Cripes, Skype - 3G iPhone calling is cool, but charges? Yipe!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 01 June 2010 00:00

Your IT - Mobility

Skype has finally delivered on its promise of being able to make calls over the 3G network, months after its competitor Fring had delivered not only the same capability but even allowing iPhones to receive Skype video calls, but with the joy of 3G calling comes the sting of the promise of future charges - either after August or by the end of 2010.

Talk about confusing messages from Skype, the world's most famous Internet phone call company.

On the one hand, Skype can finally be used on an iPhone or iPad to make calls while connected to 3G networks - something that Fring has offered for ages - but on the other hand, Skype is promising that charges for the service will come, even if you are making a Skype-to-Skype call over 3G, something you'd expect would be free of charge, beyond the charges you already pay to be connected to a 3G connection.

However - Skype says that Skype-to-Skype calls over a WiFi connection will continue to remain free, opening up possibilities for devices such as NetComm's 3G MyZone Wi-Fi router to allow Skype users to avoid Skype charges and to put that money into portable 3G WiFi hotspots instead.

Thus, version 2.0.0 of Skype for the iPhone is a bit of a mixed bag. Arriving months after Skype promised calling over 3G would come, and arriving even after the launch of the iPad, the ability to finally make calls over 3G networks is very welcome, as is the fantastic boost in sound quality over iPhones and iPads that the people I called Skype-to-Skype over 3G had instantly noticed today when I had tested out the service - both on an iPhone 3GS and on a brand new iPad connected to a Telstra 3G/Next G MicroSIM.

This improvement in sound quality puts Skype ahead of Fring in the audio stakes, but the aforementioned sting in the tail is twofold: the promise of upcoming charges (coupled with an ultra-confusing timeframe for when this is supposed to happen), along with the still ultra-annoying inability of Skype to work over Bluetooth headsets.

Skype: what the heck is it with you and Bluetooth? Is Apple twisting your arm and telling you not to allow Bluetooth for Skype? If not, why the cloak and dagger in stopping Bluetooth headsets from working with Skype?

Perhaps there are sound quality issues, but an exact and precise answer on when Bluetooth compatibility will arrive would be very handy - and I'm not the only person mightily peeved at Skype being so utterly Bluetoothless on Apple's non-iMac iPlatforms.

And, Skype - what the heck is it with the confusing timeframes for when these supposedly "great value" charges are meant to start? Skype's press release and its Skype for iPhone page explains that 3G calls will be without charge until at least the end of 2010, but when you download the Skype 2.0 app to your iPhone or iPad, a message pops up telling you that charges might start after the end of August!

Talk about confusing the punters, Skypesters. Can we please get our house in order before blasting the world with the long awaited 3G calling capability and then surprising everyone with a new Skype 3G calling tax that no-one saw coming?

So, what about the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0 - which is set to allow Skype to finally work in the background as demonstrated during the original iPhone OS 4.0 sneak peek?

Has Skype said -anything- about this? Please read on to page 2 for more details and analysis!!