Neil Tomlinson's take on Palm and VOIP is true - the call quality with Skype on Pocket PCs, while nothing to shout about, is adequate and at times can be handy if you don't have access to a PC or laptop. Regretably, there still isn't any proper Skype client for the Palm platform. However, apart from EQO which is like pseudo-Skype on the Palm, there is another VOIP solution for the Palm and that is Articulation which is SIP compliant. I'm not a great fan of SIP telephony though and the problem with Articulation and Skype is that you'll need Wifi or a fast unlimited data plan for either to be of any use (Articulation also works on a Bluetooth connection to ADSL Broadband as outlined in PIC) .
While I do occasionally use Skype to Skype calls, I find most of the time, I use VOIP to make cheap calls to landlines overseas. SkypeOut is good if I have a PC or laptop handy but my VOIP of choice for my Treo 680 is Minowireless
It was mentioned in Palmaddicts last year when it was launched and I have been a user since around about August 2006.
For those who don't know, Minowireless provides Treo users with a Java application with which you initiate a VOIP call. This application sends a small packet of data to the Minowireless server instructing it to connect your Treo with a destination phone (a landline or another mobile phone). The data cost is negligible and you do not need broadband. What you get then is an incoming call from Minowireless (which is great if you don't have to pay for incoming calls to your mobile) which then connects you to your destination phone.
The Minowireless rates are comparable with Skypeout rates. At the beginning I found the call quality not very good (neither was Skypeout at the beginning as well) but Minowireless has improved and calls to North America and Australia from Malaysia are quite clear.
The Minowireless application on the Treo is pretty basic. My gripe with the current Palm Minowireless client is that it does not read the Treo's contact database and what is worse you can't use the Clipboard to paste the numbers so new numbers have to be entered manually. However, once you make a call, the number you dial can be added to the Contact list in the Minowireless application.
You are however not limited to your Treo as registered users may change the number you are calling from to one which is handy e.g. house phone or hotel phone - all done with the data connection fron the Treo or any Internet connection.
You get to try Minowireless for free and you get $0.50 credit which is about a 30 minute call to USA so why not give it a spin?
For me, it's another great reason to have Java installed on my Treo (apart from Opera Mini and the Gmail client) !
