Skype for Windows Phone had been around in marketplace since February under beta tag. Much to users surprise, Microsoft has today shed beta tag and final stable release has been served through marketplace. The new version i.e. Skype 1.0, however, brings a bad news along with surprise element—it supports only 512MB device.
Those who think of getting low-end Lumia 610 will receive precipitous blow as they will not be able to enjoy Skype on their handset. Amidst gratuitous rumors that the next major firmware version aka Windows Phone 8 will have Skype app cooked inside the OS, the recent news indirectly confirms that the Lumia 610 will not receive full-fledged firmware update. Doe it lends credence to the earlier rumors that we might get see a subset of WP8 update for old generation handset? The information surrounding WP8 OS remains as cloudy as before.
Let me reiterate the statement again,’Skype doesn’t support low-end Tango powered handset’. However, the possibility of support for 256MB RAM handsets in the future can not be denied. With the first Skype version release, company fixes several issues including lack of SMS support, toll free number calling support and generic crash issues.
Skype 1.0 includes following improvements
- Portrait mode video calling
- Support in 18 languages
- Add new contacts (Skype and phone contacts)
- Support for participating on audio conference calls
- Call-in-progress notification
- Ability to mark all messages as read
- Block/unblock/view blocked contacts
Lack of background call receiving support is peculiarly missing in this version as well. Rival Tango video call app supports this service, so users can expect Microsoft to find a feasible work around to this problem.
People are complaining that the app is still not visible market outside US. It will soon pop up in other marketplace as well.
Is Skype app live in your region? It seems to be available in US and Australia marketplace as of writing this article.
Source: Skype
Tags: skype