Skype tells us iPhone SDK 'a positive step'

Will Skype grace the iPhone? Wi-Fi use only though...

P2P voice app Skype has got back to us after we probed for its reaction to the Apple iPhone SDK being unleashed to the developing community. Although the company didn’t directly say it would be developing a version of Skype for the iPhone, it might as well have.

"As great fans of the iPhone, we think this is a positive step forward for the industry," a Skype spokesman told us. He then neatly sidestepped our key question of whether the app would become available for Apple’s dog and bone: "Skype users are highly mobile and we're paying a lot of attention to the mobile space right now".

Free apps on the App Store

Make of that what you will. So will we – we’d bet this week’s beer money that we’ll see Skype available for the iPhone pretty early on in the App Store’s life. The App Store is the software that Apple will use to make applications available for iPhoners, which will be a separate icon on the phone. And it seems it will be pretty welcoming to free apps, too.

Steve Jobs made it pretty clear – as did the subsequent SDK press release – that free apps will be accepted, as will anything but bandwidth-hogging and porn nasties. And that includes voice apps over Wi-Fi, though they won't be allowed to work over cellular networks.

Contributor

Dan (Twitter, Google+) is TechRadar's Former Deputy Editor and is now in charge at our sister site T3.com. Covering all things computing, internet and mobile he's a seasoned regular at major tech shows such as CES, IFA and Mobile World Congress. Dan has also been a tech expert for many outlets including BBC Radio 4, 5Live and the World Service, The Sun and ITV News.