Skype appears for Nokia Belle handsets, video calls coming later

It was two or three months in the wait, but the Skype app has officially appeared for handsets running Nokia Belle with the respective interface changes.

This, of course, could very well mean that the update for Symbian^3 handsets is imminent, since the leaked Belle firmware that some Nokia N8s have been running since last summer, didn't support the Skype app.

In any case, this Nokia Belle version of Skype supports the usual chit-chatting, free Skype-to-Skype phone calls and SkypeOut dialings to regular phones, but it hasn't mastered the art of video calling yet. So even if your Nokia Belle handset is in possession of a front-facing video cam, you'd have to use apps like Fring for video calls.

Fring's rates for calling regular phones are much cheaper than Skype's, but all your buddies are likely Skype users, so that's what Microsoft is banking on as a newly-minted Skype owner. Some comments report that an update will follow to Skype for Nokia Belle, which will resolve the puzzling lack of a video call feature.

via AAS