But I am! :)

I think a lot of people, though perhaps not you or me, will use Skype while they are at home, in the USA, to conveniently call family/friends abroad and catch up for way less than they could with their landline or regular cell phone plan. Yes, this would be a very expensive solution to international voice roaming.

Edit: Even if the fee is $5/month when that starts, you are looking at a break even point when calling from the US to most other countries at under 10/minutes a month.

blockin
 

Many locations, and countries actively block the skype protocal and downloads. The only way to get around it, is to setup a VPN tunnel and then one can make skype calls and skype out calls (see my comments about my recent trip to Dubai about this, and work arounds) so, needing to setup a vpn (which is easy) to be able to use Skype is fine, but the iphone skype app. had only these two categories for network access.

WIFI, and NOT WIFI. Of course, VPN was also "not wifi" so the phone application thought it was using a cellular network (even though it was using WIFI WITH VPN) and it wouldn't allow the traffic to flow.

Now, it has more understanding of the DETAIL of the data channel.

Many? You cited Dubai and I think I have heard of one other country. But not many. However, yes a VPN is how you use Skype in the Emirates.

Wouldn't you have to VPN to some network? For instance, I can VPN into my work network.

Dubai seems to have other restrictions and not being able to use Skype may be the least of them.

Love it! Haven't travelled much since I installed it, but this looks VERY useful for those who are in and out of a lot of different airports.

okay
 

okay, I'll play this little game and change the operative adjective here to
SOME, SEVERAL, A FEW, MORE THAN ONE country OR LOCATION or companies, or ISPS' blocks skype.

I can only attest personally to DUBAI, some ISP's in CHINA, (most noteably in shanghai, beijing and xiang) Seoul (in South Korea) I have had skype blocking in hotels in Singapore, Singtel being the monopoly there and Thailand. Turkey is hit or miss, istanbul can work, but in southern Turkey I think there is one telco and they block pretty much en mass. and zimbabwe.

I have also had skype blocking, ACTIVE blocking where a message comes back in parts of Mexico and Brazil.

While Dubai seems to be a blanketed objective, although I did have no problem in one super high end place in dubai, all of Abu Dhabi was blocked, I HEAR that Jordan, Iran, Syria, Oman, Qatar and Egypt (amongst others I have heard) block skype completely or at least attempt to.

So, while I know a COUPLE is defined as TWO and a FEW is three or more, many is indeed more ambiguous but probably falls somewhere above three and less than 1000 on the numeric spectrum?

And then of course there are HOTELS and ISP that will block things like this to maintain their limited use of THEIR telco offerings and prices which are usually referred to as EXORBITANT.

What's even more insulting is that Skype works like a P2P network. The data stream doesn't even pass through Skype's servers. Skype's servers serve to authenticate and track calls, but the actual data goes directly between the two users. There is virtually no cost to Skype for a call.

Not only that, but if the Skype users are behind a NAT gateway, the data stream often passes through a intermediate person's network. So I'm PAYING Skype for the privilege of letting them use my bandwidth to transit other peoples' calls. This is maddening. :mad:

Yes, it is never the entire country, and I have found that Skype works in most all the countries you list when you stay at a business class hotel. I mostly stay at Intercontinental, Sofitel and Starwood and I have used Skype often in China, Korea, Singapore, western and eastern Turkey (even in an Ankara coffee shop), Jordan, Egypt, Mexico, & Brazil. And countless other places. As for Dubai, I have successfully avoided going there for several years, but even after they started blocking VoIP, I was able to use Skype at the Park Hyatt there.

Hmmm... That's Funny the confusion and outrage from MacRumors seems to have coming this way.

Can we simplify this a bit?

What we think we know...

RE: Skype version 2.0.0 for the iPhones.

The optional "small monthly fee" in question enables Skype-to-Skype calls from your iPhone over 3G networks. Period. That's is the only feature this fee seems to apply too IMHO.

If you do not like this fee or do need this feature you may continue to make free Skype-to-Skype calls over wifi and apparently now via VPN. ;) Status quo, nothing is being taken away, even improved for some users. Right?

Skype Out... The Skype-to-Phones (mobile & land lines) feature is already a paid service and, as I tested, is fully functional over 3G. My online balance goes down as I make calls of course. It's a simple prepaid service for calling people on their telephones. No "small monthly fee" like the Skype-to-Skype service for 3G use. Skype also offers calling plans which I'm guessing would be fully functional over 3G. You are billed a cents/min rate, and a connection fee if you are not on a monthly Skype plan.

As usual when using either Skype-to-Skype or Skype Out, iPhone users should always be vigilant to remain within their data plan limits or be prepared to pay a lot more than the expected. A very safe way to avoid headaches is to turn off data roaming when abroad and stick to wifi anyway. Better yet sign up for unlimited global data ;-)

What it comes down to is this..iPhone users cannot use their handsets to call (or potentially video call) people over 3G networks without paying for this new capability. Sure not a deal breaker for me.

Ultimately, every user is different, but for me, Skype 2.0.0 over 3G is a welcome addition to my quiver of Apps, especially with OS 4.0's multitasking.

I suppose other Free mobile Skype-to-Skype options include jailbreaking, Android or Blackberry right? Have at it I want your bandwidth.

-Scho

Skype over 3G
 

Has anyone tried calls yet? Two major issues.

When you go to actually make a call, a pop up window informs you that calls are free only until the end of August 2010! This contradicts the end of the year statement in the app store description.

The quality sucks! At least with my one attempt here in France on a 3GS. I walked outside to get a good 3G signal and could download mail just fine. But the voice quality Skype-to-Skype was pretty much unusable. The person I was calling was on a Mac on WiFi.

Over here in Lilliput the voice quality from my iPhone over 3G to a buddy's cell in the US was rockin' good. Then did a Skype to Skype with the fellow a couple of posts up ;) that was a crystal clear as you would ever want. That from inside a building next to the core on a 45,000 sq.ft floorplate (i.e. no where near a window).

I like MagicJack clarity for VOIP, but this version of the Skype app. enabling me to make dirt cheap int'l calls during the day from my iPhone absolutely rocks!

Nothing is being taken away, but there is not a single reason why, to Skype, a 3G data connection is any different than a wifi or VPN connection. Data is data. That's the whole basis behind the Internet (for now--net neutrality is under debate).

Unless there is some technical or contractual reason why calling over 3G costs Skype more (they have to route it through their servers to ensure QoS or they have, as guessed at above, signed an exclusivity contract with another carrier), this fee is not only nickel-and-diming but insulting, given that Skype is making money off of other people's donated bandwidth.

Same on this end over wifi and comcast.

[QUOTE=stimpy;14054966]Has anyone tried calls yet? Two major issues.

When you go to actually make a call, a pop up window informs you that calls are free only until the end of August 2010! This contradicts the end of the year statement in the app store description.

They changed the text online AFTER releasing the app. An update should fix it soon