Goin' Mobile With Skype

Out in the woods

Or in the city

It's all the same to me

When I'm drivin' free, the world's my home...

When I'm mobile...

Ok, I admit it. Sometimes I can't help myself. I reach for the most clichéd classic rock lyrics when writing about IP Communications. It happens. But then again, there's absolutely nothing wrong with The Who.

The whole mobility theme is brought on by this week's news from Skype, whereby the company announced a deal with Boingo Wireless, announced the release of a lite version of Skype, a 'thin' client for Skype that can be downloaded on Android-powered devices, (as well as more than 100 other Java-enabled mobile phones), and announced the availability of Skype 1.0 Beta for Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) based on Intel's Atom processor and Moblin-based Linux OS.

(Catch Tom's take on the Skype Lite Java client.)

One of the key takeaways from all this is that for the first time, Skype is available to mobile users in the U.S. Previously operators were loath to allow Skype on their mobile devices for fear of losing precious minutes to the free VoIP service.

But in the never ending quest to make their service sticker and their devices more popular, operators and manufacturers are looking for new and innovative ways to attract new users. And, with Skype's growing popularity (currently more than 370 million registered users globally), this presents an opportunity too rich to pass up.

It also marks the first availability for Android devices; users can download the beta in the Android Market. Skype says the thin client is also available for over 100 popular Java-enabled phones from the likes of LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.