Turning an iPod Touch Into an iPhone

David Burnett recommends an eWeek article on the leading contenders to make an iPhone out of an iPod Touch. Of course your newly phone-capable iTouch needs no activation and no binding carrier contract, just Wi-Fi. One of the companies working in this space, JaJah, is bundling the software with back-end services such as billing, so that carriers — or anyone really — can offer free-calling iTouch phones.

Watch Apple crush this

[Goodgerster]

"What? It competes with our own services!? Delete it from the Store! Then bring me the developers' ashes on a plate with a glass of red wine..."

Re:Something is missing...

[EvilIdler]

The second generation of iPod touch has the option to plug in a headset with a microphone, and it also has a speaker. Who cares about the old thing you still lug around? :P

Re:Something is missing...

[jollespm]

I think you have that backwards. The 2nd gen Touch has a speaker, but no mic. You can buy the "Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic" and you then have a mic.

Re:interesting concept but

[Sechr Nibw]

The new iPod Touch has bluetooth? Since when? Not according to the Apple Store: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_touch?mco=MTIxMTE [apple.com] AFAIK, the new features were a physical volume control, microphone, speaker, and new case design.

Re:Add WiMax or cell-wifi bridge

[batkiwi]

They have them for any ISP. Linksys WRT54G3G will work with almost any PCMCIA based 3g modem (works with all providers in AU, theyupdate often).

There's ones by netcomm that work with any USB 3g dongle as well.

Re:an iphone that's missing 3g and edge

[e4g4]

What's that? Your going to find a way to put it on there without Apple's permission? A simple firmware upgrade will take care of that.

Which is precisely why I've had a voip client on my iPhone that, in blatant disregard of Apple's Wifi only voip rules works on the cellular network, and has through the last several firmware updates...

Re:Scarce wifi? Not really.

[MaggieL]

No, King of Prussia is named for the bar that the town grew up around. The bar was named for Fredrick the Great (aka "Frederick the Queer"), some say in the hope of attracting the business of Prussian mercenaries encamped at nearby Valley Forge.

The Turnpike comes though here too...

Re:Something is missing...

[khellendros1984]

People have built things to plug into the bottom to act as a microphone. I don't know if anyone sells professionally manufactured ones, but I know you can buy peoples' basement-hacked-together things.

Re:Something is missing...

[khellendros1984]

I don't think the first gen's headphone plug works with a mic. One can find them around [touchmic.com] though. They plug in through the port on the bottom of the device.

Re:Already there

[kilodelta]

Uggh, sparkfun.com

Re:Already there

[kilodelta]

It just works. Didn't have to jailbreak it at all.