Skype now available for Android phones – but some problems
ABOVE: Skype's official launch video
ABOVE: Skype's official launch video
Skype has released a version of its free calling software for phones running Google’s Android software (versions are already available for iPhone, BlackBerry and some Nokia phones).
The software – available free from the Android Marketplace or Skype.com/m – lets you make free voice or video calls to other Skype users (bar any 3G or wi-fi charges), or calls to regular phones for two Euro cents a minute.
Two issues
Your mobile must run on Android 2.1 or Android 2.2 to run Skype.
A number of Android handsets – notably Sony Ericsson’s flagship models – have been released in New Zealand with the older version 1.6 (check your phone’s Setting menu and look for an About entry to check your version).
Skype has tested its Android software with HTC and Motorola phones running Android 2.1 or above but states “It may work on other Android phones, but we can’t guarantee full functionality or compatibility.”
The company reports it has had problems with Samsung’s Galaxy S phone, recently released in New Zealand.
Making nice - and competing
While Skype gets new exposure Android users from today, it also faces competition from Google in the form of Google Voice, launched during August.
Google Voice is Skype-like software that can be used to make voice or video calls from within Gmail.
US users get Voice free until the end of the year. People in the UK, France, Germany, China and Japan can make calls from $US0.02 a minute.
Some New Zealanders found they could install Google Voice by changing their language setting to US English, then installing the Voice plug-in for Gmail. The side-effect: you have to live with US spelling in your email.
NBR staff
Wed, 06 Oct 2010
Wed, 06 Oct 2010
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Skype now available for Android phones – but some problems
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