Skype for Windows Mobile disappears!!

February 24, 2010 | By Surur

We just had a tip from wmphone.de, letting us know of a shocking mystery.

It appears Skype for Windows Mobile has disappeared from their website, and is no longer available for download. Their website merely claims “Skype Lite and Skype for Windows Mobile are no longer available.”

Their support FAQ claims:

Why can’t I download Skype Lite or Skype for Windows Mobile?

Unfortunately, Skype Lite – a version of Skype for your mobile phone – and Skype for Windows Mobile are no longer available for download from our site.

We’ve chosen to withdraw Skype Lite and Skype for Windows Mobile because we want to offer our new customers an improved mobile experience – much like the version that has proved so popular on the iPhone, and which is now available on Symbian phones. Our focus is on providing a rich user experience that allows you to enjoy free Skype-to-Skype and low cost calls as easily on the move as you do at your desktop.

We felt that Skype Lite and Skype for Windows Mobile were not offering the best possible Skype experience.

Can I still use Skype Lite if I already have it?
Yes. People who have already installed Skype Lite can continue to use it throughout 2010.

Can I still use Skype for Windows Mobile if I already have it?
Yes. People who have already installed Skype for Windows Mobile can of course continue to use it.

The above explanation is rather bizarre, and of course does not explain much at all.

At the moment Skype for Windows Mobile can still be downloaded here, but who knows how long this page, which is not liked to anywhere anymore, will remain up.

Do any of our readers have more information on this mystery? Let us know below.

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged skype, software, voip, windows mobile

efjay

They are saying WM is crap and they love the iphone. Seems pretty clear when they have been happy to supply the software for years then all of a sudden withdraw it. If anything WM 6.5.x would provide a better experience than previous versions but hey, its an iphone world now.

m.schmidler

That would have been true 1 or 2 years ago. It's a Windows Phone 7 Series world now, dude, you didn't realize that?!
Rust

Well the Iphone is for stupid people who like to be be told what they can and ca't do on their phone. Sadly there is a lot of stupid people out there.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

wow, I hate skype now. they're bastards, what a way to forget your roots, huh?
Peter

Hopefully it just means that there is a better version in the works. The Windows Mobile version really does suck. I can't use it for calls, it doesn't work well enough. It cuts out and doesn't even use the receiver in the phone and must use the loudspeaker.

http://yaya.com eli

Have you try HTC HD2 with windows 6.5? waayy better than the iphone experience and skype even works better on it that the iphone. skype want the iphone to have the best experince thats why they withdraw skype for windows 6.5 for now until' they have a better version for the iphone.
http://yaya.com eli

Have you try HTC HD2 with windows 6.5? waayy better than the iphone experience and skype even works better on it that the iphone. skype want the iphone to have the best experince thats why they withdraw skype for windows 6.5 for now until' they have a better version for the iphone.

aleis

it only means that its for android now. since verizon entered into an agreement with skype to offer it for all their android phones and not ONE of their winmo phones….winmo is SOL.
but not to worry, here u go: http://search.4shared.com/network/search.jsp?sort…

Jay

Ok skype will be available on blackberry phones, and android. This make sense because if verizon is letting us use skype then we'd need a better version than what we have now. Also this looks like a good sign for some WinMoPho 7 series development.
NuShrike

Ya agreed.. Skype for WM had a nice unrestricted run, but now Verizon is nixing it for us all.

Abdel

DEATH TO SKYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
NuShrike

Pretty old news considering: http://www.4winmobile.com/forums/news/23644-skype…

At least grab the binaries through Google before it all disappears.
Mat

Seriously, it's because manufacturers all have different methods of utilizing the speakerphone / earphone. It's a headache for developers. It needed to be standardized long ago.
http://share.skype.com/sites/en/ Peter Parkes (Skype)

Hey there – Mat’s comment above pretty much nails it. It’s been very difficult for us to make the experience consistent across a wide range of Windows devices.

However, we have a partnership in place with China Unicom to deliver a new beta version to their WM handsets – where we can work with mobile operators, we’ll be able to deliver a Skype experience on the current WM platform which lives up to expectations.

