Skype recently announced "the world's first WiFi phones for Skype". This is an odd declaration for a press release dated July 20, 2006, considering that at least the Netgear phones was announced in June, but will not be available until August.

The four new phones (one from each of four companies) apparently have an interface that's relatively easy to use, and of course support Skype. Here's a picture of the Belkin phone, which at nearly $190 seems a bit pricey.

If you live in Canada or the US, with one one of these phones, you can basically call anywhere in these two countries for free right now. That's provided you have Wi-Fi Internet access. (Free SkypeOut calling within Canada and the US is available only until the end of Dec 2006.)

Personally, while I love Skype, I've already got a Palm Treo 650 with cellular and wireless data access. I have no desire to buy yet another phone (I'm on my sixth in ten years). So I've been trying to find software that will let me make VoIP calls, with little luck. All the software solutions I've tried just do not work on the Treo 650, mainly because the 650s running on the Palm OS cannot handle phone calls and wireless access simultaneously. Que sera sera. If I find something that actually works - instead of just claiming to - you'll hear about it