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Skype not going to be baked into Windows Phone until the end of the year with Apollo

Categories: Windows Phone
By: , IntoMobile
Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 5:39 AM
skype

Microsoft owns Skype, one of the most popular voice and video over IP services that’s ever been released, so one would think then that Windows Phone would have the best Skype integration of all the smartphone platforms, right? Not so, in fact there isn’t even a Skype application available to download for Microsoft’s fledgling mobile platform. What do the folks at Skype have to say this? According to Rick Osterloh, Skype’s Vice President of Products, the company is “working on a Windows Phone product that will be coming out soon.” That’s about as specific as the man wants to get. Now to be fair Microsoft did close their deal with Skype just three months ago, but still, there’s no excuse for not being more transparant with the progress being made on brining Skype to Windows Phone.

Speaking about Windows Phone, forget about Skype releasing an app, when is Skype going to baked into the platform? According to The Verge that’s not going to happen until Windows Phone Apollo, which we know isn’t going to hit the market until the end of this year. Hell, we’re still waiting for Tango, the next-in-line update to Windows Phone that should enable lower cost devices. We expect to see Tango at Mobile World Congress next month, along with a slew of devices from Nokia that will show off the new features and capabilities of the OS.

If you are a Skype addict, and desperately need your fix, then may we suggest you pickup an iPod touch or just another smartphone all together. In fact, if you’re daring enough to enter in some manual settings, you can get a pretty good deal on a used Symbian device, pop a data only SIM card in there, and configure a SIP client. Not for the faint of heart, but there are those of you out there looking to save every little penny that you can.

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

  • Anonymous

    And considering how MS is trying to cozy up to the carriers and how much carriers *HATE* full Skype integration, I’m sure that MS will botch up that Skype integration in WP as much as they can.

    Tommi said it the best: by buying Skype MS pretty much put nails in the coffin for WP or for Skype – or in worst case for both.

  • Anonymous

    I think you’re being a little over-dramatic. 

  • http://twitter.com/Sannagejk Sannagejk

    Wp7 is dead

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  • Gregory C Newman

    . I think that the hold up could  be is that Skipe will be integrated into the new windows 8 tablets and xbox and for windows 8 desktop and laptop computers as well as windows smart phones. to do this right will take some time to test the integration system to make it work well right out of the box if Microsoft  gets it right. the whole thing will be a great Skipe application over all Microsoft products that people will enjoy using.

  • Johnny Kamel

    They said a standalone app will be released before that ..delete this “article” that, clearly, left out a lot of things… get your facts straight..