Please give me a shout if you have any further questions – I’ll be more than happy to answer them.

admin

Can you explain what prompted you to withdraw the application now, after supporting Windows Mobile and all its issues for many years previously?

That is a very unusual move.
Cyber User

"we have a partnership in place with China Unicom to deliver a new beta version to their WM handsets"

could you please provide some more information about the availability of this beta version?
best regards,

Boris

I still have someting like 10 Euro on my Skype account. Lost money?

http://intensedebate.com/people/Strangerx Strangerx

You can use that on your desktop version… or if you have an iPhone on the iPhone's version

Jos Dewey

Let's not mince words, the current version of Skype for Windows Mobile isn't very good. Interface aside, I was personally shocked when I first tried it a few months ago to find out you couldn't hold the phone up to your ear and use the mic… so there was definitely much room for improvement on the old version, but then again, I don't know of any software makers that remove a previous version before the new one comes out, or even before a new one is announced.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5401995 Christopher Hippolyte

The Xperia phones have a custom Sony Panel version that handles audio properly.
Stan

I use Skype on my HD2 and it works just like an ordinary call. I don't need any headphone attachment.

Just sharing my experience.

CT128

Can you let us know what you also pulled the Skype app from the Android Market?

Homer

is English your second language?

joujou

probably all due to provider pressure (as slightly indicated in the "where we can work with mobile operators" bit of peters statement)
Spektor

Skype for WM (and probably any mobile) stinks! I have been paying monthly for it and it's garbage — not only have they never figured out how to send me the magic IM that allows me to input a verification code that turns on my Skype caller-ID (so people I call don't continue to see a string of crazy numbers), but the sound quality is abysmal. It usually sounds good on my end, but many people complain on their end they hear their voice echoing, which is very embarrassing. Usually I have to apologize and call back, thereby burning up cell minutes, and thus defeating the entire purpose of bothering with Skype…. It's a first class fraud and someone should consider filing a class action.
Damian Faulkner

Don't blame Skype. Blame Microsoft.

Whether you like it or not, Microsoft has made Windows Mobile obsolete, by announcing its successor, WP7S. That set off a chain reaction, and now the whole world is abandoning Windows Mobile.

You'd have to be crazy to develop a new app for Windows Mobile. And also, you'd have to be crazy to put time and money into updating an existing app for Windows Mobile, when the whole operating system is at end of life status.

Skype is always working on new upgrades for its software. I doubt they "hate" Windows Phones, as someone suggested. It's probably not financially viable to develop for that platform any more, given that it is being superseded. You'll no doubt find other software vendors start abandoning Windows Mobile Classic soon. Maybe they'll develop for WP7S, or maybe just stay with other platforms that have a proven viable software ecosystem (Android, iPhone, BlackBerry)

Jos Dewey

Do you work for Skype?

Windows Mobile hasn't been made obsolete yet… if it's going to be made obsolete by WP7, it will be obsolete when WP7 actually starts to ship towards the end of the year. And even then, WinMo won't be obsolete because Microsoft has said a long time ago that 6.5 and 7 will be sold alongside each other at the beginning.

Plus, even if Windows Mobile 6.5 was legitimately obsolete at this point, why would Skype go and remove the download from their site? You're right, any idiot can see that it is no longer feasible for developers to develop for WM, but why remove programs that are already completed? And what's more, months before the supposedly obsolete OS has been made obsolete… WinMo has another year left in its life, at least, so Skype are stupid to have removed this download thereby not only inconveniencing current WM users but any people who might buy all these announced-but-not-yet-released WM6.5.x devices.

As I said in my first post above, Skype for WM was far from perfect. But it's removal defies any logic I can see, and is probably due to something we've not been told. It's mighty nice of Skype to be preparing for WP7, but the abandoning the old version and removing all traces of it from their website just seems fishy.

Ubetido

Indeed R.I.P Winmo.
Somy

Shame

And here I was waiting for an updated version that would finally let us with front facing cameras (like my Xperia X1a) use them for Skype video calls. Instead of bringing that app up to spec with the symbian version, they kill it, along with any motivation I had to actually pay them money for a service.
neil

Skype is fully integrated into Maemo on the Nokia N900 and works great!
laxity

Don't care really. SIP is better and cheaper anyways.

