東西 | dongxi

Source: Skype

Skype, the popular VoIP service, most certainly had it’s ups and downs this year, though most of it seemed to roll together in the last few weeks of 2010. Used for businesses, long-distance calls, families, friends, and study abroad students, Skype has become a critical tool for global communications.

Despite the recent outage in mid-December, Skype hasn’t lost any ground against competitors such as Google Talk. Though slow to the mobile market, Skype has found its way onto the main smartphone operating systems including the iPhone (iOS), Android, and Blackberry. However, 3G calls for Android and Blackberry, at least in the United States, is limited to Verizon customers, due to an exclusive contract between Verizon and Skype. iPhone owners (who for the most part are under AT&T) only recently received 3G call functionality.

As of yesterday, Skype announced video chat capabilities for iOS devices, including the iPhone 4 and the new iPad Touch. The iPad and older iPod Touch, though without a front facing camera can still play video calls (albeit one sidedly). Engadget reports that Skype is promising additional announcements for CES next week. One may expect video chat capabilities to be brought over to other devices and platforms including Android and a possibly front-facing camera equipped second generation iPad (according to rumors).

One major setback for Skype came in today with the announcement from China (via the People’s Daily) that Skype (along with other “illegal” VoIP services) would be banned. However, banning Skype may deal a large blow to the China as well, as Skype has become an incredibly popular service for both businesses and the general population. Skype for the moment is still available in China and its ultimate fate may not be determined yet.

With CES around the corner as well, Skype is poised to make plenty of big splashes to start of the new year. Stay tuned for additional news and updates!