VoIP engine coming to iPhone, but maybe it's not what you think

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 12 August 2008 13:27

Business IT - Technology

This announcement is especially significant because GIPS invented a codec called iLBC (Internet Low Bitrate Codec, an Internet standard for voice traffic) and it’s already part of the iPhone, meaning even less work for developers wanting to take advantage of it.

With that heritage, it's no surprise that VoiceEngine Mobile isn't some brand-new piece of software specifically for the iPhone - it's already well established, with versions for Windows, Symbian and OSE (a real-time operating system). It provides a high level API that allows developers to concentrate on their application rather than the technicalities of VoIP.

So issues such as network congestion, device acoustics and echo rejection are handled by the engine, without app developers having to pay any mind to them.

This means you may soon be able to do things like talking to another player in the middle of a game on your iPhone, or speak rather than type to your IM buddies. When such facilities start to appear, remember to thank that Sweden-based company for making it easy for developers to build VoIP into their iPhone apps.

The games or other programs might cost a few dollars at the App Store, but with GIPS VoIP inside and Wi-Fi, talk can still be cheap!