Skype??

Apple iPhone - Skype

Tell me about using Skype? Good thing or not? 12 year old grandson has iPod Touch and we want him to be able to call us and parents in emergency. Is this what he needs?

iPhone Call

Excellent on the iPhone as well as desktop/laptop, Sue. We've used it for years with Macs and PCs, now iPhone. My son was stationed in northern Japan for a couple of years and we used it a lot to stay in touch, both phone and video. My wife's family is in another country and again, couldn't be smoother.

It has one big advantage for video conferences, unlike Facetime which, so far, requires WiFi, it works on 3G systems as well as WiFi. Video is smooth. Phone calls are clear. No cost between Skype users.

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Used it for years also, GREAT. Works well on iPhone or PC.

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I am thinking that it would use a lot of the 5 GB usage that some people are limited to, am I correct?

Skype to Skype calls (using your email log in username) to anyone's email log in username, anywhere in the world is free. You can use Skype on your iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone or personal computer (with microphone attached).

However, you must have wifi connection to make this type of call. If your grandson is connected to wifi with his iPod Touch he can use Skype to call in emergency. If however, he is out and about and not connected to wifi he would not be able to use Skype.

The Skype user he is trying to call must also be online when he tries to call them.

As long as he is connecting to the other user using their email or Skype username ID and NOT their phone number it will be FREE.

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Spotlight search for phone no

Apple iPhone - Spotlight search for phone no

Should Spotlight be able to find a contact from their phone number?

I thought I did this before but I just tried it and it doesn't work. I tried the last four digits and then the 7 digit ph. no. with and w/o a hyphen.

Nothing was offered. I do have Contacts checked in Settings> Spotlight Search.

It does find Contacts by their names. Just not their numbers.

iPhone Call
It does not work on my phone either. If you go to settings > general> spotlight search >, phone number is not listed as an option.

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The only way I've ever been able to get it done is via the desktop.

I can search for any digit in the phone number.

iCal vs google calendar

Apple iPhone - iCal vs google calendar

I have been using iCal to sync with my iphone but lately it's been really buggy so I was wondering if you think I would have better luck using google calendar to sync with iphone?

iPhone Call
I actually use both google for work ical for personal

what do you mean by 'buggy'?

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not syncing and then a day or two later it will sync but then ill get duplicates.

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Wow. That's definitely a new one for me! Mine seems to be working fine...hopefully someone with helpful suggestions will chime in.

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Do you sync Google with iCal or your iPhone?

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I sync Google with my phone. It's a one way thing. My phone doesn't go to Google but Google goes to my phone.

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Make sure you don't have a sync connection with both your Mac (On My Mac) and MobileMe. If both are on, you will get duplicates on your calendar. One from the desktop when you initiate a wired sync and another wirelessly with MobileMe. This is not a bug, it's the result of asking the system to sync with two sources.

iCal Calendar

Apple iPhone - iCal Calendar

Looking for a calendar app that shows week view nut syncs with iCal

iPhone Calendar
You can look at quick-Cal which also has a widget for Mac. It has a list view and a month view. I use the list view, but it does not show only one week at a time. The best thing is it uses plain language to add events.

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I hope OS 5.0 brings week view.

IChat...FaceTime

Apple iPhone - IChat...FaceTime

Does IChat work with FaceTime?

iPhone FaceTime
No but there is FaceTime on a Mac now. It replaces iChat.

Skype: New Zealand and back to the US using Skype?

Apple iPhone - Skype: New Zealand and back to the US using Skype?

I have Skype on my MAC and iPhone 4. I bought some Skype credit to make calls. If I travel to another country (New Zealand) can I make calls within New Zealand and back to the US using Skype?

iPhone Call
Provided you have a data network, yes. You'll probably want to make a call while on wifi so you don't get charged international roaming.

Also, you can make Skype to Skype calls for free. I.e. From iPhone to a friend with Skype on a PC or Mac. The only time you need Skype credits is when you're calling with Skype to a landline or cell phone number. IIRC, they call it SkypeOut.

I know... Roaming Charges

Apple iPhone - I know... Roaming Charges

I know this has been said before, any way to get around the roaming charges or at least a cheaper way.

iPhone Call
For domestic call I can't remember when I last paid for roaming. International calls to Canada or Mexico is another question. If you do a lot of that, then look at an international plan or use VOIP. VOIP is probably cheaper.

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I'm talking from the states (Florida) to Puerto Rico,when I will be for a week. How can I do that? Getting one of those plan or how you don't pay for roaming?

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You can call AT&T for the plans, or you can look at Skype in the App Store and learn how to use it while still at home. You can search VOIP in the App Store and see what else comes up. Voice Over IP, but you need a WiFi connection to use it. I have used Skype for texting from the iPhone, but not for voice.

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What roaming? You can get a national plan if you are in the US and there are no roaming charges.

Are you talking about making international calls? You can always call ATT if you are in the US, and get an international plan specific to your travel destination, for the duration of your trip.

If you aren't in the US, I'm afraid my answer is of no use to you... sorry.

Need New Voice Control features

Apple iPhone - Poll: Need New Voice Control features

I have managed to mount my Griffin iPhone mount nicely to the top of my airbag, using just Velcro strips to hold the uppermost part of the Griffin mount. Works a treat!

