How to Make Phone Calls from your iPad

The iPad may look like an oversized iPhone except that it cannot make or receive phone calls. There are however apps, both free and paid, that can turn your iPad into a phone, sort of.

For instance, there’s Skype that lets you make voice and video calls calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world for free. Then there are apps like Fring andTruephone that you may use to call any landline or mobile number from the iPad over Wi-Fi or 3G.

Another option is Line2 that practically converts your iPad into an iPhone for a monthly fee. You can make phone calls, send text messages and the app runs in the background so you can even receive phone calls while not using the app.

Turn your iPad into an iPhone

The various apps that I have mentioned above use VoIP calling but wouldn’t it be cool if you could use the SIM card of your own mobile phone to make calls from the iPad without changing the number.

There’s a new Cydia app in town called PhoneIt-iPad that does exactly that. It can turn an iPad 3G into an iPhone allowing you to make or receive phone calls and text messages. The app is expensive at $19.99 and it works only on jailbroken iPad 1 running iOS 4.3.3 and not the newer iPad 2.

I haven’t tried the app myself but my friend Kawaljit Singh of NDTV just did and he sent me a note saying the thing works as advertised:

PhoneItiPad works exactly as advertised. Both SMS and phone works. Since there is no normal speakers on the iPad, the phone calls work via headphones or with speakerphone.

Here are some screenshots of the PhoneItiPad app in action.