One of my interests for the last couple of years has been seeking out the best mobile deal. Now I realised some time ago that the best mobile deal would be one where I could receive calls on my mobile at home and pay regular telephone charges. So interested was I in this idea that that I invested about 30 hours of my time on making ROI and seeking information from Nokia and skype as to if they were planning to make an application that could run on their hardware/network. Although both parties provide substantial developers forums a direct answer to my question was never forthcoming. I suspect that is due to the enormous consequences that it will have for the telecom providers in the coming years. There are at present three phones that I know are capable of supporting this technology Nokia N80, Orion IQ, hipi-2300, While skype does support windows mobile (in beta). There still is not a phone on the market (that I am aware of) where you can use VoIP LAN and GSM network together.
Some colleagues point out that a phone with LAN connectivity will have a short battery and that is the main reason why none have been issued. Of course Apple claim to have been able to solve this problem. Unfortunately I am sure that it will also only be available for Apples choosen network. But you can be sure that when I have found the solution, the competition will only just be beginning.
The tea is on you
