iOS Devices

Know what’s weird?  This morning you could buy an 8GB iPod touch for $189.  5 hours later, it’s $199. 

Someone want to explain that?

Update: We think Olly might have figured it out.

Well the Madden 10 game app didn’t take too long to turn up on the iTunes store.  Get it while it’s hot for only $7.99 (iTunes link) which is a special price until the start of the season. Also, catch some video action below.

via Touch Arcade.

Having rushed back from the European briefing, got to say the general consensus is that while the new improvements in iTunes look good, and while the iPod nano has been given some great new features, most felt a little underwhelmed.

One thing that did strike many in the place – if Apple can add a video camera and microphone to the iPod nano at such a low cost that it has been able to pretty much maintain existing price points, why on earth did it neglect to introduce this in the iPod touch? Particularly as that product’s WiFi connectivity could make this one amazing video camera.

The new products – the iPod shuffle stainless steel version is actually quite astounding in how it looks. We watched an Apple staffer lovingly polish it to keep its luster up before passing it around. It’s a very attractive little device, though it’s debatable if most users will need that sign of luxury. But those who do will like it (probably a present for your favourite client or best loved father or father in law)…

The new nano’s are sculpted somehow. While very much like the preceeding generation there’s many small details which please the eye. The new metallics are very lustrous, they catch the light in highly interesting ways. And the video – while not HD – is a nice feature. We played with a test unit for a minute or two, before being brushed aside by some big Northern (meaning North of the UK) bloke messing with his camera, who claimed to be a news writer of some kind.

We also note that the radio works effectively, and while we couldn’t test the pedometer, we think there’s enough new features packed into the device that it’s going to attract a lot of interest. It’s possible including a camera in the touch at this point would have blunted the effect of the new nano. There’s probably a camera-equipped touch lurking in the secret corridors at the back of the keynote stage, but if there is Apple’s staying tight-lipped.

Back to the radio, there’s a few features that didn’t get a mention in Jobs’ "One More Thing" moment: You can rewind a radio show up to 15 minutes – you can also tag songs that are playing on the radio, a reminder to you to purchase them next time you drop into iTunes.

The iPod classic has become an extremely attractive beast, ever so slim and packed with capacity.

Conclusion: Nano sales will spike, potentially cannibalising iPod touch sales while customers consider their need for a camera.

Gossip: Next major Apple event’s scheduled for October.

‘Pology: Sorry the audio in this video is non-existent, we’ll replace the clip later.

Shows over, some will be happy, others will have had higher expectations*.

The biggest expectations were for the iPod touch.  Those who hoped for a camera were probably unhappy at the results today.  The iPod touch got a faster, double memory for the price sized 64GB and 32GB version and the 8GB version got dropped to $199 from $229.  No camera or anything else it appears.  This lends credence to the HardMac reports of delays.  We’re not telling you what to do, but you might want to wait a few months on any iPod Touch purchases.

The iPod Shuffle got colors and some headphones compatibility.

The Classic got a bump in size to 160GB.  No camera.

The Nano got the most improvements with that camera that was expected.  Video, stills, a mic, and some new apps like Voicenotes and Pedometer. Also an FM radio (at last)  Very nice additions for Nano customers.

iTunes 9 got an overhaul which was nice and expected.  iTunes LP (Cocktail) we’re looking forward to playing with, though not with the Beatles.  We’re downloading iTunes now.  It is here.

iPhone OS 3.1 hit with Genius lists and other minor improvements.  DO NOT UPGRADE if you enjoy free tethering.

A lot of sales figures and game demos also went by.  We’re excited for EA’s Sporting games (Madden!).

Although this wasn’t a spectacular show, it was good to see Steve Jobs back after all. 

Everyone cheered, we think if the internet was wired for sound we’d have heard cheering from all over the place.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZmuap-DjDI&hl=en&fs=1&]

Your comments?

Shows over, some will be happy, others will have had higher expectations*.

The biggest expectations were for the iPod touch.  Those who hoped for a camera were probably unhappy at the results today.  The iPod touch got a faster, double memory for the price sized 64GB and 32GB version and the 8GB version got dropped to $199 from $229.  No camera or anything else it appears.  This lends credence to the HardMac reports of delays.  We’re not telling you what to do, but you might want to wait a few months on any iPod Touch purchases.

The iPod Shuffle got colors and some headphones compatibility.

The Classic got a bump in size to 160GB.  No camera.

The Nano got the most improvements with that camera that was expected.  Video, stills, a mic, and some new apps like Voicenotes and Pedometer. Also an FM radio (at last)  Very nice additions for Nano customers.

iTunes 9 got an overhaul which was nice and expected.  iTunes LP (Cocktail) we’re looking forward to playing with, though not with the Beatles.  We’re downloading iTunes now.  It is here.

iPhone OS 3.1 hit with Genius lists and other minor improvements.  DO NOT UPGRADE if you enjoy free tethering.

A lot of sales figures and game demos also went by.  We’re excited for EA’s Sporting games (Madden!).

Although this wasn’t a spectacular show, it was good to see Steve Jobs back after all. 

