Open Source Google Android G1 Phone Helps Drive VoIP Services

Days after grabbing headlines in an announcement that 14 new companies had joined a Web-based, Google-led group that’s dedicated to the Android (News - Alert) mobile platform, the G1 phone is being hailed by one online publication as helping drive VoIP-based services.

 

According to Wyatt Foard of Androinica – a blog dedicated to Google’s (News - Alert) Android project and the Open Handset Alliance – while Internet telephony itself isn’t offered on the G1, VoIP services are being availed by device users.

 

With applications from iSkoot, Voxofon and Raketu, VoIP services are gaining traction and prominence on the widely anticipated new touch screen device, Foard said.

 

“Some users have reported that the phone number the program dials to connect voice calls is always the same,” Foard writes. “Adding this number to the myFaves list can render those minutes free. The voice quality is not perfect, a test call showed definite artifacts from the extra processing, but it was adequate to carry on a conversation. iSkoot is listed in the Android Market.”

 

Officials at one of the Android-serving VoIP services, Voxofon – whose Android application is shown in action, at right – say that after installing their application, users just enter an international number in your phone’s dialer, press “call,” and a Voxofon window will pop up.

 

“It will list your calling options and display the exact rate for each of those options,” Voxofon officials say. “If you are not logged in, it will display the number of free test minutes you have for each type of the call.”

 

Each users Voxofon account will be charged for the international part of call, starting at about 1.3 cents per minute. After signing up, each user is given a 50-cent credit to try out the services.

 

The Google Android phone is poised to pick up market share, with its announcement last week of several large companies showing interest in the open source technology by joining the alliance.

 

Officials at Ovum say the OHA’s announcement signals greater confidence with Android within the mobile industry, and Vodafone’s decision to join casts doubt about the future of competing technology LiMo.

 

According to Adam Leach, a principal analyst at Ovum (News - Alert), the extended membership will lead to a greater number of Android devices in the market next year and could lead to much-needed consolidation in the mobile Linux space.

 

The 14 companies that this week joined the group are: AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International (News - Alert) Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba Corporation and Vodafone.

 

According to Leach, the LiMo Foundation was spurred by Vodafone’s (News - Alert) strategy for developing an open alternative to vendor-owned platforms, such as S60 and Windows Mobile. The foundation now counts 48 member companies and 15 LiMo-enabled handsets.

 

“However, LiMo is currently lacking a convincing developer story; an SDK is due this year, although it is now more likely to be delivered next year,” Leach writes.

 

According to Foard, Raketu is bypassing an Android app to offer its own custom version of a service for G1 users.