but you can understand why the carrier would want to conserve bandwidth on a handset that’s already weighing heavily on their network, as well as prevent VoIP providers from undercutting their existing voice prices. In any case, openness won out this round – now it’s just a matter of seeing the apps getting updated with cellular support.
[via AT&T]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
