This morning James and I got a chance to test out the new Skype for iPhone client. My impressions are that Skype nailed the implementation for voice. I’m wondering if Skype’s newest in-house audio codec has much to do with the voice quality. No matter how they did it, the sound quality is very impressive. Of course, the main limitation right now is that you can only do voice calls over WiFi and not on 3G. For our call this morning, I shared the Internet connection from my Mac to my first-gen iPhone by setting up a WiFi network. It’s drop-dead simple and since I’ve already received a few emails asking how to do this, here are the simple steps on a Mac. I don’t have a PC with me so I can’t detail exactly how to do this in Windows, but it’s not any more difficult on that platform. Here are the steps:

1. In System Preferences, open the Sharing Folder.
2. Click the Internet Sharing service (not the checkbox in front of it) and configure the options on the right. Here you simply pick the connection you want to share (Ethernet, 3G, etc…) and make sure the AirPort option is checked.
3. Click the AirPort Options button to name your network and add a password.
4. Check the Intenet Sharing service.
5. If you keep the AirPort icon in your Mac Menubar, you’ll see it change to indicate that it’s now sharing your connection over the custom WiFi network.
6. On your iPhone, simply connect to the WiFi network you created on the Mac. That’s it!

This easy process shouldn’t take more than three minutes, but I’m allowing you two extra ones just in case. This is also illustrates why I’m not the ideal customer for a 3G router. Using software, I can easily replicate the same functionality and create a wireless hotspot to share a 3G connection. Yes, my computer has to be on for this to work; that’s not required for a hardware-based router, but my computer is nearly always on to begin with. For me, this is a better solution and far less expensive since those routers can cost $200 or more. Plus, I don’t have to carry an additional device.

It’s been all over the web today that Skype has been officially released for the iPhone. It would be remiss of us to neglect covering such important mobile tech news and what better way to cover it than to show it in action. In this video I call Kevin who is goofing off hard at work in Las Vegas in preparation for the CTIA show tomorrow. In the video you’ll see and hear first-hand how clear the calls are using Skype on the iPhone and also find out what Kevin is doing out on the Strip at 4:30 in the morning.

We BlackBerry addicts will soon get to cash in on some of that Skype action as reported by Reuters. Skype will be coming to the RIM BlackBerry in May according to Skype COO Scott Durchslag. What is not clear is if Skype will only work over WiFi on the BlackBerry as opposed to using 3G connectivity. If that is the case then some of the popular models like the Storm will not be able to take advantage of the cheap calls made possible by using Skype.

On a related note, Om Malik points out that his breaking news last week has been confirmed: Skype is coming to the iPhone shortly. Skype calls on the iPhone will cost 2.1 cents/ minute and will only be possible over WiFi. No 3G for you.

GigaOM is reporting that Skype will be coming to the iPhone as early as next week. This is big news for road warriors who need VoIP to stay in touch on the road. Since the rumor has this announcement going live next week, maybe it will happen while Kevin is at the CTIA.  Hey, he can Skype the news in to the jkOnTheRun Gulf Coast Bureau.

This rumor deals with an official Skype app for the iPhone.  Skype has been possible on the iPhone through TruPhone and Fring for a while now.

The Skype folks have certainly been busy with Windows Mobile development after what seemed like years with little evolution on the platform. They have informed us that Skype version 3.0 for Windows Mobile is now available and this new version adds two cool new features.

The best one in my book is the ability to share files with chat-mates, something that Skype has long been able to do on other platforms. This makes it a simple effort to send files from any Windows Mobile phone to any Skype contact on any platform. The other new feature is the ability to send text messages using Skype’s low rates thus avoiding roaming charges when abroad.

Grab your copy of the new beta here.

This deal won’t last long so don’t dally.  Skype recently cut a deal with hotspot king Boingo that lets you pay for Boingo WiFi hotspot access using Skype credits.  This is done through Skype 2.8 Beta for Mac (only) so if you install it, you’re set to get you some free WiFi.

Once you have Skype Access going just find a compatible hotspot and the first 10,000 minutes for all users combined is absolutely free. The promotion requires you to have a Skype account and each free session must be 30 minutes or less.  The promotion period ends March 23rd so you’d better get your Skype on.