But now that I have a nice hands free mount that I can Voice control dial and receive incoming phone calls (top of airbag on the steering is a perfect distance), I started to wonder how nice it would be if Apple would extend the Accessibility text-to-speech feature (which is clear and fast) so that a setting would cause incoming text message to simply pop up as they do but be immediately spoken. And even better if tapping the SMS ballon would cause it to repeat the spoken text. That would be a practical compromise allowing much safer messaging than being tempted to read a text message, which we all know is unsafe. There's no way to really avoid messaging completely but it needs to be safer and not require mental focus on the phone. the audio focus seems to be acceptable, like having someone talking in the car.

And I think the same technique could be applied to mail, but with some means for selecting which email folders that would use audio to reduce clutter, (my boss and my wife, for example). I'd like to see the audio enabled email folder opened, the email spoken and the email headers in that folder used to cause any mail to respoken by tapping the header.

This minimal level of physical interaction with the phone seems acceptable to me.

Any one with ideas about this?

iPhone Voice
Have you considered what will happen if the airbag is deployed. It will be implanted somewhere in your body or become a flying object that might kill a passenger.

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Besides the legal ramifications (hands-free or not, some police officers are likely to write a ticket for texting while driving where it is not allowed), mounting your iPhone or any device on the airbag is incredibly dangerous. If the airbag inflates, that iPhone (or other device) is going to slam you in the chest with a LOT of force.

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The whole point of the post is to suggest an audio based way to deal with incoming msgs, unless you disable SMS every time you get in the car. I've found that car mounts which are fixed at an uncomfortable distance are a greater hazard than what I described and a terrible distraction because of the visually intense nature of the iPhone.

Calendars - events vs reminder

Apple iPhone - Calendars - events vs reminder

I use iCal on the Mac and sync events and reminders from several defined calendars to my 3GS. I also sync my work Exchange Server calendar.

Usually I display only one of the iCal calendars and the Exchange calendar on the 3GS, tho I can display others by selecting the iCal calendars I want to see.

I notice that ANY reminder chimes and appears on the screen, regardless of whether that calendar is displayed. This is not what I would like.

I have a calendar called Home, for instance, that is contains actions (like turning certain programs on or off) and is meant only for my desktop machine. I never display those events on the 3GS. However, their reminders go off like clock work.

Is there a way to prevent events from nondisplayed calendars from triggering?

iPhone Calendar
You can choose which calendars to sync in iTunes. Are you syncing Home even though you don't actually want it on the iPhone?

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Thank. On the one hand, I know I can choose which calendars to sync in iTunes.

However, I don't have any calendars selected to sync in iTunes. The check box Sync iCal Calendars is not checked in the Info tab. Dimmed out, the radio button for my mac.com account is selected, I imagine because I've turned on Calendars in on my 3GS in the MobileMe account settings. (iTunes has the statement "Your calendars are being synced over the air..." in the INFO tab under Sync iCal Calendars section).

In Calendars, all my iCal subcalendars, like Home, appear as options for display, along with the Exchange calendar. I can select any or all of them for display.

However, I want to disable the Alarms on the Home calendar. I don't see any option in iCal, in MobileMe or on the 3GS to turn off Home's Alarms. My only option has to do with Display the events.

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So you're using Mobile Me, not iTunes, to sync?

I don't know of a blanket 'disable alarms' function, so that's why I wondered if you wanted to not sync that calendar.

I've never used .Mac/Mobile Me so I can't try anything myself.

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Well, that's an interesting question! As I indicated, the settings seem to follow the 'sync by MobileMe' approach and yes I have MobileMe.

iCal on all my computers sync to MM (editing contacts or events in either place flows them to the other). I have a couple of computers that are part of that collection and all goes as expected....

Except the 3GS. Items added to the cloud calendar DO NOT appear on the 3GS and vice versa, even tho iTunes says the calendars are being sync'ed over the air. The only way those updates are made is by sync'ing hardwired to iTunes (even tho, as I said, the ŒSync iCal Calendars' is NOT checked, tho the radio button for the MM account is selected, tho greyed out so it can't be edited in iTunes.)

And of course, my original question remains, how to disable one of my iCal calendars, called Home, from triggering events on the 3GS. I'd be glad to remove it from the display on 3GS option as I never need to see these daily events on the calendar.

Skype Calls

Apple iPhone - Skype Calls

Is there a cost per call to use Skype to call Europe?

iPhone Skype
not if it is skype to skype - it is free. If not, then it will vary from country to country. You may want to check their website out at skype.com

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You're right, Skype to Skype is free.

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If I remember correctly....you "buy" credits with skype. They eat out of that credit for your calls. I do believe that skype to skype is free.

There should be no iphone charge since I think it only works on wifi.

I use skype all the time. My $10.00 goes a loooooooong way.

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Thanks for the information. I was thinking Skype to Skype, which is free on my computer, and I'm glad to hear it is also free on Iphone.

international calls

Apple iPhone - international calls

I am going to Brazil and would like to know what is the best way to use my iphone without coming home to a huge bill.

Does anyone know how Skype works?

iPhone call
Put it in airplane mode.

Then just find a place with free wifi and use skype.

Go to skype.com and learn about pricing, etc. It's cheap.

AIRPLANE MODE shuts off the wireless antenna.. not just the phone calling feature....

But you can then turn Wifi back on.

However, Airplane also shuts off the GPS receiver.

The simplest way to stop ONLY the cellular radio is to remove the SIM card.

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To learn about using Skype I made two separate accounts one on the Desktop (with a webcam) and the laptop. This was pre iDevices. Read the stuff on the skype site. Made the practice tests they suggested. Had one call the other using home wifi to connect both to the internet/skype. Had two photo in photo of myself, two different angles. Had to be careful with the mics and feedback, but it was good practice to learn how to use.

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