So, does this mean that they are going to stop being such jerks about allowing Skype on mobile devices? You know, like killing Skype for Android because they want to force people to pay on mobile for what they can do for free everywhere else?
No. If it were an issue with the carriers, then Skype could easily have made the now-defunct Skype Lite WiFi-only, just like they do on the Blackberry, and just like many other VOiP apps, such as Vonage, do on both the iPhone and the Android.
The fact is, Skype Light, released in January '09, used your carrier's minutes when you made calls. In that regard it was similar to Google Voice. This was most definitely NOT a carrier issue.
Skype was planning to charge monthly fees, payable to Skype for using the mobile version of Skype. It was this, and not the carriers, that precipitated Skype Lite being pulled from the Marketplace.
I downloaded Skype onto my wife's Droid on the Verizon network. The app doesn't work with wifi though, which is annoying. I think Verizon is requiring it to work only through their data network, so they get paid.
Maybe Skype is releasing this SDK in the hope of making an end-run around these kinds of barriers?
Really? There seems to be a lot of contradicting info about the Skype app and the 3rd party apps and what they do and cannot do on Android.
Last time I checked, the Skype app for Android was doing regular voice calls (no data). And there was no 3rd party Skype to do anything remotely related to chats/audio calls/video calls.
