March should at last see the arrival in the UK of the Philips VOIP841, a PC-free combined DECT/Skype phone that we reckoned - when it was debuted back in September at IFA - Skype users would lust after mightily.
However, the delayed introduction - Philips was promising a pre-Christmas launch - gave a competitor a chance to get in ahead in late November. See, RTX first to ship PC-free Skype/DECT wireless phone in Europe.
At its launch, the price for the RTX DUALphone 3088 was £125.70, including VAT and delivery, but Skype is currently offering it for £109.35 all up.
That's a good bit less than the Philips, which has a VAT-inclusive SRP of £130 (inc VAT) - £10 cheaper than the company talked about at IFA.
Both models work in a similar fashion, using a single phone to provide DECT wireless landline calls and Skype VoIP calls that are made and received wirelessly without needing a PC to be switched on or even present.
This magic is achieved by using a supplied base-station that connects directly to a home router and to the main phone line. With the Philips offering, up to four of the company's phones can communicate with the base-station wirelessly (using DECT). Note, though, that the router-sized Philips base-station is not shown in the picture below - what you're seeing there is the phone in its charging cradle
The Philips phone has a 64k full-colour screen and - if it remains like the prototype we saw - a rather clever interface that allows you to first choose who you'll call, and then whether you'll call them by landline or Skype.
Unlike Skype WiFi phones that have been floated by Netgear and Belkin, neither the Philips nor RTX is a roaming phone - so you can't use them out and about at wireless hotspots.
Philips does say, though, that its phone is GAP-compatible and thus can be register to and used with other GAP-supported base stations - though, we have to assume that the Skype side of things would be lost if you did that.
Back at IFA, Philips made big claims about the phone's voice clarity and these were backed up by James Bilefield (European general manager for Skype) who said that the VOIP841 gave the best voice quality Skype had ever heard.
When announcing the March introduction, Philips re-iterated this claim, saying that the VOIP841, "delivers an outstanding level of clarity to further enhance the enjoyment of calling family, friends and loved ones – one of the most important considerations for consumers choosing a new cordless phone".
Other features to note include the VOIP841's ability to act as a handsfree speakerphone, plus its claimed talk time - up to 12 hours - and socket for a wired headset . The socket is on the base-station and uses a phone-type connection that's said to be compatible with any standard wired phone headset. That's important to know, because the headset is not supplied in pack.
Also listed is a memory capacity big enough to hold names and details of up to 500 contacts and a choice of 15 polyphonic ringtones for incoming calls to make it easier to identify who's calling.
Thoughts? Share them with us in the HEXUS.lifestyle.community.
HEXUS.links
HEXUS.community :: discussion thread about this articleHEXUS.lifestyle.headlines :: RTX first to ship PC-free Skype/DECT wireless phone in Europe
HEXUS.lifestyle@IFA 2006 :: Philips VOIP841 - PC-free DECT/Skype WiFi phone
HEXUS.lifestyle.headlines :: Skype Pro promises 'disruptive pricing' but how disruptive is it?
HEXUS.lifestyle.headlines :: Netgear unveils world's first Skype WiFi phone at London showcase event
HEXUS.lifestyle.headlines :: Belkin set to heavily undercut Netgear's Skype WiFi phone
HEXUS.lifestyle. reviews :: USRobotics Skype USB Telephone Adapter 9620
HEXUS.lifestyle. reviews :: D-Link Skype USB Phone Adapter DPH-50U
All HEXUS IFA coverage :: IFA - Internationale Funkausstellung - Berlin 2006
External.links
Philips UK cordless phones - home pageSkype Shop - RTX DUALphone 3088
Skype Shop - Philips VOIP841 (no pricing or availability as of Feb 19)
Skype Shop - Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype
Belkin - Wi-Fi Phone for Skype (F1PP000GN-SK) home page
Netgear - Skype WiFi Phone (SPH101) home page
Amazon USA - page about Netgear Skype WiFi Phone
Amazon UK - page about Netgear Skype WiFi Phone
