D-Link introduced the DPH-540 Wireless G Flip-Style Wi-Fi Mobile Phone at the Voice on the Net conference this week in San Jose, Calif. The DPH-540 lets users make VoIP calls anywhere there's a Wi-Fi hot spot. It connects to the wireless network using the 802.11b/g standard.
D-Link's DPH-540 displays call information such as the last numbers dialed, address book entries and caller ID numbers. The phone also supports several advanced calling features, including last-number redial, mute, hold and text messaging. The company expects the handset to go on sale this summer for under $300.
Also at the VON conference this week, Cisco Systems demonstrated products designed to help phone companies, wireless providers and cable operators offer a wide array of IP-based multimedia services to consumers and business customers. Featured products included a software application called Unified Personal Communicator, which allows users to see on their PCs or IP phones who is online.
Cisco explained how its new communications software, when running on PDAs, allows users to switch between a cellular network and a Wi-Fi network.
Vonage, which provides IP telephony service to consumers and small businesses, displayed its new portable Wi-Fi phones, which allow people to use their Vonage VoIP service when they're connected to any public Wi-Fi hot spot. The Vonage phones were on display at a booth hosted by Sonus, a "softswitch" maker that provides equipment to Vonage.
VoIP chipmaker Infineon Technologies showed off its new INCA-IP2, a "gigabit Ethernet" IP chip for IP phones. The INCA-IP2, Infineon's second-generation IP-phone system chip, is designed to allow companies that want to use VoIP to deploy gigabit Ethernet to employees' desktops. These higher-speed processors also pave the way for more multimedia features to be added to office phones.