Homer

Skype encrypts calls. Skype pierces through firewalls, no one way audio issues and has superb sound quality compared to SIP on mobile devices. WinMo is dead. Skype is on the Verizon Droid(s) and this is fantastic. Google bought Gizmo5, you can't even open a new SIP account there now. FWD (Free World Dialup) from Larry Pulver is practically gone, so SIP is poopy there. Skype is it. Go Verizon and Android or forget about it. iPhone is non-sense. Skype on iPhone doesn't work over cell data, it is only WiFi. iPhone won't multi task so you must shut Skype down on iPhone if you want to launch another app…. no multi tasking on iPhone, not good for Skype to Skype callers to reach you on iPhone. Cumbersome to call out as you must launch then shut down over and over. Skype on Verizon Droids is where things are at now.

enrique22

I was so angry about that decision that I made a petition to keep Skype for Windows Mobile alive

Please vote on that. And also join the Facebook group and be a fan. Also write a note in the official Skype forum.
Maybe if there are many many people on all that plattforms skype will change there oppinion.

Petition
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/keepskypealive…
Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35600718182…
Official Skype Forum
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=542731
Zaphod

Windows Mobile users can do what Symbian users have done in the past. Download Fring for WinMo and use it to make Skype calls. Also Facebook, Twitter SIP, and other social networks and chat services.
Poneuser

Here is the real problem! You can circumvent the mobile carriers profit. Skype on the iPhone only works via WIFI but not via the phones internet access. Apple in their infinite money making wisdom has final approval over any app installed so from the start the prohibited Skype to work on the data network. However in an ironic twist of fate, Verizon for instance, seems to be unable to exert enough control to block the windows mobile version of Skype to use the data connection to make a call to pretty much anywhere in the world for less then $0.02 min. I use a Samsung Omnia vith a bluetooth headset to call europe all the time this would cost $1.34 min via the carrier, using Skype $0.02. Skype finally caved to the carriers quest for profit.
John

booooooooooooooooo man im startin to h8 windows phones i really regret buying one i wish i waited a bit longer to get the new iphone thats going to come out soon :'(! beat this crap anyday!
http://yaya.com eli

You can get skype for windows 6.5 as a torrent
thats the only way to get it now
Someone

I think that Microsoft should forbid Skype to sell their Windows PC version. Something like Apple was forbidding Opera to release their browser until a while ago. That way Skype would lose their user and realize the reality about who is the chief… miserable bastards!
JIm

pfft it's just a money deal with verizon. Buy verizon or forget it. I don't even have verizon available here.
http://www.naturalistanbul.de estetik

They are saying WM is crap and they love the iphone. Seems pretty clear when they have been happy to supply the software for years then all of a sudden withdraw it. If anything WM 6.5.x would provide a better experience than previous versions but hey, its an iphone world now.
disappointed

what a load of shit by skype
http://www.vajinismus.web.tr vajinismus

They are saying WM is crap and they love the iphone. Seems pretty clear when they have been happy to supply the software for years then all of a sudden withdraw it.
Dave

Absolutely crap on the part of skype – i really hope they go bust now! I was using it quite happily on my WM phone, no problems at all.
http://www.orjinalacicehre.com ac? cehre

The Windows Mobile version really does suck. I can't use it for calls, it doesn't work well enough. It cuts out and doesn't even use the receiver in the phone and must use the loudspeaker.
Mr. H

Hey guys you can get Skype 3 for WM here: http://rapidshare.com/files/386061278/Skype_3.0.c…

enjoy!!!

EAM

THANKS MR H!!!,,,,IT WORKED VERY WELL!!!,,,

http://twitter.com/Antonpictures @Antonpictures

tested with windows mobile 6. Download here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/GrqhiMzD/Skype_v30025…

or:
http://cl.ly/1UCY

cheers!
http://gidibox.com seyi

they signed a contract with verizon….they will only service verizon hardware now…..there goes another selling out
monks

suck
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001646451516 Richmond Bortey

Anyone who wanted the setup for Skype window mobile should let me know. i have the link or the site free download or contact me at rogozo500@gmail.com. Thanks