Can you tell that I’m excited?

In a previous post, I mentioned that Skype would be releasing a version for Verizon Blackberry devices in late March. Late March is here, and so is Skype for my Blackberry!

Skype Mobile download quickly from Skype’s website onto my Storm (I’m eligible for a Storm 2 upgrade next month), and everything seemed to install without a hitch. But when I looked in my Applications folder, there was no Skype!

So, I clicked on the Skype icon, was presented with a Username and Password screen, and then there was Skype! The interface is a great fusion between the

latest Blackberry application interface and the familiar Skype desktop interface. My Skype contacts popped right up, so I decided to give it a Whirl.

My sister Mandy leaves Skype logged in on their family room desktop PC, and I since it was early evening, just after dinner, I thought it a safe bet that she would be able to answer. I clicked on her contact listing, and the Blackberry dialer application popped up, just as if I were placing a regular phone call on Verizon.

On the second ring, she answered: “Hey! … Wait, I don’t see you!” While this is our usual greeting when I call on my laptop when I forget to plug in the webcam. I didn’t her video either, which appears to be a limitation of the Skype/Verison Blackberry solution. Of course, sending video of yourself using the Blackberry camera would be problematic, so overall I’m not too disappointed that this feature isn’t there (unless it’s hidden somewhere I haven’t found, which I’ve already proven is a likely scenario).

The sound quality was excellent, with only a little more delay and static compared to talking over Verizon’s voice network. In fact, I would say the sound quality was comparable to using Skype on my laptop. The only problem I found is that Skype Mobile didn’t seem to have a lot of the fancy anti-feedback features of the desktop application, so I would say something, then I would here myself say it back, and then my sister would speak. A lot of this has to do with her desktop speaker and microphone setup. Isuspect that a Blackberry to Blackberry call would sound great.

I’m hoping to test it this weekend with some international crew members I know who are willing to be my lab rats, er, Field Testers. I’ll make sure I post their observations here.

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