Panasonic Communications yesterday entered the Skype phone market with a standalone Wi-Fi phone kit aimed at business travelers.
The Panasonic KX-WP1050 Wi-Fi phone for use with Skype is said to be one in a series of planned Skype Certified products.
Wi-Fi Skype phones may look like sexy little things, but they're not for everyone. Tim Higgins thinks computer-free Skype phones like Netgear's SPH200D are a better match for home-based callers.
(Las Vegas) Netgear today announced its Dual-Mode Cordless Phone with Skype.
The SPH200D is a dual-mode 1.9 GHz DECT cordless phone supporting both landline and Skype Internet calls without the need to be connected to a computer.
The base station has an Ethernet (RJ-45) port to connect to a network router and a PSTN (RJ11) connector to connect into a traditional telephone wall jack.
The base can support up to four cordless handsets (sold separately) but only one Skype or PSTN call at a time. The handset has a built-in speakerphone and color display, with an interface similar to that on Netgear's Wi-Fi Skype phone.
The SPH200D is available now at an MSRP of $199.99.
Ads in the current version of PC World provide a peek at some of the products that Linksys may announce during CES. The Cisco division won't be present in any of the show's venues, but will hold private meetings in an offsite hotel suite.
Linksys today launched a new phone that many expected to be announced by Apple in early January: A device with the name iPhone will be available from wireless equipment maker Linksys in the first quarter of next year.
But besides the name, there is little the Linksys device has in common with what we expected the iPhone to be. Instead of a cellphone with iPod functionality, the iPhone WIP320 is a Wi-Fi Skype phone that appears to be a clone to already released models from Netgear and Belkin.
Our reviews of the SMC and Netgear versions of this phone have shown them to be less than impressive. But Tim Higgins found that Belkin's version is the one to get.
Belkin today announced that it has added support for using its Wi-Fi Phone for Skype with Boingo Wireless hot spots. This makes Belkin the first company to address one of the weaknesses of the current crop of Wi-Fi Skype phones; the inability to be used with wireless hot spots that require browser-based authentication.
A Belkin spokesperson said that the authentication will be done using Boingo's embedded Wi-Fi toolkit, which is basically a configuration file that provides the credentials to authenticate to each Boingo hotspot type. Belkin also said that a firmware upgrade for current Wi-Fi Phone users will be available "by mid December" for download from Belkin's website.
Belkin Wi-Fi Phone users can sign up for a Boingo Mobile Unlimited account, which gives them unlimited access to Boingo hot spots, for only $7.95 per month.
SMC Networks today announced a product bundle for wireless Skype calling.
The bundle includes everything you need to make Internet calls using an 802.11b or g wireless LAN: SMC's WSKP100 Wi-Fi Phone for Skype (reviewed here), FON’s “La Fonera” wireless router, 500 minutes of SkypeOut credit and Skype Voicemail for a year.
The bundle is available now from the Skype Web store for $159.99.
SMC Networks today announced two cradles for its Wi-Fi Skype phone: the SMCDPCR WiFi phone cradle and SMCDPCR-AP cradle/access point.
The SMCDPCR-AP serves as a charger/cradle and includes and an 802.11g access point. The AP has two SSIDÂ’s: one for VoIP calls and the other for regular wireless clients. It also supports WEP encryption and WPA and WPA2 security.
The SMCDPCR and SMCDPCR-AP will be available next month at MSRPs of $19.99 and $69.99, respectively.
Updated - Our first look at the performance of NETGEAR's RAX80 and ASUS' RT-AX88U shows little benefit functioning as AC routers.
Updated: The first draft 11ax routers are almost here. Take a little time to know what you might be buying into.
Updated - 160 MHz channel bandwidth is an essential feature of 802.11ax. We take a look at whether it means trouble for your 11ac network.
Ever wonder what happens behind the scenes when Wi-Fi devices roam, or more likely don't? We'll show you why the "seamless" roaming Wi-Fi gear makers promise is still as elusive as a Yeti.
