The news
Back in June, we came over all excited when Netgear unveiled what was claimed to be the world's first Skype WiFi phone. But that product, like a number of others unveiled since, has yet to hit the UK market. So it's with no little relief that we report that there is at last a Skype WiFi phone UK and EU residents can buy - RTX's DUALphone 3088. This is priced at a VAT-inclusive €159 (£107.70), with delivery adding a further €25 (£17).
Well, that's the theory but the reality is that the Danish maker's web site seems to be running intermittently, as does the dedicated product site it created - http://www.dualphone.net - where the DUALphone 3088 is on sale. D'oh!
The phone is also due to be available elsewhere soon - from December 1 at the Skype online store and at the same time or soon after from ebuyer, DABS and expansys. In those outlets, your VAT-inclusive (ex-delivery) target price is £99 or less, so let's just ignore the RTX web conundrums for the moment and tell you a bit about the product.
A key thing to know is that the DUALphone has little in common with Netgear's vapourware offering or it's equally nebular direct competitor from Belkin. It's far more like the handset that Philips debuted at IFA and promised to bring to market before Christmas - the VOIP841.
That's because, like the VOIP841, the DUALphone centres on a DECT phone. This makes possible wireless landline calls and uses the same DECT technology for Skype WiFi functionality that allows VoIP calls to be made and received wirelessly without needing a PC to be switched on or even present.
So, this is a phone intended for home use, rather than by the road-warrior.
The phone communicates wirelessly with a supplied base station and that plugs into the phone line and connects by an Ethernet cable to your home router, whether wireless or not. The phone has its own charging station so doesn't need to live in proximity to the base station - DECT range is reckoned to be up to 300m.
According to RTX, the key features are:
* Skype software that sits in the phone
* Intuitive Skype colour graphic user interface showing status of contacts
* Search for new Skype contacts
* Open a new Skype account
* 10 hours' talk time
* 140 hours' standby
* Intuitive Skype colour graphic user interface showing status of contacts
* Search for new Skype contacts
* Open a new Skype account
* 10 hours' talk time
* 140 hours' standby
Supplied accessories take in Ethernet and telephone cables; two AAA rechargeable batteries; a belt-clip; and a voucher for making SkypeOut chargeable calls.
Check out RTX's press release on page two and let us know your thoughts on the DUALphone and other WiFi Skype phones in this thread in the HEXUS.lifestyle.news forum.
Update December 1, 10:12
RTX has contacted us saying that,
The DUALPhone 3088 is not
a Wi-Fi Skype phone but an embedded DECT Skype phone.
The company, presumably, is concerned that readers might get the wrong impression by our use of the term WiFi and believe, incorrectly, that the DUALphone uses one of the 802.11 standards for its wireless Skype functionality. Consequently, we have reworked the fifth paragraph of this article to ensure that there is no confusion.
So, just to clarify - the phone uses the DECT standard to communicate wireless with its base-station and does so for Skype calls as well as for landline calls.
HEXUS.links
HEXUS.community :: discussion thread about this articleHEXUS.lifestyle.headlines :: IFA 2006 :: Philips VOIP841 - PC-free DECT/Skype WiFi phone
HEXUS.lifestyle.headlines :: Netgear unveils world's first Skype WiFi phone at London showcase event
HEXUS.lifestyle.headlines :: Belkin set to heavily undercut Netgear's Skype WiFi phone
All HEXUS IFA coverage :: IFA - Internationale Funkausstellung - Berlin 2006
External.links
DUALphone - home pageRTX - home page
