Skype Deliberately Crippling Functionality of iPhone and WinMo and Verizon Apps?
There’s something anti-competitive afoot in the ‘VoIP over 3G’ space this year. Let me run you through a timeline, and see if you can’t spot the dirty pool: • Skype has had a highly functional VoIP client for Windows Mobile devices for a few years. It allowed smartphone customers to use most features of Skype over WiFi OR a carrier’s cellular data network. It was distributed around the carriers direct to customers of Skype, and was designed for those customers’ benefit. • March 2009: Skype on iPhone is launched, but is unable to do VoIP over the 3G data channel because AT&T and Apple blocked that functionality. Skype, Google, the FCC, and consumers cried “foul” at AT&T and Apple. • Oct. 2009: After considerable FCC and consumer pressure, AT&T relents, and allows VoIP over 3G (and was even publicly applauded by Skype’s CEO Josh Silverman). Skype users, naturally, expect an updated Skype version that will leverage 3G data. • Jan 16, 2010: Skype releases a new iPhone version which DOESN’T
