Nokia is making Skype available for the Symbian platform. A joint announcement Wednesday by the world’s largest handset maker and the maker of the most popular VoIP calling software means that owners of select Nokia devices will be able to make phone calls over Wi-Fi or a mobile data connection at a fraction of the cost for normal calls.
With the Skype for Symbian application, available as a free download at Nokia’s Ovi Store, calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world are free, and calls and SMS texts to non-Skype phones can be made at a reduced rate. Users can also send and receive instant messages, share photos and videos, see when Skype contacts are online, and import names and phone numbers from a device’s existing address book.
200 Million Users
Using Skype on a mobile data connection, such as GPRS, EDGE or 3G, means the user could be charged for the data usage. For this reason, Skype recommends users have an unlimited data plan.
The new app runs on any Nokia smartphone using the latest version of the Symbian platform. Skype said it will soon make the client available for Symbian devices from other manufacturers, such as Sony Ericsson.
Initially, the app is available for five Nokia touchscreen devices, including the N97, and 18 non-touch devices.
Russ Shaw, general manager of mobile at Skype, told news media that he expects “more than 200 million smartphone users worldwide” will be able to use Skype.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, noted that Nokia tried launching its own VoIP, called Gizmo5, but it failed because of the lack of an installed base for both sides of a conversation. “Nokia likes to think of itself as a pioneer in this area,” he said.
‘Giving Consumers What They Want’
He pointed out that Nokia’s interest is…