With the introduction of true wifi calling in iOS 8, will uk carriers use this as a way to save on developing these rumoured 'tugo' style apps for the iphone?

O2 has launched Tugo and Three's version is on the way soon. I don't know about EE and Vodafone, but remember Android is huge, not everyone has an iPhone.

I think this wifi calling works by sending as receiving calls over wifi locally. It still needs a regular cellular connection on the phone. I don't think this service is the same as VOIP at all.

This is my take.

Didn't watch the Apple conference, so I don't know but why would you send calls over local wifi - you'd be within earshot!

Unless you mean both have to be on wifi like Skype, Viber etc rather than making calls out to cellular numbers / PSTN

Its not meant for privacy but convenience. All it means is that you can make or take calls at your computer or iPad (i think) even if your phone is elsewhere in your house or office. I suppose you could use headphones. No cellular network backend changes are needed. Al your doing is using your computer as a speaker and mic instead of the phone. Very handy. You can also make calls by clicking on a phone number on a website without picking up your iPhone.

I think you're talking about convergence which is the ability to use the iPhone from a Mac or iPad.

The OP was talking about WiFi calling, something the US T-Mobile network has offered for a while, and is basically O2's TuGo built in. This solves signal issues when you have WiFi in a building but no cellular service your SMS and calls still get through.

Agree with the above.

Is wifi calling what Orange uses for its signal boost?

If more networks start using this rather than separate tugo-type apps then it would be a bit more elegant I think. For starters it is baked in at an OS-level (I believe certain Android, Blackberry and Nokia phones also support this standard), so no need for a separate app - plus with it being integrated with the OS presumably all your call logs and messages will be in one place rather than half in a separate app and half in the OS's call/message logs.

Do you mean UMA?

The app with the right permissions can write into the call log and even use the android dialler potentially. A lot of phones don't support UMA I don't think, in fact I'll be honest I don't really know much about it, other than it being an older Orange only thing.

This is something like Visual Voice Mail that needs certain things behind the scenes to work. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if it is a iPhone 6 exclusive feature as knowing Apple it will likely be done with there own special kit. Only carrier I know so far that has said they will offer it is T-Mobile US. But should work very similar to something like O2 Tu Go or Three's App which is coming out very soon. Benefit of this is that obviously it would be fully integrated into the device.

T-Mobile USA is the only network that advertises they have it, currently only on Androids that they sell with their own custom ROM, so not sure its an Apple specific. Yes, they could make it iPhone 6 only to try and gain more upgrades. Who knows. Apparently they don't have a sales problem.