DISQUS

I am not that impressed with the VoSky since the only advantage it provides is the same as that provided by calling cards such as AT&T or as I live in France "Les Minutes". You still end up calling a number, in this case your home phone, which if you are abroad can be expensive. Additionally you have the upfront cost of buying the unit as opposed to a pay as you go charge. Admittedly Skype provides good value for money but not astoundingly so when it I compare it to my calling card provider. However you want to see a startling calling plan cheque out http://adsl.free.fr/tel/tarifs/ (for those non francophones use google's translation service at http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&... ). Free is an broadboad operator in France. Basically they offre all calls to fixed lines in most european countries and to US and Canadian fixed and mobile lines FREE OF CHARGE and they provide the home unit that has a standard telephone socket you can you use your normal phone. This has the traditional operators running scared. Free also bought the only national WIMAX operator in France a little while ago... hmm I see the beginnings of another French Revolution.

http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2148121/users...
more information on the phone in question. And yes it resembles a lot of SE's recent t6XX k7XX series of phones. Not by accident I wager, BUT it still doesn't do traditional mobile calls.

I think Eric is missing the point slightly. This phone could make using Skype as easy as it is right now to call someone (the caveat is there because I have not seen a proper review of the phone's interface or menu). Think of this as the 'granmother test'. Would your grandmother use Skype the way it is used today? No, because as it is today you need to sit in front of a pc and few old people are willing do that for a phone call, or set up the pc just to call someone (unless she is a rare old techie bird). Would she use this phone? Yes, probably. I think the real future of a phone like this is to have one that is all of the following GSM/CDMA (mobile phone network) plus wifi (Skype and SIP). GSM when you are in a zone without WIFI or don't have the access priviledges to the WIFI network, WIFI all the other times and both SIP and SKYPE clients on it so that you can use the two most popular VOIP systems today. That would be an absolute killer!!!!! David, what thinkst thou?

I don't think that it functions as a normal mobile phone despite your suggestions to the contrary. Netgear's website makes no mention of this functionality or of CDMA or GSM. If it did it would be a true killer and herald the new era of mobile communications. Maybe in a future release?