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Palm users get the short end of the stick when it comes Voice Over IP (VoIP) services. While Windows Mobile handheld owners have long had the ability to place Skype-based Voice Over IP (VoIP) calls via their devices, for example, there's been little progress toward 'quality' Internet calling on the Palm OS front.

A new MantraGroup mobiVoIP service may soon change this, however. Currently in closed beta - all slots have been taken - mobiVoIP purports to deliver to the Palm community what has long been missing, a decent VoIP experience—similar to Skype for Pocket PC.

VoIP short course: VoIP lets you make phone calls over the Internet instead of the regular Public Switched Telephone Network; often times for free or at a minimum rate, using a normal touch-tone telephone and dialing a landline phone number.

Like with Skype for Pocket PC, mobiVoIP conveys the experience to PDAs.

mobiVoIP users can talk to each other for free and pay less for calls to standard cellular and landline telephone lines. Rates will vary depending on what plan you sign up for, according to the company. While you can dial mobiVoIP calls over Bluetooth, Wi-fi and EV-DO connections, the MantraGroup says it has even successfully tested mobiVoIP over slow-as-molasses GPRS and IrDA bandwidths even.

Although the beta is closed, interested parties can signup to be notified for when mobiVoIP becomes generally available.

Here's a list of mobiVoIP beta 0.9.2 features:

 Ability to make PSTN calls over IP

 Caller-ID [via SIP]

 Profiles Settings Dialog [for configuring user Account]

 Secure Account Authentication using SIP MD5 Authentication

 Network Settings Dialog [for IP address related settings]

 Automatic IP resolution [via STUN servers]

 Detecting Dynamic IP [when STUN is disabled]

 Codecs supported: G.711 and GSM 6.10 FR - choose your codec based on your connection speed [GSM 6.10 FR for low speed connections > 60kbps, G711 for high speed connections > 160kbps]

 Call Timer [should be Enabled from Debug Prefs]

 Audio Configuration Dialog [use to save your bandwidth with voice activity detection]

 Calibration Test - estimate your environment noise and use for noise suppression!

 Noise Suppression - a feature to save your bandwidth usage - use your connection only to transmit your voice

 Setting for duration to Keep transmitting after silence [specified in multiples of 20mS]

 Dial, Hang-up & Redial - now with newer and larger button!

 Touch-tones [DTMF]

 Mute Speaker/Mic

 Lookup Phonebook - Dial right from your contacts

 Bandwidth Test - a simple echo test to get an estimate of your bandwidth! [latnecy = time to hear your voice back/2; (as your voice makes a round trip)]

 Recommended Connections - WiFi, Bluetooth, EV-DO

 Treo 600/650 extras - Easy five-way navigation

 non-Treo extras - No worries of network disconnection on device entering sleep mode