Why would you want to use Skype on your Droid?

Would you be able to some sort of video chat?

You can use it call people who are on a computer (or other skype capable device.) For free.

I use it all the time with friends who are in Europe.

From what I hear it already has support for video conferencing built-in. Just needs to be turned on. This is why the upcoming Iphone has a front camera. As well as the new Evo being released on sprint.

I don’t think it’s necessarily that you can use Skype on your Droid that’s the selling point, it may be more to showcase the fact that you can’t use it on an iPhone and to show off Android’s open market.

You can use Skype to make a call and it won’t count against your Verizon (probably the same for the other carriers too) minutes, you can accept the skype to skype calls (so the person calling you can call your skype instead of your cell phone), and you can also use the IM feature.

All that being said, I don’t see the point in having it on my phone. I love some of the Droid apps, but I don’t see a reason I need that one.

@outofalpha But if you’re using your phone, you’re using minutes, right? Unless you have some sort of unlimited data plan, I guess.

@dverhey That seems like an odd thing to spend big advertising bucks on, though.

@Seaofclouds Ahhh, I see.

It does not use cell minutes. It is only over data.

What is odd (and this may have changed) is that it can only be used over 3g and not over wifi on verizon.

I’d like that feature from a privacy aspect. You can tell people your Skype ID rather than telling them your phone number.
Skype has a very convenient conference call feature, I’d assume that would be available on the Droid version as well.

1. So long as its not international there is no minute use
2. Skype is also a chat client, like aim
3. Skype gives you a number separate from your own (like google voice)
4. If you use skype anywhere else you’ll 100% want to have it on your phone
5. You can make cheap international calls from your cell

Skype is awesome in every way, on the phone or on the comp. I don’t use skype to make calls on my phone but I do use it for chat, there is a severe lack of apps for smartphones that feature skype chat and have it work well. If you havent used Skype you should try it out, I guarantee at least a few people you know use it. I’ve stopped using all other chat programs and have gone with skype 100%.

@dverhey – You can use Skype on an iPhone.

Skype allows you to call overseas computers for free, and overseas phones at very low rates (~2.1 cents a minute). Eventually it will also allow video chat with overseas computers for free.

With Skype on my Blackberry, I can IM with my mom (while she’s on her iPhone) for free, while she’s in Singapore, instead of texting her, which costs money. I can make calls to her using Skype credit (2.1 cents/min) instead of having to pay for a Verizon international call package for much more than that.

When I’m in Singapore, I can do all those things with my friends and my boyfriend in the US. So yes, it is very useful.

Cheap international calls or even free international calls.

@xxii Really? I guess so. I was under the impression it was blocked by AT&T for “duplicate functionality” or something, but I guess the site says otherwise. Disregard, I suppose.

@dverhey :: It only works over wifi on the iPhone.

If you’re like some people, you dont want to pay for long distance charges and keeping track of minutes. With Skype $30 should last for a year, depending on how many calls you make.

@johnpowell I just know that Skype turns my computer into a video phone and tunrs my iPod Touch into a regular phone, I just need to have a wi-fi connection to use my iPod as a phone, but still, I like being able to make phone calls from the Touch. But none of this has anything to do with that actual question, which was about using Skype on a Droid phone.

Because one of my friends is currently deployed. If he uses a phone to call me, he has to wait his turn, and it’s really really expensive. But if he calls me on Skype, it’s damn near free. Unfortunately, I’m not really at my computer all the time, and since we don’t have the chance to schedule chats, I need a way for the call to be forwarded to my cell so that I can answer and talk to him. I can do that with Skype already, but it would be nice to be able to make outgoing calls instead of just receiving them.

I’ve used it a few times on my Droid Eris. One time was because my desktop version of Skype wasn’t working. The other time was when I was driving in to work and I was talking with some friends overseas. It would have been super expensive to use regular phone minutes but with Skype it was free. So maybe cost is a good reason to have it.