According to a A FAQ page – ‘Help’ document on Skype’s site detailing making video calls using Skype for iPhone, it can be confirmed that Skype is planning to to make it’s first push into Apple’s territory to debut its Video Calls(or Video Chat) support for the iPhone. This Skype Video service for iPhone is expected to be announce in the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show(CES) on January 6th, 2011.
Requirements
According to FAQs document, the upcoming Skype supporting Video Calls service would be working on only iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 3rd Gen or higher (or iPad also). And all these devices should be running iOS 4.0 or above version.
The other side contacts who would be receiving these Skype video calls must be having Skype for Windows 4.2 or higher, Skype for Mac OS X 2.8 or above and Skype for iPhone 3.0 or higher.
While the help document is stating that Skype for iPhone 3.0 is required for video calling, the current version of Skype for iPhone is only 2.1.2.
Connectivity
Users can make Skype Video Chats by using either Wi-Fi or 3G connection, while the video call quality will depend on the network connections. the
Users having iPhone 4 and iPod Touch with dual cameras have the ability to switch between both front and rear cameras during video chat and iPhone 3GS users have to utilize the rear camera only for Skype video chat.
Screen Sharing
Users will be able to get screen shares from the other side users who are using Skype for Windows PC or Mac. iPhone users cannot share the screen with other side users and can not get a screen share from other iPhone users. While the iPhone does not support group video calling, users will be receiving audio signal only.
Video Call Operations
The camera picture will be automatically rotating when the device is in landscape mode. Users can double tap the screen to get the full screen zoom and double tap again to get back to normal screen size both in portrait and landscape orientation. Users can control the camera and microphone during a video call.
iPhone will gets very warm during the Skype video calls as it uses much CPU. Skype is also planning iPad only version for Skype Video Chat, even though the iPhone application is fully compatible with the iPad.
Let’s hope that Skype has also prepared ‘Help’ documents for Android and Symbian mobile operating systems. The upcoming Skype Video Chat service might be dominating Apple’s Face Time feature, which works using Wi-Fi connection.