It is now possible for consumers to make mobile calls without spending a dime. Now there are some downsides, but depending on your financial situation it may be worth it.
Consumer Brian Mincell downloaded the Whistle app to his new iPad and his iPad Touch. With the touch of the screen, it can transform Internet devices into mobile phones.
These gadgets can serve as mobile phones without the monthly bill.
"The iPod Touch is an iPhone without the phone and with Whistle it has a phone," Brian said.
And it is not just Whistle. Skype and the well-known computer voice over Internet protocol Voip are also into mobile service.
"So you can put Skype or some other Voip calling software on a smart phone and now it is making calls but doing it over a wireless Internet connection as opposed to a wireless cellular connection and that's where you save your money," Brian said.
The conversations sound good, but during one of our tests the sound was less than ideal. It was kind of tiny and robot-like. But Brian says that's the first time he's heard it sound like that.
"It works for me, it works from home. It works from where I work and I haven't had any problems with it so far," Brian said. "WiFi is more mobile which is not the same of portable, you have to go to where it is, and cellular follows you around."
Whistle plays a commercial before placing free domestic calls and charges for overseas connections, but it is just a penny a minute for the United Kingdom. Skype charges a couple pennies a minute for domestic calls and a tad more for foreign connections, but it is still extremely cheap.
