As an excellent means of keeping in contact with all your Skype buddies
whilst on the move, the Skypephone from 3 can't currently be beaten. Especially
since it is only £49.99 (inc VAT) on prepay.
And for that money you get a 3G capable handset plus a pretty decent camera
and the maker – Amoi - hasn't even skimped on facilities such as support for
Bluetooth and a 256 MB Micro SD. It supports Qualcomm's Brew environment, too.
The crucial thing about the handset is that you can call any Skype user,
anywhere in the world and it won't cost you a single penny. Once this handset
has been rolled out in other countries where 3 has a network – like Italy and
Australia – you'll be able to call them free, too.
As long as you don't exceed its Fair Usage limit of 66.6 hours (4,000
minutes), of course.
As Mobile Software Insight revealed recently, this isn't the first
time 3 has actually offered its users free Skype minutes. Upgrade your X-Series
handset to the latest Skype client and free Skype calls will kick in.
What the Skypephone offers – and the X-Series doesn't - is not just a dedicated
Skype button which takes you straight to the app, but also free access to Skype
Chat, too.
So, in effect, you can send unlimited text messages to your Skype buddies
without affecting your normal quota of text messages. This time the Fair use is
10,000 chats.
A lot of noise has been made about the fact that the Skypephone doesn't
support Skypein and Skypeout. Not allowing you to break out of your Skype call
and calling a regular number is understandable.
However,
Mobile Software Insight guesses that Skypein isn't supported not so
much because 3 doesn't want to offer it but because the way Iskoot has
implemented the Skype client.
The way Iskoot's software works is to place the first leg of the Skype call
over 3's voice network. After that it gets converted to VoIP/Skype. Which is why
you can have this handset without even paying for a data tariff. Iskoot's method
also helps to provide regular voice call clarity over Skype.
The facility which we found most useful was Chat, however. You can create a
Chat message in exactly the same way as a regular text message. So you can use
predictive texting if you like. Better still your regular Skype 'Buddies' list
is on the handset which would be a pain to create via the handset's keypad.
The Skypephone also features a typical 3 'Launcher' softkey. This puts up a list
of some pretty common web sites like Ebay and Facebook. Rather disappointingly,
the option to go to Windows Live Messenger hasn't been implemented yet. Although
it's in the list.
The Skypephone would be good if it were just an inexpensive 3G phone – it
even looks trendy with a pink version for those in touch with their feminine
side. With the Skype facility built in, it will definitely fly off the shelves.
