[Android General] Mrktmind:
It seems to me there are several opportunities out there that nobody is capitalizing on. Maybe there is a reason that I'm not aware of?

The biggest opportunity I see is the wifi phone. More and more people are looking for ways to ditch their cell phone. Either due to financial reasons, privacy reasons, or just because they are tired of aiding and abetting a monopoly (five companies working in collusion is the same as one company owning it all). And while this potential market is already plenty large enough to make some serious money off of it is set to explode in the near future. All it is going to take is a company to provide the wifi solution and when (it really is a question of when rather than if) the next big privacy snafu (think carrier IQ) happens the wifi phone will go viral.

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 with the intent of exploring the possibility of using it as a wifi phone. Here is the state of the wifi phone market as of now:

Google Voice connected to GrooveIp / Talkatone / SIPDroid / Etc.: The main problem with Google Voice is that it has a delay. Not a huge one and sometimes it is barely noticeable but it is enough to cause you to talk over the top of each other so this is a slight problem. Google Voice is the only solution for SMS texting and while it works ok the Google Voice App is really limited and lacks a lot of features.

Skype: No delay and very good voice quality. BUT, the software is crap. And it has always been crap. I tried it back in '08 with a windows phone and couldn't get the sound to come out the correct speaker - same problem today. Boy, they've come a long way huh? Tried the hacked XDA version of the Skype software that is suppose to allow you to manually select which speaker the sound comes out - that didn't work either. Also suffers from no SMS texting solution. So it's really not a contender.

Vonage: This is the new contender. Initially it wasn't available for my device and noticed yesterday it became available. Tried it but no go - you need a cell number just to get it set up. Hello??? That's what I need Vonage for!! The software looks better than Skype but I doubt they will figure out the wifi opportunity.

Other Tools:

Wifi Ruler / Wifi Jumper / Wefi / Etc. These apps allow your phone to connect to closest wifi signal without interaction from the user. Sort of like how your cell phone automatically switches from one cell tower to another. Haven't tried these out much yet but if one of them works it solves the connection problem. Unless you're driving and passing wifi points too quickly.

Google Voice SMS Integration : This app is suppose to integrate Google Voice SMS with the standard SMS Android app. Which would solve the lack of features problem but it requires a cell account so no go either.

Now that there are a great many decent smart phones with wifi ability for sale at a reasonable price hardware is no longer a problem. In fact I'm starting to think I might have better luck with building a wifi phone from an unlocked cell phone than my Samsung Player.

In short, if someone figures out how to do the wifi phone there is a very large market waiting for it!