Philips VP5500 WiFi VoIP phone launches

January 23, 2006

The Philips VP5500 WiFi VoIP phone was announced way back in September 2005 and it was finally launched today in the Netherlands of all places. No offense Netherlands, but how come you get first dibs on this cool phone?sad Anyway, the sleekly styled VP-5500 is powered by Linux and lets users enjoy live video calls using its built-in VGA camera (640x480 resolution) that rotates up to 240 degrees and supports 30 FPS. Video calls are displayed on a 2.2" color LCD supporting 64k colors. The VP5500 features a video out port that lets others watch the video on a TV. Though hooking up a video wire kind defeats the purpose of using a wireless videophone, don't ya think?

You can also zoom in on captured still images stored on the phone's internal 1MB memory. It also features a built-in speakerphone and hands-free headset compatibility.

As previously mentioned, the Philips VP-5500 VoIP Videophone runs on Linux, so they've built this phone around "standards", such as Wi-Fi, WPA, and most importantly the SIP protocol standard. The VP5500 can be upgraded wirelessly and will support applications developed by service providers. No date has been set for a release outside of Holland, however Philips is looking to partner with third party operators.



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Comments to Philips VP5500 WiFi VoIP phone launches


  1. patrick :

    dude, philips is Dutch, so maybe that's why we got it first in the Netherlands. duh.


  1. Tom Keating :

    >>dude, philips is Dutch, so maybe that's why we got it first in the Netherlands. duh.

    Yeah, I already knew that. I'm just another one of those arrogant American jerks that thinks Americans should be first to get everything.big grin

    I'm just kidding. In my original post, I was just trying to be humorous as to why the Dutch got such a cool phone.

    But in all seriousness, many large international companies do tend to launch in the U.S. first, because it's one of the largest technology buyers. Japan is one exception. Japanese developed products often launch in Japan first and then U.S. second.


  1. Shawn Van Every :

    I just spent a fair amount of time looking for one of these for sale. Do they really exist? I can't find them anywhere (then again, I can't read Dutch). Can't find any reviews either..

    Anyone?


  1. Raymond Gray :

    In my research on Wi-Fi enabled VoIP phones, there seems to be a problem if trying to use them with a public hotspot that has a connection protocol. Panerra's Bread shops, for example, have free Wi-Fi at most shops. Using a laptop, you fire up a browser and get a Panerra's splash screen, enter some info (email address, etc.) and are then connected.

    Does anyone know if this Philips VoIP phone can handle that level of Wi-Fi connection protocol?

    Ray


  1. Droog :

    Finally some sense of security on a VoIP phone (i.e. WPA instead of WEP)
    I frankly can't imagine any sane network engineer using WEP on their network.



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