Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype with Boingo Hot Spot Manager

If you're a Skype subscriber, you're probably very happy with the cheap calls you can make to overseas land lines and mobile phones, and you're probably ecstatic over the free calls you can make 24/7 to your fellow Skype subscribers around the world. But you're probably not overjoyed having to be tethered to your computer in order to make those calls.

Thankfully, Belkin has come to your rescue. With the Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype, not only are you free to roam away from your computer as you talk turkey with Istanbul, you don't even need a computer to make calls. As long as you have access to a Wi-Fi network -- any hot spot will do -- you can use your Belkin Wi-Fi phone to connect to your Skype account and talk to your heart's content.

We recently put a beta model of the Belkin Wi-Fi phone to the test, and we walked away impressed with its potential. While there are a few wrinkles still to iron out, the Belkin Wi-Fi has a promising future with Skype subscribers.

How Skype Works
For the uninitiated, Skype is a free service that allows you to use your computer's broadband connection to make phone calls to anywhere in the world. You simply create a free account on the Skype web site, download software to your computer, and once you have a microphone and headset, you can call land lines, mobile numbers or other Skype users through your computer. The Belkin Wi-Fi for Skype takes the computer, headphones and headset out the equation, but this is generally how the service works.

With Skype, your calls to overseas non-Skype users are substantially cheaper than most cell phone or land-line services, and your calls to your fellow Skype users, regardless of where they are in the world, are absolutely free. So if you're in a business that requires extensive overseas communication, or you're trekking the globe, Skype is a service you'll want to consider.