Skype is still not available on most Android phones
A Skype application is still missing in action for most Android users.
After a private screening of the movie “The Social Network” on Friday in Redwood City, I spoke to someone from Skype who assured me the VOIP application was already available for my phone.
At that point, I though that it was game over for Palo Alto, Calif.-startup Tango, who just launched a Skype-like app for smartphones (Android and iPhones) that allows users to make audio and video calls over a data network (3G or WiFi), at GigaOM’s Mobilize conference.
But when I checked back this morning to make a Skype call with my Android phone (Nexus One on T-Mobile), I realized the Skype app is still only available to Android phones on the Verizon network. Bummer!
So I decided to try out Tango for my all my VOIP calls and have had fun with the video calling feature that is, in many ways, similar to the Apple iPhone 4 FaceTime video phone call application… but for the rest of us! More on Tango later.
Skype better get its act together, sooner rather than later. Because, although it takes two to Tango, Skype might just not be part of the dance for very much longer!
Jean-Baptiste Su is the technology columnist for L’Expansion, the leading business publication in France. He’s also the co-founder and editor of TechPulse 360, a blog at the crossroads of business and technology, exploring the innovation and companies defining the high-tech and clean-tech industries.
Jean-Baptiste started his journalistic career 18 years ago at IDG in France, first as reporter at InfoPC (PC World) and then senior editor at Le Monde Informatique (ComputerWorld). He later joined Decision Informatique, part of Groupe Tests (01 Informatique, 01net.com…) as senior editor, before heading to France’s financial daily newspaper La Tribune as its local Silicon Valley correspondent.
