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A Skype Call, Made From the iPhone

Posted by: Arik Hesseldahl on March 31, 2009

I just installed the new Skype application on my iPhone, and as a way of trying it out and demonstrating it for you, I called my Google Voice account. (Through the intervention of what appears to be a bug with Google Voice, it appeared not in Google Voice but in my account with the predecessor service GrandCentral, but whatever.)

I had made another call to a colleague before this one and and he told me that the call quality was pretty bad and that the sound of my voice dropped out several times. I was using the AT&T Wi-Fi at a Starbucks down in Rockefeller Center, and I did have some trouble getting on the network at first, but I’ll be trying it again from home on my own Wi-Fi network tonight. I suspect that call quality via Skype on the iPhone will vary with the the strength and quality of the Wi-Fi network you’re using. Time will tell.

Anyhow, listen to the voice mail I left myself and judge the call quality for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments.


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Reader Comments

Lee

March 31, 2009 03:44 PM

Sounds just fine!

Michael

March 31, 2009 04:27 PM

DAMN -- that sounds so much better than ANY AT&T call I've ever made.... WOW -- maybe Skype can share their technology with AT&T -- their service just sux here in Texas

Michael

March 31, 2009 04:27 PM

DAMN -- that sounds so much better than ANY AT&T call I've ever made.... WOW -- maybe Skype can share their technology with AT&T -- their service just sux here in Texas

Michael

March 31, 2009 04:27 PM

DAMN -- that sounds so much better than ANY AT&T call I've ever made.... WOW -- maybe Skype can share their technology with AT&T -- their service just sux here in Texas

KenC

March 31, 2009 05:48 PM

I tested Skype on my wifi network, and it sounds very good, better than Fring. However, I have to give credit to Fring for being a one-stop shop for so many VOIP/SIP accounts. Also, it seems that Skype copied Fring's graphics. Okay, perhaps not copied, but Skype seemed inspired by Fring's graphics.

Barry

March 31, 2009 08:07 PM

Wow! Sounds great. This is going to add a lot of functionality to my iPod touch.

Mauro

March 31, 2009 08:17 PM

Just saved some money. My brother is on his IPhone Skype in Brazil, and I am on my Computer using Skype.
Got disconnected many times--not as good as the Mac to Mac Skype-from the same locations.

Rich

April 1, 2009 10:52 AM

The audio quality is quite adequate as far as the performance of the network goes. The only criticism is that there's a small amount of room sound (reverb and backdrop conversation), but that's not the network's responsibility.

Romain Clerou

April 1, 2009 11:08 PM

My Skype calls worked great and sounded as good as the ATT walkie talkie I currently own.

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A blog on the daily doings of Apple and the many companies in its orbit, with insight and analysis by two longtime Apple-watchers BusinessWeek Senior Writer Peter Burrows and BusinessWeek.com Senior Technology Writer Arik Hesseldahl.

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