Skype's Android shackles are broken, 3G calling hacked into reality | Hacker News Reader

Skype's Android shackles are broken, 3G calling hacked into reality

engadget.com

31 pointsmcantelon11 comments

What I don't understand is why Skype would block 3G calling in the first place. What's the incentive for them? I understand why carriers wouldn't like it, but what power do they have over the Skype app?

maybe they're just doing it to get in the good graces of those carriers, so that they'll bundle (or at least promote the availability of) skype on their next android phones like verizon did.

I was under the impression that this might also still be tied to the concession to Verizon. Maybe Verizon made them promise not to make a version of Skype in the US that supports 3G?

Worse case scenario for Skype is the major carriers block their service and/or launch competing services bundled into handsets. They have to play ball or they will be facing extinction.

This will be more of a fallback in the event that Google Voice ever drops the ball for me. GVoice's seamless integration into the default calling process on Android devices makes it a much more attractive option than Skype.

Given that Google has already crossed this invisible line, what incentive did Skype have for respecting it?

GV still requires a voice plan unless you have a Gizmo account, but (0) signups for Gizmo are currently closed and (1) even if you have an account, the call quality is not so hot. Skype offers great call quality on data-only plans, which are significantly cheaper, at least on T-Mobile.

I'm hoping Google gets their act together integrating Gizmo with Google Voice, but until they do this is a great stopgap measure. In the long term I'd be much more comfortable relying on open protocols/apps (SIP and Sipdroid) than Skype though; they have been abusive in the past and even pulled their app for a time.

Google Voice + Sipgate, I believe, gives you free calls in and out.

With a Gizmo account in the middle. And of course, Sipdroid doesn't support the codec that Gizmo uses, so you need some other provider in the middle to do the transcoding.

I kind of almost made a call once this way.

I can call in and out using Sipgate, Google Voice, and SipDroid (Android SIP client).

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/xeudoxus/78843-apks-unlocke...

http://www.xeudoxus.com/android/Skype.apk Is the link to the unlocked skype app.

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