Update:Skype’s new app is now available on the AppStore. Quick download and install, and so far the app is pretty quick and acts as expected. More info to come. /Update

Skype will be releasing their own iPhone app tomorrow, to be made available via the AppStore. This is long overdue, so says an iPhone owner who has been relying solely on Fring for VOIP calling from the iPhone (I had horrible time with Fring while in London in January).

So the drawbacks identified so far are:

· Wi-Fi only - no using AT&T’s 3G network to make free calls….well, not like it works all that well anyways
· No text messages - again, not on AT&T’s dime

But you can:

· Chat via IM
· Use your native iPhone address book
· Check your available Skype credit
· do some other pretty cool stuff

I’ll likely continue to use Fring simply because it allows for multi-networking instant messaging. Maybe Trillian will come out with an iPhone app? The Skype client is certainly worth checking out though, especially when traveling abroad. Oh yea, they claim that the audio quality will be best with the official Skype client only, so it looks like there is going to be some quality improvements via the new app.

And for you Blackberry users out there, you’ll have a Skype app available in May.

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