Skype, iSkoot sign mobile phone deal

By Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service

iSkoot app will allow users to have the same Skype features on a mobile phone as on a PC.
Skype will help market an application that will put its contact list and VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) and instant messaging services on high-end mobile phones. The program, called iSkoot, will allow users to have the same Skype features on a mobile phone as on a PC, said Jacob Guedalia, chief executive officer of iSkoot of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Skype and iSkoot will market the application to mobile operators, who could eventually offer service packages that include iSkoot, Guedalia said. ISkoot would share in that revenue, he said. Handset manufacturers will also be courted to preload iSkoot on devices.

The iSkoot interface allows users to see who on their contact list is currently online, and to check their SkypeOut account balance. The user can change their status, such as to "away," which will then be visible to others logged in to Skype at their PCs. The contact list can be refreshed, a feature enabled through the user's data plan, according to iSkoot.

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