Remember the Hindi film Patanga, produced way back in 1949, that had a popular number Mere piya gaye Rangoon, kiya hai wahan se telephone, tumhaari yaad sataati hai…? It was a very popular song, but would have cost the poor gentleman a bomb to make that ISD call to sing the number? And I am sure it would still be a very substantial amount to deter anyone from repeating the feat. But won?t it be a dream, if you can make long international calls from anywhere, without paying a penny?
Well, not any more! Belkin introduced its new handheld Internet Phone for Skype in India. With this ultra portable Skype device one can make free unlimited VoIP calls without having to turn the computer on.
The Belkin Skype phone doesn?t require a PC or a laptop to connect to the internet as it has built-in Wi-Fi capability and is pre-loaded with Skype software featuring the same familiar interface. It is ready to use straight out of the box and will work any where in the world where one can have access to Wi-Fi network. It can be used at Wi-Fi enabled home or office, a restaurant or public hotspots like malls, airports, hotels etc where wireless access point does not require browser-based authentication.
This candy-bar shaped Belkin phone looks like any other cell phone, sleek and stylish with an ash-black rubberised velvet finish and aluminum trimming on three sides. The front bezel has a rather smallish but very bright TFT colour display screen. The keypad is very flat, without much spacing in between keys and feels plasticy, but surprisingly is backlit with pleasant blue neon. The silver coloured five-way toggle on the top of the keypad looks and feels shoddy.
On the left panel it has a two-way rocker for volume control and on the lower panel it has a mini USB to connect the battery charger and an audio jack socket for hands-free. The well-tapered rear panel makes the phone very comfortable to hold even for long hours.
The phone features the Skype interface, hence it?s ready for use with any wireless network. Once you power-on the device, it will show a list of available networks and their relative signal strengths. You can easily configure it to connect to an access point of your choice. The auto-connect feature allows the phone to connect to the first available access point. You can also set up an access-point profile to connect it to only the networks that are in your preferred list of SSIDs.
To make a call, simply use your existing Skype ID and login exactly as you use Skype on the computer. Use the intuitive on-screen colour menu to locate your contacts and view their online availability. The phone adheres to all Skype requirements and works as seamlessly as on computer. All of your contacts in your Skype ID will be loaded onto your Skype phone automatically the moment you sign in through the phone, as they are stored centrally in the Skype server. You can store up to 500 Skype contacts in the phone.
Though the Skype to Skype calls are absolutely free, you will have to buy a Skype-Credit or subscription to dial to a non-Skype phone (cell phones or land line phones).
The Belkin Wi-Fi Phone supports Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and WPA2 with pre-shared keys (PSKs) to keep your conversation secure. WPA supports Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) while WPA2 supports Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption and is compatible with wireless networking standards 802.11b and g.
If you are a frequent flyer or make a lot of international calls, then an MRP of Rs 9,712 will not pinch you much.