Geek Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 <div class="KonaBody"><p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ipad-phone1.jpg" alt="Use the iPad as a Phone" title="ipad-phone" width="620" height="356" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29187" /></p> <p>Want to use the iPad or iPod touch as a phone? You can do that. With Skype or Google Voice you can turn your standard wi-fi iPad into a VOIP phone, and you’ll be able to make and receive phone calls and text messages directly from the iPad or iPod. These apps are free to download and even free to make calls between other users of the services, but if you want to make outside phone calls or send text messages to real phones you’ll need to pay for some cheap credits. </p> <p>Before getting started, it is strongly recommended to use headphones when making calls from an iPad or iPod touch or else you will be stuck on speakerphone constantly, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DEPOA0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=oxd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004DEPOA0">Apple earphones</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=oxd-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004DEPOA0" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> are great because they include a microphone, or even something like the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003DKL4JA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=oxd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003DKL4JA">Moshi handset works very well (and looks hysterical)</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=oxd-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B003DKL4JA" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, this also insures you <del datetime="2012-04-02T17:54:25+00:00">won’t look like a huge dork holding the iPad up to your ear</del> will get the best call quality.</p> <h2 style="font-size:1.2em;">3 Free Apps to Make Phone Calls from iPad or iPod touch</h2> <ul> <li><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skype-for-ipad/id442012681?mt=8" target="_blank">Skype</a> – Skype has been around for ages as an internet phone solution and the call quality is very good, much better than the voice quality that comes over a cellular connection. Skype can make free voice or video calls to other Skype users, and paid Skype credits go a long ways, allowing you to have a real phone number that can receive calls, plus call out to other phones and even send text messages. This is probably the best choice for iPad because it has a native app and is widely used.</li> <li><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-voice/id318698524?mt=8" target="_blank">Google Voice</a> – Google Voice allows for very high quality VOIP calls, but unfortunately there isn’t a native iPad app. You can run the iPhone app in 2x mode but that is rarely preferable, making Google Voice a better choice for iPod touch users. The service itself is good and very similar to Skype, with free calls to other Google Voice users and with some paid credits you can also make and receive phone calls to other phones.</li> <li><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/talkatone-for-google-voice/id397648381?mt=8" target="_blank">Talkatone</a> – Talkatone is basically a native Google Voice client for iPad, so it will require a Google Voice account to use. Calling and texting is there, and the app works fine for iPod touch and iPad users.</li> </ul> <p>Which service to use ultimately depends on your preferences and your device, but in terms of call quality both Skype and Google Voice are great. Prices for call credits are also similar enough to not make much of a difference in consideration, so overall I’d recommend picking a service that matches your iOS hardware with a native client and where most of your contacts are.</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/466VBfgRPqKnStm5QSGXN-gHBQ4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/466VBfgRPqKnStm5QSGXN-gHBQ4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/466VBfgRPqKnStm5QSGXN-gHBQ4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/466VBfgRPqKnStm5QSGXN-gHBQ4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=UOqp0PzKwPU:EHNpgzu0Yus:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=UOqp0PzKwPU:EHNpgzu0Yus:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=UOqp0PzKwPU:EHNpgzu0Yus:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=UOqp0PzKwPU:EHNpgzu0Yus:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=UOqp0PzKwPU:EHNpgzu0Yus:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=UOqp0PzKwPU:EHNpgzu0Yus:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=UOqp0PzKwPU:EHNpgzu0Yus:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/osxdaily/~4/UOqp0PzKwPU" height="1" width="1"/> View the full article
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