Last night Skype finally announced the capability to make video calls using the iPhone. The new version of Skype for the iPhone supports video calls on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch 4th generation with i0S 4.0 or above. It was rumored that Skype was going to announce Skype video calls for the iPhone at CES after a leaked document but I guess Skype wanted to give everyone a New Years gift being that New Years Day is one of Skype’s most active days of the year.
To help promote the new version of Skype for the iPhone, Skype launched a new promotional video/commercial. I’m not sure who has the worst product promo video Skype or Google’s Nexus S. You can watch the Skype for iPhone video below.
The song used in the Skype commercial is called “Those Dancing Days” by the band Those Dancing Days. I get the video but whoa. Is Skype trying to start a viral Skype video movement or just have people look crazy while making Skype calls. I’m sure some agency had a meeting saying this video will go viral on YouTube! Personally, I would have made a video showing more realistic, practical, business and family examples of making Skype video calls versus a video of former college buddies dancing around in random places. I will confess, I did think about tweeting that if someone calls me in the next hour I’ll be dancing on Skype to “Those Dancing Days”.
Regardless of the video, Skype in one night solved a problem for Apple and AT&T that T-Mobile was attacking in one of their recent FaceTime/AT&T/iPhone attack commercials. The ability to make video calls without wifi using the iPhone and connecting multiple devices. You can see the T-Mobile commercial below.
Now what T-Mobile?
Note, there are other iPhone Video Call apps such as, Fring and Tango that you can use to make video calls not only from iPhone to iPhone but from iPhone to other mobile phone such as the HTC EVO. I’m expecting QIK to launch a this feature soon as well.
Did Skype just conquer the mobile video calling space? What application do you use to make mobile video calls?
