In case you still haven’t heard the news, Skype now allows you to make video calls.  We reported on this upcoming update on 12/26/2010, and just three days later, it was released.  It was originally believed that it wouldn’t be released until CES 2011, which is set to begin later this week.  With this new update, two-way video calling is now possible over 3G or Wi-Fi connection.  Two way video calling is limited to the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and the 4th generation iPod Touch.  Video calling will be possible from iPhone/iPod Touch to iPhone/iPod Touch, or iPhone/iPod Touch to Mac or PC.  The iPad and 3rd generation iPod Touch will be able to receive video calls, but not make them due to the lack of camera.  Skype supports portrait and landscape mode.

While it’s great news that Skype now has this feature, there are other apps that already offered it. Since the iPhone 4 and its FaceTime feature was released in June of 2010, apps like Tango and Fring have offered video calling for free and it looks like Skype finally caught up.  FaceTime on the iPhone 4, and more recently on the 4th generation iPod Touch, is a great feature but has two major faults; it will only allow you to make video calls to other iPhone 4 and iPod Touch users, and only through a Wi-Fi connection.  Now it is possible to video call people without iDevices.

Skype (3.0) is available for free in the App Store.

[iTunes Link]