Windows Phone-based Skype to be released soon

PanARMENIAN.Net - Microsoft is currently working on a Windows Phone based version of Skype that will be released shortly, Skype's VP of product & design, Rick Osterloh, disclosed recently at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Microsoft, who acquired Skype in October last year, previously stated that Skype would be available for the OS by the end of 2011. The company's latest update is that they're "working on a Windows Phone product that will be coming out soon."

According to various reports, the Skype app won't have deep integration into the Windows Phone platform yet, but rather it will be released as an application which has to be downloaded from the MarketPlace. Skype should become a major feature of the OS when the Windows Phone Apollo update is released, The Verge reports.

The Windows Phone Apollo update should be made available in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a recently leaked roadmap; before that the Tango update will make its way onto the market, sometime during the second quarter. However, there has been no official statement made by the company yet.

The software giant is working hard to accrue many more apps on its Windows Phone platform, and there has been a steady growth on the marketplace, recently passing 50,000, It Pro Portal reported.