Skype Sanctions iSkoot to Work the Mobile Side of Things

VOIP blogs were abuzz last week about Skype launching a Symbian compatible build, but apparently they were mistaken in asserting such news. Sometimes word of mouth isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t support for Skype on Symbian devices today. It’s just in the form of iSkoot, a beta product that allows people to get a hold of their Skype contact list and converse with their buds, colleages, and even some friendly strangers you happened to meet since v1.0 came to fruition. And even you rebels that have taken a liking to Yahoo Messenger and Google Talk won’t be without compatibility with your favorite service for too long.

Only a handful of phones will run iSkoot nowadays, some Symbian-based, some not. You can view which are compatible on iSkoot’s homepage.

As for now, Skype appears to favor the iSkoot route rather than try to circumvent the third-party developer. And, with the introduction of the iSkoot Partner Program, the world’s 3G and 4G carriers may begin to enter the VOIP market if they can avoid a heavy initial investment for software development.

If/When WiMax makes it big around the world, and/or private broadband networks become commonplace everywhere, the broad distribution of devices capable of meshing existing and future technologies will occur. For now, we’re stuck with incremental speed boosts in GSM and CDMA.