Comms: Skype leaves HTC Froyo users out in the cold

Skype has been handicapping Android users for several months.

First, it withdrew support for Fring - the gateway many users plumped for to bridge Android into Skype.

Then it withdrew from the Android Market (and its own site) the "lite" version that did run on Android.

Even today, the Skype website promotes its compatibility with Android in its post 1.1 versions.

But any attempt to download Skype to a Froyo-equipped Desire gets the message that Skype is not available for that phone.

HTC is, reportedly, the biggest supplier of smart-phones running Windows - and of smart-phones running Android. And HTC has produced a range of phones specifically for Win7M.

But it's the Android phones that have driven HTC's market growth in recent months.

Today, Bloomberg reported that smart-phone sales have increased by 78% in the past year.

But that growth will be hampered if one of the major attractions - to be able to use VoIP or - in the absence of that - Skype is lost.

For sure, Android comes with native support for Google Talk - but Google Talk does not have the global coverage of Skype and the ability to share a Skype account across multiple devices (laptop / PC / phone) around the world is a feature that more and more business travellers are beginning to appreciate.

Add in Skype's "virtual pbx" for businesses and the service provides an end-to-end comms facility that those on the road find invaluable.

But not if they have to find somewhere to sit and fire up a laptop everytime they want to make a phone call.

As more airports realise that free and open wifi is a service that travellers regard as essential and hotels migrate away from chargeable services (in part because so many travellers now move about with a 3G stick and a local flat-rate SIM card and so bypass chargeable services) more of those travellers are taking advantage of the convergence of technologies which bring many functions formerly reserved for computers into hand-held devices that also happen to be mobile phones (and cameras, video and audio recorders, video and audio players and navigation devices.

By not coming to the party, Skype is doing itself no favours at all.