Philips is about to launch a Skype phone that allows you to make free web calls even when your PC is not switched on.

The device will be unveiled at a press round table at the IFA consumer electronics show in Germany. Few details are available but it seems that it will use a Wifi link to a router.

It is likely to be one of many similar devices, which should take the technology fully into the mainstream if they are priced low enough.

Free calls between Skype users can currently be made only if a computer is switched on at both ends of the link, which is inconvenient and effectively rules out VoIP use by technophobes.

Many companies offer cut-price VoIP calls to a standard handset, by using a gateway to the dial-up network. Retail subscriptions to such services rose 83 per cent last year.

It is already possible to make Skype calls from a Wifi-equipped PDA, and smartphones are effectively PDAs will cellular links. But the Philips model is one of only a few dedicated Skype standalone handset.

Netgear announced its Skype wifi phone at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, Belkin recently previewed there's - although it is not yet on sale in the UK, and there is an Edge-Core wifi phone available for £133.

Philips already offers a handset that can switch between dial-up and web calls via the Microsoft Live service. The device connects to the network using the Dect link used in home cordless phones, but a PC connected to the Dect base station needs to be on to enable web calls.