Skype for iPhone

Internet phone-calling service Skype will officially announce a free application for Apple's iPhone at the CTIA Wireless convention Tuesday. The app will allow iPhone owners to make Internet calls via Apple's popular handset. Skype calls do not count against regular cellphone minutes, so they can in some cases lower cellphone bills.

I received an early copy and gave it a try. My first attempt to make a call Skype for iPhone call didn't go well. It was a free Skype-to-Skype call with a friend who has Skype on her PC. I heard her just fine, but she reported that my speech was somehow "elongated" and that I "sounded like one of those cartoon" voices.

Fortunately I generally had a decent experience on other calls I've made and received so far, though the quality of regular cellphone calls on the iPhone is still better.

Skype calls are routed over the Internet. Because of restrictions imposed by Apple, you can only be on a Skype call while you have access to Wi-Fi. If you're in a cellular coverage area and out of Wi-Fi range, you can only engage in chat sessions with your Skype buddies.

When I tried to make a call over the 3G cellular network, a message popped up indicating that "calls over 3G networks are currently not supported due to restrictions that may be placed on your data plan." My assumption is Apple is trying to keep its cellphone carrier partners happy. Too many Skype calls -- which are covered by the iPhone's unlimited data plan -- could cut into AT&T's cellphone business.

There are other restrictions. You can be on a Skype conference call within the iPhone app but cannot initiate one. And you must be logged to the app to receive an incoming Skype call. That means you cannot be browsing the Web or running another iPhone app and get notified when someone over Skype is trying to ping you. Nor can you currently transfer files or take advantage of SMS.

Skype on the iPhone is welcome despite these drawbacks, especially if you have to communicate a lot with friends and colleagues overseas and don't want to pay AT&T's lofty rates. (AT&T is the only U.S. carrier that sells the iPhone.) As with Skype on your computer, direct calls to other Skype members are free; you can otherwise call landlines and mobile phones in the USA or elsewhere at low rates. What's more, if you have a headset with a microphone, you can also now make Skype calls on an iPod Touch.

I like the way my Skype contacts are organized alphabetically on the iPhone. Tap the tiny letters on the right side of the screen to jump to contacts whose names begin with those letters. Tap the appropriate "call" or "chat" buttons to get in touch with them.

During a call you can summon an onscreen dialpad (to type in a voicemail code, for example). You can also mute or place a call on hold, or turn a speakerphone function on or off. You can display all of your contacts or only those who are presently online. You can consult your call history log from within the app. And you can change your own "status" to indicate when you are online, away, invisible or do not want to be disturbed.

If you're not already a Skype member, you can sign up directly from the iPhone. And you can use the iPhone camera to shoot the little picture that will appear next to your name, or choose an existing picture from your camera roll.

But you cannot make a video Skype call through the iPhone as you can on your computer. If Apple were to give its blessing, Kurt Thywissen, a principle architect and engineer at Skype, tells me that there's no technological reason why video calls can not occur in the future.

Mobile versions of Skype are already available for Windows Mobile, and Google Android handsets. Apps for the upcoming BlackBerry App World store are also expected soon. Skype hasn't said whether it will provide a version for Palm's upcoming webOS smartphone operating system, the core behind its highly anticipated Pre device.