iPhone OS 4.0 Gets Background VOIP
This iPhone OS event is turning out to be a lot less boring than expected. Apple has just announced the next major new API for the iPhone, and it’s a doozy: VOIP.
Skype demoed the concept. Essentially, now, if you want to run a VOIP program on your iPhone, it doesn’t have to be open: it just runs in the background. Want to get incoming calls while you’re on your iPhone through Skype? It’s not a problem… they just pipe right on in, and can be answered at your leisure like a regular call… right down to the same default ring.
This is big, and something I don’t think anyone expected. It also shows some maturity on the part of Apple’s wireless partner, AT&T: it seems like they realized that data’s data, and it doesn’t much matter how you make your call, as long as you pay them.
John Brownlee is Cult of Mac's Deputy Editor. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his girlfriend and two parakeets. You can follow him 
