X
Business

Skype video calling comes to Android, sort of

Skype has rolled out a new version of its VoIP software for the Android platform that brings video calling to the table. If you own one of four phones, that is, and not all variants of those.
Written by James Kendrick, Contributor

Skype has rolled out a new version of its VoIP software for the Android platform that brings video calling to the table. Well, it does if you own one of only four Android handsets currently: HTC Desire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia neo, Sony Ericsson Xperia pro and the Google Nexus S. That's not very many of the dozens of Android handsets on the market, but owners of other phones will have to wait for support in the future.

"We are committed to bring Skype Video Calling to as many platforms as possible and are delighted to deliver on this with our new updated Skype for Android app," said Neil Stevens, Skype's vice president and general manager for product and marketing. "With approximately 30 million concurrent users logging into Skype at any given time and making up to half a million simultaneous video calls, Skype for Android with video makes it even easier for users to share moments with their contacts wherever they are."

Seeing the limited supported handset list this morning, I felt all clever that I have recently switched to the Nexus S 4G on Sprint to get early support for software like Skype. That clever feeling soon dissipated as no matter what I did I couldn't get a video option on the Nexus S 4G. Turning to the Skype support forum soon confirmed by the Skype folks that video calls on the Nexus S 4G are not working with this new app. Support for the Nexus S 4G should appear in the next version of Skype, but no timeframe has been offered.

We are sorry, the Nexus S 4G is not yet supported. We plan to support it in the next release.

Editorial standards