|
Links |
 |
VoIP isn't just for saving money - it can be used to add security too, according to One Day Mobile, which said that its Babylon nG voice encryption software for mobile phones could have made recent phone tapping scandals impossible. The software is a SIP client for Windows Mobile or Symbian smartphones and voice-enabled PDAs, which adds 256-bit AES encryption to the VoIP data. One Day Mobile's Joe Francis said that it operates along the lines of Skype or instant messaging, with each phone having a list of available contacts. The software requires a central gateway server, and initially only mobile-to-mobile calls are possible, but Francis said that a desktop PC client is on the way. Users have the option to run their own gateway or subscribe to One Day Mobile's. He added that the strength of the encryption means that anyone wanting to buy the software must have their identity verified. "We wouldn't want to be seen handing it out to anyone," he said. "It's aimed at PLCs, government bodies and so on." One Day Mobile will localise, test and distribute the software in the UK - its developer is a German company, Safe-Com - but will sell it through specialist resellers such as Formjet, rather than through its own online retail channel, Francis said. A potential problem is that Babylon nG runs over the packet data channel - and GPRS in particular is noted for its latency. Francis claimed that this has improved of late though, so while his engineers were getting delays of 2.8 seconds on GPRS VoIP in early testing, that's now down to 0.8 seconds. He added that latency hasn't been an issue on 3G and EDGE, and that if the mobile device supports WiFi it could run Babylon nG over that instead. more >>> |