Exclusive Heads up: A few months ago, I asked Skype CEO Josh Silverman when was he going to launch the iPhone version of the P2P voice and IM service that has now been downloaded more than 405 million times. He smiled and said, “Stay tuned.” And so we did.

A tipster — a very reliable one — tells me that Skype is almost ready to launch that iPhone version, perhaps as soon as next week. CTIA Wireless, a large mobile industry trade event, kicks off in Las Vegas next Wednesday, so perhaps the announcement will be made there. I am working on getting more details, as well as screenshots of the service.  Continue »

If you asked me what I missed the most about my iPhone, I would have said Truphone, because it was the cheapest and easiest way to call my mom in India. Well, today you can add Nimbuzz to that list. The company just announced a super communication client for the iPhone that allows you to communicate in a many different ways. For instance, you can make free calls over Wi-Fi to your IM buddies. You can now also call folks on their landlines and mobile phones with Skype Out using any one of Nimbuzz’s 10 VoIP partners including Gizmo5, Vyke, sipgate and A1 and of course Skype. This is a new feature in the service, and makes Skype In/Out Services more valuable. Continue »

Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, once famously said that voice was going to be free. She was wrong in ponying up billions of dollars for Skype, but she was right in her assertion about voice. Thanks to European broadband service providers treating voice as a loss leader to attract triple-play customers, local voice has become almost free in Europe, according to research conducted by Telegeography, a division of market research firm PriMetrica.

In 2008, VoIP represented 26 percent of total fixed lines in Europe but brought in only 10 percent of the total fixed-line revenues. I bet a big chunk of the VoIP-related revenues are coming from VoIP-to-mobile phone calls. Mobile calls are seriously expensive in Europe, and as a result, any attempts by mobile VoIP companies such as Truphone have been met with resistance by the carriers. Continue »

A Los Angeles Times reporter recently called me for advice about a $400 AT&T bill covering his iPhone activities while “roaming” in Vancouver, Canada, over a weekend. He wanted to know what could be done to reduce such charges while travelling outside his carrier’s home territory. He’s in luck: Truphone says today its planning to launch one solution later this year: Truphone Local Anywhere. It’s a single SIM service that provides local numbers across multiple carriers (internationally!) on a single handset. Bottom line: Road warriors and mobile professionals can avoid roaming-charge shock on international travel. It’s due to launch in the third quarter.

What do mig33, iSkoot and Truphone have in common? They are all startups that have raised gobs of money from venture capitalists. They all offer mobile VoIP clients. And now, all three are looking beyond plain vanilla voice services as they try and navigate the new, post-credit crunch economic reality.

These startups are realizing that in order to make real money they would need to create billions of minutes in calls to off-net services. It is a game only the biggest -– Skype, for instance –- can play. And even then, making profits isn’t all that easy. More than a few startups have died trying to play the low-margin minutes game. (Related post: VoIP – Dead or Alive?)

For these three , the sheer size of their VC funding — over $100 million among the trio — provides a cushion while they plot their evolution. Continue »

I have been a frequent user of Truphone since it launched its mobile VoIP service over two years ago. What started as a simple VoIP client for Nokia Symbian S60 devices is fast becoming a unified client that does it all. You can make low-cost calls using Wi-Fi networks, utilize the wireless networks for call-back services and send SMS messages on the cheap.

The company is now taking a big step toward becoming an all-encompassing service by announcing support for Skype and other instant messaging. If you have Truphone installed on your iPhone or iTouch you can make (and receive) Skype calls and send instant messages to other Skype users by downloading the updated software on Jan. 12. So far, accessing Skype on an iPhone/iTouch has been hard. (According to our commenters, you can use Fring for iPhone or Nimbuzz iPhone apps to access Skype.) Continue »

Yesterday, Skype announced the availability of two new beta clients for mobile phones: Skype for Windows Mobile 2.5 beta and a renamed Skype for Mobile, now called Skype Lite. While the new beta version of Skype for Windows Mobile basically provides improved call quality and stability for those with Windows Mobile smartphones, Skype Lite opens up a entire new set of potential cell phone users who will be able to make calls to Skype contacts from mobile phones at the cost of a “local” cell phone call. Continue »