What VOIP apps do you use, only Nimbuzz, Fring, Skype, Google Voice & do you ever call landlines?
That question made me come to a disgusting realization of a situation that I actually set out to avoid but ended up in anyway... I actually depend on all 4!!!
Nimbuzz
Free, universal, social network to social network text chat.
Nimbuzz is more than a free voip it's the ultimate social networking on-the-go app. My friends call it my cyber-stalking app because if your my friend on either: AIM, MSN, FB, yahoo, Gmail, Google Talk, msn, xbox live, myspace or (til nov 1st... skype) and others i don't use.
I can always see what you're up to and at the very least, start a text chat with u.
So, you're trying to disappear from the radar and not answer you're phones, appearing offline on fb and xbox live
... then oops, u sign into your gmail, "bling" there you are on my nimbuzz friend's list
appearing as 'online in google talk' (cuz it's tied to gmail)
for voice chat, i only use nimbuzz to call friends that also have the numbuzz app. (which is FAR fewer than friends with skype)
Fring
Cheap phone to phone voice calls.
Presently I only use fring to call lan-lines, cells, telephone calls to
unlisted phones only. (Though fring will probably be my only phone caller after goog411's discontinued in abouit 2 weeks.)
Why fring? cuz of the rates... .01 minute. (-vs- skype .012 and nimbuzz .02 cents a minute)
Fring's an ugly app and loads sloooow. Has the graphics design and layout of a concept scratched out on a wet cocktail napkin with a broken crayon. But for
unlisted U.S. calls over wifi, 1 cent per minutes the cheapest
Skype
Free software to software voice calls.
out of all the voip apps, more of your friends are already onboard with it and have skype accounts than any other service. I can only speak for android and the evo, but skype seems to connect quick, and has the best voip call quality.
I also use skpye to make totally free phone calls to any
listed U.S. number using 1-800-GOOG-411. (however, google's discontinuing goog 411 on Nov 11
probably because of this and the rampant t-mobile fav five exploitations.)
Google voice
Free phone to phone sms texts and voice mail.
Google voice on the android is NOT a voip. The service itself is best-described as a call-switchboard / answering, voicemail and sms texting service. And the android app is nothing more than a sms texting and voicemail interface.
I use google voice for:
A) a free phone number
B) my voice mail
C) sms texting
I'd kill for the 'Holy Grail', the single app that can do all of the above but alas... no such thing exists.
Really you find EVO's Wi-Fi chip great as there are many Wi-Fi complaints?
I have know idea how the evo's actual "chip" stacks up specification-wise against the competition. I only know how it stacks up with every other wifi device I've encountered in the real world and all I can say is that it's connection-times and web speed are FAST (in fact, the fastest handheld web speeds I've ever seen in the real world.) And... it's range is as far as my farthest reaching wifi computers!
All clocking aside, my evo can load the same HQ clip off youtube on the same wifi network as whatever device or computer you got and you know what? The evo's video's buffered and playing first without any lag. Even against 108 mbps Super G connected devices.
So unless somebody provides definitive proof youtube's favoring android and throttling back windows, ios, etc...
I'm rating the evo's wifi speed as:
The Best I've Encountered. BEYOND SUFFICIENT
Wifi Range: I can see and connect to, as many distant surrounding wifi networks on my evo as I can with my farthest reaching wifi laptop. Some of these networks I know are at least 40 yards away. Considering I've never seen anybody else reporting these ranges (in the real world)...
I'm rating the evo's wifi range as:
The Best I've Encountered. BEYOND SUFFICIENT
I would love to see all carriers offer no contract plans, month to month & data-only in the mix as well.
This is going to happen as the big carriers are quickly looking for a new revenue models to roll with the punches of an ever growing free-voice alternative market (voip, skype, most recently facebook, etc...)
Since you considered the iPad, do you have any thoughts on EVO vs. the
Samsung Tabs?
Not sure if I'd even have a use for a tablet now that I've got the evo. Especially because more than the things I do on the go that can wait-til-i'm- home (email, news, etc...) the camera and gps are indispensable to me now. I can tell you this, I'd probably never leave the house with a tablet. Sometimes I don't even bring the evo if it's too big for what I'm wearing. I think I like the samsung tabs over the ipod though cuz of android and flash.
Sounds like you want to be a wifi-naught. I'd say go for it, but keep in mind the services and features you'll depend on and the form-factor and not so much the sex-appeal or the status quo.