Skype running on Nokia 6680 S60 Handset

On Tuesday Skype announced a partnership with Hutchinson to put Skype on phones on the 3 networks around the world. However, Skype were not willing to answer questions on specific handsets saying only that they were actively working on development for the Symbian platform. However at the 'Do New' booth on the Nokia stand there was a demo of Skype running on two 6680s over a 3G network. Read on for details...

The S60 Skype application was a complete implementation supporting Skype text chat, Skype voice calls (both to PCs and to other S60 handsets), and Skype Out dialing. Running the application over 3G results in latency of up to about a second. It is the equivalent to calling your granny on their other side of the world via a satellite phone. It does work, but it is annoying and I can not see most people being willing to put up with it. It was indicated that better performance would be achieved over a WiFi connectivity link. The call quality was similar to that achieved in a normal call.

The application has been developed for S60 2nd Edition (S60 2.6 to be precise), but Skype are working on a 3rd Edition product which would make sense given the WiFi available in the N80, and Eseries handsets.

We'll be covering more on Skype's plan for mobile in a later write up.

Published by Rafe Blandford at 12:16 UTC, February 16th

Categories: Software
Platforms: Series 60

News Discussion

2more

Comment: Video call run over 3G with no lag, so why the 1second lag in skype calls?
Of course it will work better over Wi-Fi but its restricted to hotspots only.

Dror

Comment: 3G video calls go over a dedicated, 64 Kbps circuit-switched channel, while Skype calls go over the 3G IP bearer. That's why bandwidth and latency are not guaranteed for Skype, but are guaranteed for video calls.

Dror.

The Mobile TV Blog: [url]http://gamdala.blogspot.com[/url]

2more

Comment: Thx for the info :)

power5451

Comment: ....and for UIQ???

ebo

Comment: Before 3GSM there were unofficial reports Skype would announce co-operation with a mobile phone vendor that would especially interest Finnish journalists. It wasn't hard to guess which one it meant.

But then I received information before 3GSM that co-operation would not be announced in 3GSM, so I skipped Skype's press conference in Barcelona. I visited Nokia S60 stand for example to see the Foreca Flash Lite demo, but unfortunately I missed this Skype demo... my bad.

hephail

Comment: Why does the hyperlink read "Skype running on Nokia 66880 S60 Handset"

Wondering,

Hephail

Rafe

Comment: I mispelt 6680 when typing up this post. Now I dont want correct it and break the url.

By the way rumours suggest this will be publically available on Monday.

zainman

Comment: i hope it works on GPRS too.. i know the speeds might lack but hey, it can still be used for instant messaging! Hope it becomes available soon, wifi and N91.. an amazing combination! :D

mull3r

Comment: i do hope it runs on gprs..that would be a huge leap..considering p2p tooo....was ported..(see symella)...
there shud ideally be some sort of cache server...as in symella if skype intends to make it convenient for gprs users

Drongo

Comment: Just what I need

Unregistered 02

Comment: if it doesn't work wirelessly, what's the point? you will be charged for 3g bandwidth by the carrier and the skype savings will evaporate.

you can already use skype with wireless on pocket pc.

hotspots won't be an issue forever; fairly soon major cities wil be blanketed one way or another.

Geiger

Comment: If it only works good with WiFi hotspots maybe the Mobile IP client from [url]www.smartroaming.com[/url] will become quite useful?

CommanderKeen

Comment: I already have a "latency" of several seconds when calling my granny on the other side of the road via a GSM phone ;-)

carim

Comment: Can some one hang up the link, from where is possible download skype for nokia? From Skype home page I didn't found jet.

2more

Comment: I tried Skype on PC using my 3G phone connection and there was nearly no lags in the connection. Im waiting for skype, as here in Poland I have unlimited GPRS/3G data plan for 15 euro a month :D

waynedovey

Comment: Does anyone know where we can download a test/demo version to try out on a Nokia N80 Series 60 version 3

2more

Comment: Skype over UMTS is what I'm looking for. Now I'm using TiVi.

Unregistered

Comment: Does skype in work on it too?

[pk]

Comment: I use skype on my laptop with N80 3G connection and there is no latency. i dont see why there should be one when using directly with my phone. This is an excellent idea and i look forward to using skype on my N80 in the future. ciao

seli

Comment: I found [url]http://www.fring.com[/url] that does the trick.

Main Navigation

» Home (1)
» News (2)
» Reviews (3)

» Features (4)
» Media (5)
» Forums M | Full (6)
» Top (9)

Advert

no links available

mobile.allaboutsymbian.com