Apple Inc. confirmed last night that it is now allowing iPhone, iPad and iPod touch developers to build apps that can make Internet calls over a 3G cellular network.
“We revised our Program License Agreement in conjunction with our updated Software Development Kit for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad Apps,” wrote an Apple spokesperson. “Included in this update is the ability for developers to create VoIP apps that utilize cellular networks.”

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol — essentially, Web-based telephony.

As we reported last night, several VoiP apps have been approved for use on the iPhone, including iCall and Fring.

Skype, one of the most popular VoIP applications, said it had a 3G iPhone app ready to go, but wanted to get a couple of service details squared away.

Skype is waiting for Apple to clarify when the new SDK terms of service for iPhone OS 3.2 SDK beta, which were published yesterday, will go into effect for current iPhone users who are still bound under the terms of iPhone OS 3.12 SDK, according to Skype spokesman Chaim Haas.

“As soon as we have that clarification, Skype will submit its application for approval,” Haas wrote.

Apple announced Wednesday that iPad owners will be able to purchase monthly 3G plans for the device, which is quite a bit larger than a normal cellular phone, but could easily be used to make and receive calls.

Now that Apple and AT&T have green-lighted 3G data calls, iPad owners will not necessarily need an additional voice plan (not that the option for one was announced, but plenty of people were wondering).

In fact, the arrival of VoIP to iPhone may well be the beginning of a long decline for the concept of “voice minutes” — at this point, there’s really no point in differentiating one kind of call from another — it’s all data.

Timed for the State of the Union speech next week, TheWhiteHouse is a free application for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch that lets users stream video, browse photos, and read text from President Barack Obama’s White House.

According to the White House blog, this is just the first step for the WhiteHouse.gov mobile platform. “In the coming weeks, we’ll also launch mobile.WhiteHouse.gov, a mobile-ready version of WhiteHouse.gov that is optimized for any internet-enabled mobile device, including many other phones,” the blog entry said.

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As part of an extensive interview with Wired, Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and collaborator Rob Sheridan revealed plans for an upcoming Nine Inch Nails iPhone application that is awaiting approval by Apple. The application is said to utilize the location-based social features found in Twinkle and known as “Nearby”.

The free Nine Inch Nails app, scheduled for release as soon as it gets final approval from Apple, is a mobile window on all things NIN: music, photos, videos, message boards, even — thanks to a GPS-enabled feature called Nearby — the fans themselves.

Nearby is “kind of like Twitter within the Nine Inch Nails network,” says Rob Sheridan, Reznor’s long-time collaborator. “You can post a message or a photo by location, and if you’re at a show you can see conversations between other people who are right there.”
The application will reportedly link with the official NIN.com website and allow fans to upload photos and messages directly to the site, utilizing features of Nearby to make the locations of the content viewable on Google Earth.

The iPhone app takes that a big step further. NIN.com has a Google Earth plug-in that fans can use to see conversations and photos from across the planet, or at a specific location. A feature on the iPhone app’s Nearby tab will enable them to post messages and photos from their iPhones to the website and have them pop up in Google Earth.

Yahoo! is expected to launch a refreshed mobile portal this week. The new portal puts search at the forefront and then allows full customisation so that users can add widgets from third party sites such as Gmail and eBay.

The refreshed mobile portal is likely to replace the current http://m.Yahoo.com portal but not Yahoo!’s oneSearch search engine. Yahoo! is currently in partnership with Nokia and the oneSearch search client is the default setting on many mobile phones.

Speaking at the Web 2.0 Kongress in Munich today, Michael Stenberg, Partner Director Central & Eastern Europe, Yahoo! Connected Life, gave the audience a tour of the new portal.

The move is aligned to the Yahoo! Open Strategy (Y!OS) which the company hopes will encourage developers and publishers to spend more time engaging with the portal. Yahoo! told developers in April 2008 that Y!OS would allow their applications to be distributed via the Yahoo! websites as well as the developers own.

Y!OS has been one of the driving forces behind the removal of Yahoo! social networks Y!360 and Mash as well as the controversial changes to the Yahoo! Profile system. Yahoo!’s goal is to create a single social platform that reaches across Yahoo!’s web and mobile properties.

Skype is set to launch its iPhone application Tuesday, bringing its much-anticipated Net-based phone service to Apple’s mobile platform. With the Skype iPhone app, users will be able to make free calls using Wi-Fi to other Skype users as well as use their Skype accounts to make reduced price calls to traditional landline phones. Skype announced its iPhone application will be available on Tuesday for free, with a version for the BlackBerry available in May. Mobile versions of Skype are already available for Nokia, Windows Mobile, and Google Android phones.

From what we can tell, the Skype for iPhone looks great; but it has some drawbacks. One disappointment is that users won’t be able to place calls over cellular networks, but only via Wi-Fi. Still, for international callers especially, Skype’s iPhone app will save callers money by allowing them to avoid AT&T’s traditional wireless phone network and adds the convenience of allowing Skype users to use their iPhone handset for Skype calls.

