Windows Phone 7 Skype issue, and the way around it
Reviewing the Samsung Omnia 7 recently I was surprised to come across several shortcomings, one of which is the Skype support. In short Skype is NOT supported on WP7 and there are no known plans for future developments in that direction.
The long story short – don’t try to find it, it doesn’t exist! First I was unable to download Skype direct from the phone, then I tried on the PC and still no luck. I did a quck search only to find that many websites have been dwelling on the issue, repeating the same useless information. I find it unnecessary to articulate the problem in-depth as it has been already covered on the web.
Instead, Mobile Industry Review will offer Windows Phone 7 users a very simple, free and useable solution. While the new mobile operating system is nowhere near perfect, it does have good web browsing capabilities. If you are a heavy Skype user who can’t live without chatting every now and then, there is a way to use the strong side of the mobile device to your advantage.
Working in an office environment where skype is banned can be a bit boring, also it’s never been fun always thinking INSIDE the box. I wasn’t breaking any rules, just finding my ways around them; when I came across a web-based chat client that supports skype and many other chat/voip clients (amongst which Yahoo, MSN, AIM and ICQ). I tried it on the Omnia 7 in desperation, after exhausting every other method available.
Fortunately for all parties interested in running Skype on Windows Phone 7, imo.im is the only thing you have to type in your web browser for the magic to start. While it does have dedicated Iphone and Android service, the website also works on Windows Phone 7 with some limitations. The text chat performs pretty well and there is no registration or fee. However the voice chat and video chat are Flash based, not yet operational on Windows Phone 7, and even when working the quality is not impressive.
In the final analysis the imo.im web based chat is a quick solution if you’re starving for some Skype on your new Windows Phone 7 device. The concept is very simple – use a web based Skype which eliminates the operating system barrier. It’s not perfect, but it works. Let’s hope that there will be adequate action on Behalf of Skype towards developing support for Windows Phone 7 – Microsoft is big after all, you can’t just ignore it; or can you?