The timing of yesterday’s Nokia E63 delivery was spot-on, as Om pinged me with some S60 software this morning. It’s called OctroTalk, and although the first iterations have been around since last year, it’s still maturing. At least I hope so, because out of the audio, video and IM functions, I only have the IM working. Perhaps it’s an issue specific to the E63? I’m not sure, so I’ve passed along a note to the OctroTalk folks to see if it’s just me.

Clearly, the application works for some people: here’s a video demo from November showing it working on an N95 courtesy of Symbian-Guru. This demo really illustrates the great promise of OctroTalk’s video calling feature. Of course, that’s likely to work best when your hardware has a front-facing camera, which the E63 doesn’t have. Still, even the audio over web should have worked, in my opinion. Using OctroTalk through Google Talk, James and I tried valiantly to have a voice chat, but no such luck. In fact, one effort completely rebooted the phone on me.

I’ll update the post if I hear back from the OctroTalk folks or if I get the app working. I’m no “Symbian-Guru,” so, again, it could be me. Still, I’ve spent nearly 30 minutes trying to get things going. If it takes me that much effort, most folks probably wouldn’t get too far as they’d give up sooner. While I wait for troubleshooting, I’m going to text like it’s 1999 on this 2009 smartphone.

Update: The OctroTalk support folks and I have had e-mails all day. Turns out that the issue is due to my using a Google Apps for Domains account, not a standard Google Account. This link explains how to enable the Google Apps account, but I’m not going to have our admin mess with the settings. Instead, I’m using my regular old Gmail account and I already see the icon indicating voice chats in OctroTalk. That’s a good sign, so I’ll test further.

Finally! There’s still life in what used to be called GrandCentral! I haven’t looked much at the phone service since Google purchased it, but it’s now called Google Voice. GrandCentral had been closed to new participants for some time, so hopefully the service opens up the floodgates. Om took a look and likes what he sees. Here’s a short list from Om of some Google Voice features:

• Use your GrandCentral number to send and receive SMS messages.
• Make phone calls using the web or your mobile/landline phone.
• Get transcripts for voicemails left on Google Voice via SMS.
• Free calls to all U.S. numbers.

Here’s an interesting tidbit that plays into yesterday’s chat with Todd Jackson over at Gmail. Om says: “…the GrandCentral web site has been redesigned to resemble Gmail…” That reduces the learning curve and gets back to Todd’s comment that it’s not about the number of users, but about the usage. Why not make it familiar and easy to use?

I thought my GrandCentral account was disabled, but after requesting a password reset from a very old e-mail address I don’t use any more, I did get signed in again. The change is a rolling upgrade, so at the moment, I’ll have to wait for it before kicking the tires. I recently moved my contacts into Google and that’s a lucky break: Google Voice uses the Gmail Contact list. (I actually would love to see this whole Google Voice service integrated in Gmail, but that’s just me.) Om warns that you’ll lose your GrandCentral contacts with the upgrade, so if you don’t see the upgrade yet, you might want to click that Export button in GrandCentral.

VoIP services continue to gain acceptance, and I don’t see that trend reversing. Skype is making it’s way onto handsets, which should help their growth, but it also presents a challenge: getting your various contacts into Skype to begin with.

Skype currently can import contacts info from Outlook, Yahoo! Mail and Mac Mail natively, but falls short on other platforms. Skype Journal’s Phil Wolfe takes a close look at SkypeSync. The desktop application adds support for contacts in Gmail, Plaxo and mobile phones via SyncML. That last bit is one of the most important to me. After all, information on the people you call most are likely on the device you use to call them, right?

Phil makes note of a huge issue (at least I think it is): SkypeSync sent a “join Skype” invitation to all of Phil’s importated contacts, which numbered close to 4,000. Yikes! You can download a trial version of SkypeSync, which limits you to 15 contact imports. The fully licensed version is available for 12 Euros.

We normally don’t condone touching your contacts, but today we’ll make an exception for Fring. The all-in-one VoIP, chat and social network contact book application just outed a version for Nokia’s ExpressMusic 5800. The 5800 uses a resistive touchscreen to interact with the Symbian S60 operating system, so you can tap, tap, tap your way to contact communications with the new Fring software. The new software offers a good way to keep in touch with your friends, if you can work through the touch interface thrown on top of S60.