Is that a V-Phone in your pocket?

Vonage has added a new device to its hardware lineup for all the VoIP-using road warriors out there: the . A kind of hardware mashup, the device is a USB memory key and soundcard with a preloaded softphone and a jack for a wired earpiece. The key can be used on a Windows PC but has no Mac OS X or Linux support yet. The device has an additional 250MB of free space for convenient portable storage. The V-Phone sells for $39.99 and requires a Vonage service plan.

Credit: Vonage

While eminently portable (who can't carry around a tiny USB powered device?), the V-Phone probably won't replace your cell phone. However, combined with some advanced setup it can certainly enhance your mobile telephony, particularly if you get poor reception on your mobile. Start by setting your cell phone to forward to Vonage instead of your carrier's voicemail service. If your phone is off or you're in a dead zone, you can still answer the call when it rings on Vonage. If you let it roll to voicemail, Vonage forwards a message notification directly to your mobile via a text message (or, for those of you with smart phones, an e-mail with a WAV digitized sound file of the message attached), so you still get notification on your cell. You could send a copy to GMail as well, creating a permanent, searchable archive of all your voicemails.

Using a hybrid cell network/VoIP calling setup means you can make and receive calls almost anywhere on the planet without significant costs or difficulty. Putting a VoIP phone on a keychain further enhances mobility without sacrificing features.