What if iChat could call to... cell phones?
i was thinking about this the other day. i have friends spread all over the world, -japan, USA, Sweden.., and besides mail or chat, it would be soo great to be be able to talk to them directly, and hear their voices, wheteher they have a computer or not, anytime anywhere, for CHEAP, like say 20cts/second
I dont know in the usa but in europe or japan, everyone older than 9 has a cell phone in the pocket. Wouldn't it be great to use ichat to reach to those phones?
that would be a TERRIFIC selling point for the new minimacs (or any another model).
you'd use internet for the call, up to the city where tha mobile in question is. then, using a mobile operator, a real phone call is made.
Apple would need to get to an agreement with only half a dozen companies (vodafone, T-Mobile..) and that's much more doable IMO than to what Jobs did with the WHOLE discography industry.
I think Apple already has the technology and hardw to develop that.
coming soon to your Mac, the new WORLDWIDE Cell Phone Network. Only on Apple computers
I dont know in the usa but in europe or japan, everyone older than 9 has a cell phone in the pocket. Wouldn't it be great to use ichat to reach to those phones?
that would be a TERRIFIC selling point for the new minimacs (or any another model).
you'd use internet for the call, up to the city where tha mobile in question is. then, using a mobile operator, a real phone call is made.
Apple would need to get to an agreement with only half a dozen companies (vodafone, T-Mobile..) and that's much more doable IMO than to what Jobs did with the WHOLE discography industry.
I think Apple already has the technology and hardw to develop that.
coming soon to your Mac, the new WORLDWIDE Cell Phone Network. Only on Apple computers
Comments
My idea was Apple to get into this market SERIOUSLY.
BTW: if u want to use SMS just add this to your buddy list:
no quotes: "+mobilephone#"
where "mobilephone#" is, u put ur phone #
Nonetheless, it WOULD be nice if Skype functionality were included in somekind of iChat or whatnot...
I have Adium running all the time too...
I only use iChat to video conference
Originally posted by tonton
Except that only works if you're in the US.
Do people outside the US even have phones?
i thought it was 1,7 euros a minute. Actually, it's 1,7 cENTS a minute. Ok, somewhat is kind of their fault, they should CLEARLY write 0,017 instead of 1,7. when putting this figure just beside the EURO word, and forget the word cent. Bad marketing on their side, i'd say. See:
skype rates page
so, 2 cents a minute for an ordinary phone and 20 cents when calling to a mobile, that's not bad.
i eat my words, we dont need apple to get into this business, they skype guys already did it great.
i'm going to definetely try this.
a question, what if Takuya is in Germany instead of in Japan, will i be charged
for the difference when calling him to its cell phone? (vodafone japan to vodafone germany?)
Originally posted by Outsider
Do people outside the US even have phones?
i guess you're joking right?
in europe and japan whe have like twice the number of cell phones per inhabitant. for more than 6 years. and sms it's been a revolution between teenagers since, developing a new kind of comunication.
FWIW
Originally posted by Outsider
Do people outside the US even have phones?
Hey, we've had SMS for like 10 years, buddy...
Originally posted by New
Hey, we've had SMS for like 10 years, buddy...
i dont know, it's just that i refused to have a cell phone, until it was inevitable, that was 6 years ago.
anyhow i read recently on the nyt how sms was changing the teenage world. we had that same thing many years ago. plus, you were in the usa for so long still using analog phones, when we're in europe on the third generation of digital, with multimedia contents (videoconference).
still many years behind japan though.
Originally posted by jindrich
i dont know, it's just that i refused to have a cell phone, until it was inevitable, that was 6 years ago.
anyhow i read recently on the nyt how sms was changing the teenage world. we had that same thing many years ago. plus, you were in the usa for so long still using analog phones, when we're in europe on the third generation of digital, with multimedia contents (videoconference).
still many years behind japan though.
yes, this is true. I got my first mobile phone back in 94 and SMS was then the big hype...
I got my cell phone in 96 and was in university then and no one knew what it was, let alone, many phones werent even SMS capable.
Nonetheless, I remember that in the beginning, it was just an extra technology bundled in phones, no commercial value, an engineering-geek tool. In fact, many operators DIDNT EVEN CHARGE for SMS until 97-98...
I always have a laugh when I read the bloated expenses telecoms report for the ability of supporting SMSs (data traffic, servers, backup, etc). What a joke.
Now then... IF US TELECOM OPERATORS WOULD F*CKING MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO RELIABLY (or at all) SEND SMSs FROM EUROPE TO USA. We're in 2005 fer chrissake!!!!!
Originally posted by ZO
94?? sirley you jest!
I got my cell phone in 96 and was in university then and no one knew what it was, let alone, many phones werent even SMS capable.
Nonetheless, I remember that in the beginning, it was just an extra technology bundled in phones, no commercial value, an engineering-geek tool. In fact, many operators DIDNT EVEN CHARGE for SMS until 97-98...
I always have a laugh when I read the bloated expenses telecoms report for the ability of supporting SMSs (data traffic, servers, backup, etc). What a joke.
Now then... IF US TELECOM OPERATORS WOULD F*CKING MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO RELIABLY (or at all) SEND SMSs FROM EUROPE TO USA. We're in 2005 fer chrissake!!!!!
ops! your right of course. Memory and math made me exaggerate a bit.
I got my Ericsson GA628 in 96. I remember writing SMS with only big letters...
Norway has always been early on telecom stuff, so I don't think the text messages were free even back in those days...
yum!
Hitby
The new iChat and new cell phones will use the same video formatt...
Originally posted by jindrich
i guess you're joking right?
in europe and japan whe have like twice the number of cell phones per inhabitant. for more than 6 years. and sms it's been a revolution between teenagers since, developing a new kind of comunication.
FWIW
Short answer: Yes with a "Maybe", long answer: No with a "But".
Originally posted by Outsider
Do people outside the US even have phones?
I hope you're comment wasn't serieus. If it was: you're one (in Europe we would say "typical American", but that's unfair) ignorant fellow. The mobile network in the states is quite inferior compared to Japan or Europe. Do I have to mention that us-phones are unusable on European or other foreign networks? I remember meeting an American on my travelling in Kenya who was stunned that I could use my Dutch phone there without any configuration or whatever. But anyway, we're running offtopic...
Next is irony... because americans who make such obviously sarcastic comments are actually on your side.
I started working for the largest telcom back in 97, when NMT, the old analogue nordic mobile standard was still around. One year later we had to implement this new standard on our GMS network called "WAP". It was the next great thing. Data connection over 9,6 kbit line. The internet on a 2 by 7 line monochrome screen. Yeah baby. I don´t think any of the telcoms will ever cover the costs poured into making applications for this great new service noone used. Now with GPRS, EDGE and UMTS data connections are fun (and affordable) but back then