Time to update your apps again; the Skype update for iOS 4 multitasking is now live. Now you can not only make calls over 3G with an iPhone, you can receive them while using other apps. After launching Skype and logging in, you’ll be able to make calls and leave the app while still talking, just like expected. What you might not have expected is that you can also receive calls in the background as long as you’re still logged in.

As one of the seven tent poles in Steve’s keynote today, Apple announced a new VOIP API. For VOIP applications, users will now be able to receive calls even if the application using the VOIP isn’t in the foreground. This means that applications like Skype will be able to use the double high status bar when on a call much like the actual phone. Furthermore, calls can also come through via a pop-up when you’re not in the application, allowing you to answer or ignore them.

It seems AT&T finally warmed up to the inevitable, and it’s not that surprising. Net neutrality is all the rage right now, and a decision like this makes AT&T more open about its network. They might have been be forced into something similar as a result of the proposed FCC rules about net neutrality. (Net neutrality means that service providers would not be able to block certain applications from use on their networks.)

According to Reuters (so you know, it might still be a rumor or something), Skype will be released for the iPhone tomorrow. As to be expected, you won’t be able to use VOIP over 3G or EDGE, though you will be able to text chat over cell networks. Voice chat will be available over WiFi and may prove to be a great way to save minutes and money on your cell plan.

Apple has finally allowed a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) program to be made available for the iPhone. Fring is available now at the iTunes store for free, and allows users to make voice communications over a wireless network using Fring’s network, or “Skype, Skype-out or any SIP providers you chose.” Users can also place more »

A German court has issued an injunction banning that country’s iPhone users from downloading a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) called Sipgate onto their iPhones. The program allows users to make phone calls using a wireless internet connection, rather than using a cell phone connection (and paying carrier T-mobile in order to do so).

Their reasoning is interesting:

The core point of the argument was that in order to use Sipgate the iPhoner would have to jailbreak their Apple iPhone handset and thus breach the contract with T-Mobile.

The court apparently agreed with that argument.

A company by the name of iCall is offering the ability to both make and receive free phone calls on your iPhone when in range of a wireless hotspot. What’s interesting about this is that you can also hop on and off of the VoIP service as you enter and leave a hotspot, as shown in the YouTube video (after the break). It also has access to your entire address book on your iPhone, along with a customizable voicemail feature. This application should be available next week when the SDK App Store comes out.

Click through to see the video.

Sipgate has just launched the beta version of its new application which will bring VoIP service to the iPhone. Using industry standard SIP, iPhone users will be able to place or receive VoIP calls over WiFi using their iPhones. Additionally, Sipgate’s VoIP service lets users maintain both domestic and international numbers in one place. The more »

Surely you remember Fring, the free third party VoIP application for your jailbroken iPhone. Well, now there is a new voice in the game: sipgate. Sipgate is free like Fring, but requires a SIP account after you use your 111 free minutes. However, sipgate does provide support for third party VoIP services other than itself. more »