By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2010-10-26 11:53:25 | Word Count: 664
Android users running version 2.1 or higher can finally use Skype on their phones. Skype announced the expansion of its Voice over Internet Protocol services (which just means they offer telephone services using the internet’s connectivity system) to Android users nearly worldwide.
In the U.S., Skype users can currently only make calls using an operating Wi-Fi connection. Verizon’s Android customers have been enjoying the use of Skype over a closed 3G gateway for quite some time. The new version doesn’t require users to be Verizon customers and makes true VoIP calls. There wasn’t much word on when, or if, Skype will eventually allow users to utilize its services over any 3 or 4G network and what that would entail.
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The free app allows users to take advantage of most of Skype’s features, including free Skype-to-Skype calls worldwide. It also lets users call mobile phones or landlines for a small fee assessed by Skype. The app may even help cut down on pricey texting fees by texting between users. It will also synchronize the user’s contact list with their address book to show who’s available for calling or texting. When an existing Skype user downloads the new app they will conveniently find their full contact list automatically transferred to their mobile device.
While users can’t take advantage of Skype’s video capabilities via their cell phones and mobile devices just yet, it does allow you to be able to communicate for free with other Skype users without a computer.
Skype is having some difficulty with the app for Samsung Galaxy S users, and said they’re working to fix the bugs. The new app was tested on the HTC Android with version 2.1, and worked well on that device.
The Skype app is not yet available to Android users in Japan or China.
It’s rumored the next version of Skype will focus on Facebook connectivity and functionality, although nothing has been confirmed. Android and Skype users will just have to wait and see.
Android users can get the new Skype app from the Android marketplace, on Skype.com.
