It hasn’t been a very good week for Skype, which has been dealing with some serious downtime issues, but it looks like there’s good news on the horizon.
Skype offers mobile apps for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and other platforms which let you make free calls to other users and cheap calls to phone numbers. Skype also offers desktop software for Windows, Mac and Linux which lets you do the same thing — plus make free video calls to other Skype users. But you know what Skype doesn’t offer yet? Video calls on mobile devices.
It looks like that’s about to change. An Engadget tipster sent in a link to a Skype support document explaining how to make video calls on Skype for the iPhone.
Video chat isn’t available in the latest version of Skype for iOS, but if this support document is anything to go by, it looks like it’s coming soon. Skype is also expected to make some announcements at CES in early January, so odds are we’ll only have to wait a few more weeks for this feature.
Skype is hardly the first company to get into the mobile video calling game. Apple’s FaceTime app comes standard with the iPhone 4 and 4th generation iPod touch. Fring lets you make video calls on Android and iOS, as does Tango. But Skype is probably the biggest name in internet telephony at the moment, making this a pretty big deal.
There’s no word on whether Skype is planning to support video calls on Android or other mobile platforms, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t at least in the works.