Plenty of other VoIP apps have managed to work in this functionality since Apple / AT&T started allowing it last year, but the official Skype app has been a notable holdout. Now, two months after Skype started doing 3G calls on Android with Verizon, there’s a 2.0 version of the app for iPhone that brings voice calls over 3G at last. Mobile iPhone calls are free until August, after which you’ll need a “mobile subscription.” We’re testing out the app as we write this and it seems to work about as well any other 3G VoIP app we’ve tried: passable, not revolutionary.

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A front-facing iPhone camera means video calling, but it’s also a sign of something bigger. Combined with other recent leaks, it means that Apple is bringing iChat to the iPhone. Everything about voice calling may be about to change.

iChat, You Chat

So, how does the appearance of a front-facing camera change standard voice calling? Let’s connect the dots:

• Front-facing camera means video calling
• Leaks suggest video calling is part of overall iChat
• iChat software and new VOIP provisions in OS means voice chat, too (maybe even for older iPhones)
• iChat branding, arrival of iPad and new OS multitasking all suggest compatibility with desktop app and standard buddy lists
• iPhone-to-desktop compatibility means everybody talks to everybody, no special plans needed

As I’ve said before, voice calling and SMS are both just part of the data stream, and don’t deserve special treatment. Now, when there’s a well-designed unified iChat client presenting an alternative to traditional calling and messaging, Read the full story

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Now that the iPhone SDK seems to allow for 3G VoIP, it looks like the floodgates are beginning to open. Joining the ranks of iCall in this somewhat uncharted territory is Fring. Same deal as the previous one, the ability is already inherent in the current build, and now that the restriction has been lifted, users can simply place calls as they usually do through the service — yes, that includes Skype calls — only now not tethered to the nearest 802.11 cloud. As for the native Skype app, last we Read the full story

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Great news for the VoIP world: iCall, the maker of the iCall VoIP iPhone app that can catch a GSM call and flip it over to WiFi, has issued a press release saying that the new iPhone SDK allows for VoIP over 3G cellular connections. Previously such calls had to be made over WiFi, since AT&T’s network (or someone well acquainted with AT&T’s network) didn’t think it was man enough to take the VoIP traffic. Interestingly, iCall says its 3G-friendly VoIP app is available now, and is the Read the full story

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It’s pretty simple: Apple’s iPhone OS is basically the only major smartphone operating system without an official or unofficial Google Voice client. We used to have GV Mobile and VoiceCentral, but as we all know, those were abruptly removed from the App Store and even Google’s official client was turned away. Well, at least Apple didn’t Amazon your iPhone and take away the Google Voice applications you already bought/downloaded, right? They might as well have as GV Mobile was rendered useless after a Google Voice-side update, and with no way of updating existing user’s applications, anyone who had been a GV Mobile user up until that point in time was out of luck.

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Skype might have been sloughed off of eBay into its own entity, but lawsuits, regarding its core Skype to Skype technology, might put them in trouble unless it has a backup plan of new VoIP tech.

TechCrunch is saying that Skype is looking to buy Gizmo5, a SIP-based service that isn’t quite as popular as the former, but works pretty well. SIP is an open standard that works with many, many devices—Gizmo 5 works with Google Voice even—so this could be a Read the full story

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