While iPod touch owners might not have the flexibility of mobile communication that their iPhone-toting friends enjoy, that doesn't mean the iPod touch is a slouch in the communicating methods at home. When the second generation of the iPod touch was unveiled in September, Steve Jobs revealed many new updates, including integrated Nike + iPod support among other features. Left off the list of announced updates? The ability to use an external microphone, like the microphone found in the iPhone's headphones. The result? The iPod touch is the ultimate at-home internet tablet, which can make and receive phone calls. We'll show you how to put that to use in this feature.

To turn an iPod touch into a faux iPhone, there are a few simple steps. First, find an iPhone headset, or other compatible microphone — we like this $10 mic cord from Amazon — and plug it into the iPod touch.  

Next, download Fring, an instant messaging application for the iPod touch. Enter in your contact details for your favorite Voice Over IP service (Skype or SIP compatible VoIP network). 

 

Hit the dialpad button on the bottom, and you're ready to call a phone number.

  

IMPORTANT: We had some problems making calls initially, but we found the problem. Every number called must be preceded by a plus sign (+) followed by the country code and area code. For US callers, it's going to be +1, and other countries will use their country code. If you've got numbers stored in your address book, they too need to be prepended by these numbers. We're hoping Fring's developers will fix this issue soon.

Our experience was pretty good. We found that the call quality was adequate, and akin to a normal Skype call. On the receiving end, we had a similar experience. We had a bit of delay, which is likely attributed to our connection, but a definitely usable call. In order to call regular phone numbers, users will need a $3 per month "SkypeOUT" subscription, which can be set up on skype.com.

The real downside to our experiment was with our iPod touch. We had problems getting it connected to WiFi networks, though after a hard reboot the device connected just fine. When connecting to Fring, there's a wait of a about a minute before Skype calls can be made. A bit of an annoying wait, but not annoying enough to ruin the experience.

Where would you end up using the iPod touch as a phone? In our imaginary high tech home of the future, we'd likely have headphone equipped iPod touches all over our WiFi blanketed home, which could control the media playback of everything in our home. With that, we'd add a Skype number that we'd login to with all of our iPod touches, and use it to replace our home phone. 

That's the pipe dream, but the reality is the iPod touch + Skype + Fring combo is useful for a subset of people who find themselves wanting to make calls from their home without burning through cell phone minutes. We see this useful for people who work from home — like myself — who are on long conference calls and like the comfort of walking around the house while on the call.

This is not going to instantly turn an iPod touch into an iPhone, nor will it provide the flexibility that cell phone users need. However, it's an easy and convenient way to add even more flexibility to the already useful iPod touch.

Do you think this combo could replace your home phone? Would you buy an iPod touch simply for this functionality? Is it overhyped? Sound off in the comments and let us know whether VoIP on the iPod touch is important to you.

Special thanks to Rana from Medialets, who I strong-armed into letting me borrow her headset, and Judith from CrowdFusion, who sparked this idea.