After what seems like an eternity, Skype has updated their iOS app to version 3.0, bringing long-awaited two-way video calling -- and they’ve bested Apple’s own FaceTime by allowing such calls over 3G data connections.
Skype has just rolled out version 3.0 of their free iPhone app after teasing a series of Twitter messages for the last week or so which showed how users could share their experiences with friends and family on the go. No surprises here: Two-way video calling has finally come to Skype, allowing iOS users and desktop users to see and hear each other at long last.
Skype 3.0 allows Skype to Skype video calls over both Wi-Fi and 3G, which certainly puts the heat on Apple’s FaceTime to step up their game now. As you may recall, third-party apps such as fring briefly had the ability to do FaceTime-like video calls over Skype, but the VoIP company removed fring’s ability to do this over Skype, and now we know why -- Skype has been working on their own version all along.
In addition to calling other Skype iPhone users, video calls can also be made to Mac OS X and Windows users with the most recent desktop versions, and two-way video calls are supported on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and fourth-generation iPod touch models. Third-generation iPod touch models can receive video calls as well as conduct audio calls, but since there’s no camera, you can’t send any video to your caller.
You’ll also be able to receive video calls using Skype 3.0 on the iPad, although the app is not yet universal. It could be that Skype is waiting for the iPad 2, which is widely rumored to be packing at least a front-facing camera which will finally make big-screen video calling on the go a reality.
Last but not least, Skype video calling can be done in portrait or landscape mode. Video calling requires iOS 4.0 or above (although the app itself will work on iOS 3.0 or later), and the 11.9MB download is available to update now.
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