It has merely been a month since a leaked video of Skype for iPad hit the internet. Ever since we saw that, we knew that an official iPad Skype app release was imminent. Sure enough, in the early hours of today, the official Skype app for iPad went live for downloading in the App Store.
Bring your Skype contacts closer with full screen video at your fingertips. Beautiful and simple, this is Skype built especially for the iPad. Call, video call, or instant message anyone on Skype. Plus, if you add a little Skype Credit, call landlines and mobiles at really low rates.
Skype for iPad brings all of the features we have known and loved, to our favourite tablet. These include video conferencing, audio chatting, and instant messaging. The best part is that all of Skype's features will work flawlessly on any of your 3G or WiFi iPad.
It was speculated that particularly for the iPad, Skype video conferencing over 3G would not be enabled. It took Skype quite some time previously to add 3G video conferencing support in the Skype for iPhone app, given the fact that Skype functions as a direct competitors to Apple's native video conferencing facility, FaceTime. There's a huge downside to FaceTime, not everyone you want to video chat with will have an iOS device or a Mac. Skype is devoid of those requirements hence allowing you to freely initiate a video conference call with anyone you like.
- Send and receive video using front or back camera on iPhone 4, iPad 2nd Generation, and iPod touch 4th Generation.
- Send and receive video using rear camera on iPhone 3GS.
- Receive video only on iPad 1st Generation and iPod touch 3rd Generation.
- Works with any H264 compatible devices, including TVs.
Keep in mind that this isn't an update to the Skype for iPhone app. Official Skype iPad app is not a universal app meaning that you'll have to go to the App Store and manually search Skype for iPad. Your iPad should be running iOS 4.0 or higher.
UPDATE: It turns out that the Skype for iPad app was only available for download for a limited time, as Skype has pulled the app, offering the following explanation:
To ensure your best Skype experience, we’ve temporarily removed Skype for iPad which went live prematurely today
We'll let you know as soon as the Skype iPad app is available for download again.
UPDATE 2: Skype for iPad is live now! Download official Skype app for iPad [iTunes Link]