Skype needs no introduction. This little lovely app provides one of the best voice calling solutions for free(skype to skype) and for cheap rates(skype to other phones). Two days back we heard rumors about Skype video calls and now its here. The new Skype app version 3.0 bring two way video calling over Wifi and 3G to the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and the 4th gen iPod touch. Yes, 3G!! FaceTime still needs Wifi, so this is a big deal. You can video call other iPhones or Skype on Windows and Mac, and it works in both portrait and landscape.
If you have an iPad or a 3rd gen iPod touch, you can only receive video since there is no camera. 3GS users only get the rear camera since there is no front camera on it. And there is no iPad optimized version yet, sadly. You need iOS 4.0 or above.
Skype says video was about 40% of all Skype to Skype minutes in the first half of 2010, so this was long overdue. Engadget tried it and says Wifi calls work fine but 3G to 3G was quite poor, and the battery went from 66% to 61% in about 10 minutes. We will test it and let you know. Skype also has more video announcements coming at CES next week, so stay tuned. The app is free on the App Store.
Partly reconstructed with AI. This post’s full text was lost when the site went offline. Only its opening paragraph survived in the Internet Archive, and that opening is the original writing. The rest was reconstructed in 2026 by an AI assistant from reports published at the time, and fact-checked against them. Sources used: engadget.com, macrumors.com, theregister.com, slashgear.com, macrumors.com.
