Verizon Wireless has recently announced that the company would integrate Skype application to select smartphone devices in a joint press junket at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona.
Verizon subscribers will have the ability to download Skype as early as the latter half of March 2010.
Leveraging the application, Verizon customers can contact another member of Skype free of charge anywhere on Planet Earth. The main requirement is that Verizon subscribers need to have a voice and data plan.
In the not-so recent past, cellular phone companies were deadlocked in a battle against Skype and other services for fear that the free services would eat away at core business.
Video of the Windows Phone 7 Series debuted at the Mobile World Congress
Written by: Shadeed Eleazer
If the mobile wars were not already at a white hot frenzy, Microsoft has definitely added a few coals to the inferno by overhauling its internal mobile strategy for and returning back to the drawing board to hammer out a new release of a new device that looks to aggressively compete with the innovations set forth by Apple’s iPhone and Google Droid SmartPhones.
The most refreshing news surrounding the release of Windows Phone 7 is that it does not resemble an iPhone, as many of the recent releases have seemingly set out to do. The competition is in its innovation.
The Windows Phone 7 is a departure from the latest rounds of cell-phone interfaces. The user interface is based around information as opposed to applications. The user is greeted with “live tiles” labeled as:
Office, People, Pictures, Games, Marketplace, and Music and Video.
Music and video is handled by Zune, which the user interface mimics. X-Box Live integration is also a plus with this device. The real wonder of the phone is in the People hub, which features real-time updates of Windows Live and Facebook. At the Mobile World Congress, Twitter has not been announced as an integration partner with Windows Phone 7 but you can envision Twitter integration down the line, quite possibly close to release.
Bing will handle the maps and search duties with Microsoft announcing that Windows Phone 7 devices will have a dedicated button on the keypad.
Expect the Windows Phone 7 device to hit retailers close to holiday season. Hardware partners have lined up to support this device including Dell, Toshiba, Samsung and HP.
Mobile carriers include Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile amongst others.
