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Generic VoIP toolkit comes to the iPhone
But will Apple allow it?
Global IP solutions is now punting its VoiceEngine Mobile technology for the iPhone, making it simple to add VoIP to any iPhone application.
Developers wanting to add VoIP capabilities to mobile applications - such as adding voice communications to a game - can licence the stack from Global IP Solutions.
Apple has been clear about not allowing VoIP over 3G connections, so to comply VoIP can only work where Wi-Fi is available - otherwise the phone's voice circuit must be used.
VoiceEngine is already available for Symbian and Windows Mobile. The Symbian version was announced in February last year, but hasn't seen many VoIP-enabled applications deployed yet.
VoIP on a mobile phone only makes sense if cost is a serious issue, or if you're trying to provide functionality unavailable just using the voice circuit. VoIP can offer greater quality, particularly over Wi-Fi connections, and can make hosting conference services more cost-effective.
It's hard to imagine that many iPhone customers are frugal enough to make much use of VoIP, especially when £35 will get you 10 hours of calling each month anyway. But a games company looking to add conference calling between teams might find a use for the technology and there will no doubt be enterprise applications looking to make use of VoIP in the future. ®
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