Skype for iPhone Introduces…Skype for iPhone. Really.

Skype announced over the holiday weekend a new version of their iPhone app which supports 3G Skype to Skype calls (calls to users who are also on Skype) and SkypeOut calls, not just the calls over WiFi networks we’ve had recently.

This means a lot of interesting questions will now be asked in the place of “When can I stick it to my overpriced cell phone plan by using Skype?”:
* Multitasking Support:Will this be meaningful to users without multi-tasking? At this point, being “signed in” to Skype to get a call can be a bit of a dodgy affair. Users may have a hard time devoting all their time to being in Skype, or constantly signing into Skype.
* Business Model: Once multitasking is in place, and users can supplant cell usage with Skype usage, that will increase the price pressure on phone providers – will they change their business models, pricing, or just become a new class of ISPs?
* Video Calling: With the new forward facing camera in the iPhone mean video calling will finally take off? Video calling, with the new iPhone, now seems as if it may just have a chance to become mainstream – I can only imagine Palm, Blackberry and Android phones will follow suit with the forward facing camera.
* What We Don’t Know We Don’t Know: – Will people flock to video calling, creating new hazards to the afternoon stroll, finally supplanting the annoyance you feel toward people who stand in the middle of the sidewalk talking instead of moving to the side? Will those guys who talk on their cell phone in public bathrooms while doing their business start video conferencing too? Will Apple work the “rear” (that’s an unfortunate term, I know) facing camera into the act so you can have a group video and audio conference (someone should design a “stand” or base as an accessory…)?

Here’s a Wired article about the massive download number (5 million) they racked up. Their writer speculates further that the traditional “VoIP as a way to stick it to the telco” theme may be transforming into a way for telcos to accelerate profits 3G service usage.