Not sure if this is a stupid question but can someone explain to me why a 3G iPad cannot be used as a cellular phone on the 3G network? I know I can receive SMS on my iPad on the 2degrees network in NZ. Why can't I send them? Yeah I know you might look a bit silly walking down the street with a iPad held up to your ear but I'm thinking bluetooth OK!

I'm sure its just Apple being Apple. But is it a hardware or software constraint? If firm/software is there a JB app that will let me do this oneday?

The iPad does not have the necessary 3G voice circuitry to be able to act as a normal cellular phone. It can also, natively, neither transmit nor receive SMS (short message service) messages (aka 'texts'). Some third-party providers host remote text facilities on their servers, which make it 'appear' as though you can send and receive texts, but they are not natively received on the iPad. You can, of course, use VoIP (voice over IP (Internet Protocol)) services, such as Skype, to make and receive phone calls on your iPad, but the calls are not sent or received using the GSM voice protocols, rather they use the third-party app - Skype - to transmit the encoded voice signals over the IP data network rather than the voice network.

Tim

Thanks. Understood... pity.

Yes, I use my ipad2 as a 'normal' phone using skype credit. I can call literally any number I want. Acts like a normal house VoIP phone. And cheaper than normal domestic phone charges.

Actually, yes, the iPad 2 can be used as a phone, same as iPad 1, the software is phoneitipad, is develop by the people of iphoneislam, and I test it on an iPad 1 and is great, but the issue is the dual core architecture within the iPad 2, but they are working to adapt the software for the iPad 2, so really soon you will be able to use your iPad 2 3G as a phone (which is better because of the Bluetooth installed as difference from the iPad 1)