Mobile VoIP Is Coming

Two weeks ago I posted some tests of Skype running on a UMTS Teleputer (i-mate JasJar). While the JasJar is definitely one of the smallest all-in-one computer equipped with 3G voice/data/video connectivity, it is a little too big and fragile to carry as a mobile phone replacement. Some of you will argue with that, but I just cannot imagine skiing or dancing with the JasJar in my pocket. And as I'm sure all the future voice communications will be carried in VoIP (Voice-over-IP) fashion (that means voice is converted to internet packets on the phone and is transmitted to the other party as ordinary data packets - like email or instant messenger conversations), I kept on searching for ways to do VoIP calls straight from my cell phone. If you are a faithful reader of mine, you probably know my primary phone is an HTC i-mate SP5m. SP5m is a wonderful device and the more I use it the more I like it. There are several features that make this phone stand apart from the competition, notably fast processor (200MHz ARM-based OMAP), WiFi radio and plenty of memory (up to 2GB with mini-SD flash card). And it runs Windows Mobile 5 operating system, the same OS that powers the JasJar teleputer.

So if Skype works on the JasJar, it should - at least - give some signs of life on the SP5m. Unfortunately the Skype downloads do not have a version for a phone, and the "Pocket PC" version does not install on the phone, claiming it is incompatible with the device. So I decided to experiment a bit and copied Skype.EXE from my JasJar to the phone. Then fired it up and - it worked! Well... almost worked. Skype presented me with a nice welcome screen and a large button "tap here to connect". Unfortunately there is no way to tap on the Windows Mobile phone, since the screen is not touch - sensitive. So I was stuck. After trying this and that, I finally succeeded with the help of Soti Pocket Controller. Soti is a nice application that lets you "remote control" your phone from the desktop PC (it also displays the phone's screen on the PC screen). So I "clicked" the Sign-In button with my desktop mouse and Skype asked for my credentials. And then it signed in successfully. All subsequent sign-ins are now automatic, since Skype kindly remembers your credentials.

Then I called the echo123 Skype test service. To my surprise I heard something. Well, the quality was not that great, the sound was interrupted for brief moments, but I could clearly hear the test service announcements and was able to record and play my test message back. Clearly the application needs more horsepower. Skype claims minimum CPU requirements of 312MHz, while my phone is only 200MHz. But the test proves it works and you are able to conduct a conversation.

It looks like we are about to approach the stage when next wave of mobile devices will be powerful enough to act as VoIP terminals. It is not a far stretch to say the next generation phones will be 50% faster. And for the entire solution to work we will need 3G data connectivity on board. Forget EDGE (it is just too slow with too much latency). Forget WiFi. It drains your batteries too fast to keep it on all the time, and be online to the ones wanting to reach you. Only 3G CDMA (in form of UMTS/WCDMA or EV-DO) will do the job. Thanks to special signaling protocol, 3G can keep your connection alive all the time without draining the battery (WiFi cannot do this) and its transmission characteristics (latency and throughput) are enough to carry voice VoIP packets.

I think in 2006 we will see the first cellular devices capable of running always-on, always-connected VoIP in our pockets. If Skype fine - tunes their phone edition version, they may be the application of choice. On the other hand I would not rule out Google. They target more and more mobile phones with their platform (mobile Gmail, excellent GLM), so probably Windows or Symbian version of Google Talk is already in the works. Once that happens, voice may become the killer application for 3G data :)