Looking more like a traditional iPhone app rather than the desktop Windows counterpart most of its 400 million users are used to, Skype for iPhone features five tabs at the bottom of the screen, displaying contacts, chats, a calling panel, call history, and your profile (with Facebook-style status).

Skype for iPhone will use phone numbers directly from your phone’s address book, so no more nasty duplicated contact lists. It even displays your contacts’ photos (if they have one set up on Skype). Conference calling is available, but for the moment you can only take part in one if someone invites you.

You can also chat with your Skype friends, but unfortunately this is the only thing (besides seeing who’s online) you can do over a cellular network. Skype for iPhone places calls only via Wi-Fi, not differentiating itself much from the other voice apps in the App Store (Skype for T-Mobile G1 can place calls over 3G).

Skype for iPhone is still a young app and is short on some of the features its desktop counterpart has. SMS, video and proper conference calling, file transfer, and voicemail are missing from this first version, but let’s hope they will make their way in future versions.

iPod Touch users will also be able to enjoy Skype, but this would require them to purchase a microphone, or headphones with built-in microphones (like the iPhone’s).

Skype is keeping mum on the announcement and has declined to comment on the rumors. But the company is hosting a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Las Vegas the day before the show kicks off. And it’s likely the news will be announced there.

Skype admitted earlier this year that it’s working on an application for the iPhone. Scott Durchslag, the company’s chief operating officer, said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January that an iPhone version of the software client would be coming to Apple’s App Store.

“We have to make sure the call quality is there and the application works really well before we can announce the software for any device,” he said in an interview after the company’s press conference. “But we will have something for the iPhone as soon as it’s perfect.”

Skype sees mobile as the next major growth area for its business. Not only does it expect its more than 405 million registered users to take their Skype experience, which offers free and low-cost calling, with them on-the-go, but the company also believes they will be able to reach new users via mobile devices. By putting the peer-to-peer service, which uses the Internet to carry voice traffic, onto a mobile phone, it becomes very convenient to use. The regular Skype service runs on a computer and requires either a special phone or a headset and microphone to make and receive phone calls.

In the U.S. most cell phone plans include domestic long-distance calling as part of a bundle of minutes, so the Skype service isn’t really that appealing. But for subscribers calling outside the U.S., rates can be as much as a $2 a minute if cell phone users don’t subscribe to a special monthly plan for making international calls. This makes the Skype mobile client most appealing to users who want to make inexpensive international calls, but don’t want to be tied to their computers.

A software version of Skype already exists for Windows Mobile phones. Nokia also plans to embed some of its phones with Skype clients. And Skype has worked with a company called iSkoot to develop a special Skype phone that is sold by the cell phone operator Hutchison 3 U.K. A Skype-lite version of the client is also available on some Java phones.

Now, iPhone users will get to use Skype, too. But before iPhone users get too excited, there’s probably a big catch. The new Skype app for the iPhone will likely be restricted to Wi-Fi networks only, as Apple has done to other third-party services like Fring, which offers access to Skype.

If this is the case, it will be a huge limitation to the usefulness of the service. While other mobile phone users can use the Skype service anywhere they can a cell phone signal, iPhone users will be restricted to only using it where they can access Wi-Fi. Most people access Wi-Fi home or in the office, where they’re likely to be near a computer anyway.

by cnet

id Software today released its classic first-person shooter Wolfenstein 3D on the iPhone and iPod Touch via the iTunes App Store. The 9.9MB download is priced at $4.99.

Packing the original six episodes, complete with the famed MechaHitler boss fight, the game offers two different control methods. One has players navigating and shooting with the touch screen, and the other sees players tilting the device for movement.

d Software programmer and co-founder John Carmack personally led the project. The official debut follows yesterday’s release of the Wolfenstein iPhone source code.

An iPhone release of DOOM can be expected “fairly soon,” Carmack reckons. In addition, he recently helped EA with the upcoming iPhone port of the Wolfenstein RPG.

Skype has announced a new Android version of its mobile VoIP service, porting Skype Lite which is currently available on a range of Java handsets. Skype Lite, currently in Beta, will let Android users utilize a standard voice channel to make a local call, which is then converted to VoIP. There will be charges for the local calls, but users could stand to make gains on long-distance calls if those called are logged on to Skype.

“Call on Skype wherever you are – no WiFi or 3G required”, reads promotional material for Skype Lite. A version for the iPhone may show up, but will be technically challenging. Getting the application to the Apple Application Store would not be a walk in the park either.

Apple's partner operators will likely frown on users being able to convert international calls into local call charges. The store already includes a VoIP application from Truphone, which was added when the developer agreed to remove 3G network support. Skype Lite's Java client uses GPRS (or alternative) to keep an updated list of Skype contacts, and provide IM features.

Skype doesn't stand to gain much financially from this development, but instead hopes to entice more users to adopt Skype use on a regular basis.