Could I Use This As A Phone?

[riosingh]

VoIP is usually banned on 3G data connections and I'd guess that's the main reason it doesn't work. I'd expect lag and possibly instability to be a much bigger problem that bandwith. A GPRS connection should provide enough bandwith for voice (if it was fully used).

Ok so in answer to the op's question.
You can use it as to make calls where ever you have WIFI.
You will be able to use it to receive phone calls when ever you have it turned on and the VoIP programme running, and you have WIFI. So more or less at home when it’s switched on.

Will this be as practical as a 9.99 pay as you go mobile? No.
Will it be useable? Well if your one of them Skype phone users whose life is lived in a WIFI blanket, and some how programme it to run Skype with the lid closed. Yes

Practical no. Possible yes.



But it might be a cool nerdy thing to pair it with a Bluetooth hands free kit. And use Skype.
Or hook up a camera phone as a blue tooth web cam. And use the TV out to hook up to the living room TV. Now that would be cool.

Or what would be even cooler would be, to hook up a camera phone as a web cam, and one of them Pico projectors and project it on charlotte church’s rear, in welsh internet café.

 

[fiveseven]

Hmm, it would be a crude solution, but duct taping a slim mobile phone to the Pandora might just do the trick. Provided you can set the phone up to act as a bluetooth modem and get the Pandora to use it (not sure how hard/easy this will be), you'd have full phone functions and internet on the Pandora.

I might do a slight variation on this, by doing the exact same thing, but keeping my phone in my pocket instead of duct taped to the Pandora, and using a bluetooth headset for calls.

 

[aliking]

Hmm, it would be a crude solution, but duct taping a slim mobile phone to the Pandora might just do the trick. Provided you can set the phone up to act as a bluetooth modem and get the Pandora to use it (not sure how hard/easy this will be), you'd have full phone functions and internet on the Pandora.

I might do a slight variation on this, by doing the exact same thing, but keeping my phone in my pocket instead of duct taped to the Pandora, and using a bluetooth headset for calls.

Taking this to it's logical conclusion, I think a great idea would be a bluetooth dongle that has modules for GPS, GSM, CDMA, 3G....WIMAX, EDGE..whatever in the future, and a bigass battery. In terms of reducing redundancy and pocket real estate you could have just what you would use in a relatively small box.

doubtful that would ever happen, but if you were to take a phone and get it well paired with the Pandora as above, imagine how much space you could save by taking off all the now unnecessary stuff on the phone - screen, keyboard, ports, microphones and speakers, card slots. It wouldn't be near as small as something designed for purpose, which at this point could be tiny, but it would smaller.

I too am glad the Pandora is not a phone, with all the locked down crap that comes with that, but I'm all about reducing redundancy.