I’ve been following the SkypePhone for a while and it’s finally here, well almost, it’s due for release in the UK on friday. Telco, Hutchison trotted out the 3 branded candy bar style handset, designed to simplify the use of VoIP on a mobile phone.

It has a 2-megapixel camera, a MPHutchison 3 player, Bluetooth connectivity, and 16MB of internal memory that can be expanded to 1GB with a Micro SD memory card.

Some phones already support Skype, but data based plans, that are charged on download/upload usage typically make Skype an expensive option. Skype does recommend having an unlimited data plan or using WiFi with it’s mobile application. Hutchison already offers unlimited Skype calls on it’s more expensive X-series phones, but the SkypePhone is aimed at the mass market. It is simpler to use and sports a large Skype button to launch the application and IM services.

The phone is reasonably priced at £49.99 (US$102) for customers who prepay their service. Skype calls wont be charged on the 3 network but will be limited to about 4000 minutes a month, after which outgoing calls will be blocked, but incoming calls will still be allowed. The catch is, go outside the 3 network coverage area and the roaming charges will cost you an arm and a leg.

The phone’s dual band and won’t work in the US. It’s slated for release in Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Macau, and Sweden by the end of the year.

Have a look at the product page at 3 UK

Via Infoworld

Technorati tags: Skype, Phone, 3G, Hutchison, just another mobile monday, JAMM