Everyone cheered, we think if the internet was wired for sound we’d have heard cheering from all over the place.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZmuap-DjDI&hl=en&fs=1&]

Your comments?

 *like us

We’re rolling out our good ol’ fashioned 9to5mac Livepanel which will be circulating the best feeds throughout the iPod event.  As you might remember, this framed page shows four of the best feeds at once and is refreshed every 15-30 seconds so your mouse button finger doesn’t have to bleed.  It works best on large (24"+) monitors and uses 1990’s html frames technology to bring sweet, sweet iPod camera information to your eyes as quickly as possible.

We are also Tweeting the event on the 9to5mac twitter account and trying to get an audio or video feed of the event.  We’ll just pop it in if we find one.  Have fun!

Something strange happened this morning.  Before (not during) an Apple event, the store went down briefly and iPod prices dropped significantly. As far as we can remember, this hasn’t ever happened before. 

We think that it lends some credibility to earlier reports that iPods may have seen some manufacturing issues and have been pushed back (toward October) or be available in limited numbers initially.  It may also mean that the current iPods may stick around for awhile even as the new iPods are introduced – in much the same way that iPhones 3g and 3GS are now both being sold.

This may have also been Steve Jobs not liking every single thing about the new products and making some last minute changes so the devices are "just right" – or maybe moving the camera position to screw all of the iPod case leakers.

AI got a bunch of screengrabs of Microsoft’s new ExpertZone "training courses" that were given to Best Buy employees.  The role of the "course" is clear – to convince customers that may be looking for a Mac or a Linux computer to drop that notion and instead get a PC.  They even "reward" employees with a $10 copy of Windows 7 for taking the re-education camp training.

We know this is how Microsoft plays the game, but it is surprising to see Best Buy in on the act.  Imagine if you are looking for a stereo or a refrigerator?  Are the salespeople going to steer you toward the best product or one that they are getting paid to send you towards?  Now we know the answer.  In our mind, Best Buy lost any credibility they may have once had. 

As the world grows ever more curious at what Apple will reveal at its keynote event today, and commentators ponder a Sky News report in which Yoko Ono said music from The Beatles will indeed make it to iTunes, Apple has quietly applied price cuts across its existing iPod touch range.

The price cuts – presumably to offload existing stocks of older models to make way for the new – also lend some weight to claims Apple will introduce an iPod touch at a new low price, perhaps $149 (you can now buy a refurb 2nd Gen iPod Touch for exactly $149).

As it is, visitors to the Apple Store in the US can today pick up an 8GB, 16GB or 32GB iPod touch at generous discounts on their usual price – cheaper than Amazon’s recently discounted prices. 

The 8GB model has seen a $40 discount, it now costs $189; the 16GB model has seen a $50 price cut, now retailing at $249 while the 32GB iPod touch is available for $279 – that’s a $120 saving on the previous price.

It doesn’t stop there: Apple has also cut costs for iPod nano customers – that product now costs $129 for the 8GB model and $149 for the 16GB version.  Refurb Nanos now start at $99 for 8GB and go to $129 for 16GB.

Even the iPod classic, reports of the death of which we feel might have been greatly exaggerated – has seen a discount, from $269 to $249.

As we all believe, Apple will announce its new range of camera-equipped iPods within hours.

(Oh, there’s a tiny £5 discount on prices as announced in September 08 on the UK Apple store, but we’ve no idea when these were put in place, and doubt UK readers will see a fiver’s saving as particularly significant).

Palm, as of midnight, took the wraps off of its new Candybar (not slider) smartphone for Sprint now officially dubbed the Pixi. Yes, September 9th is a great date to release a product but they might not get all of the PR they are after.  Again, Sprint may not match the iPhone but they certainly are in the "Best of the Rest" category.  Specs below.

Size and weight

• Dimensions:
  4.37 inches (h)
  2.17 inches (w)
  0.43 inches (d)
• Weight:
  3.51 ounces

We’ll believe it when we see it but  late comments by John Lennon’s Heiress seems to indicate that the whole Beatles back catalog will be showing up on iTunes…perhaps at tomorrow’s event. 

Update: The Sky News link is down but here’s some twitterin’ evidence below.

Update 2: A Sky News employee has told us they were told to cut the story out immediately and not to comment.  Directive came "from the very top".  Here’s a Google Cache of the story if there are any unbelievers…This is getting interesting!

Update 3: Google’s News cache is gone but it is still in the general cache.  The whole thing is kinda Twilight Zone at this point.  In the other corner we have EMI’s chief saying it ain’t going down… "tomorrow". 

Shouldn’t Sky News be issuing a retraction – or something at this point?  Isn’t that what normal News news orgs do if they run a story and then pull it?  This is very very weird.  Has something like this ever happened before?

Remember: We’re again rolling out our good ol’ fashioned 9to5mac Livepanel which will be circulating the best feeds throughout the iPod event.  As you might remember, this framed page shows four of the best feeds at once and is refreshed every 15-30 seconds so your mouse button finger doesn’t have to bleed.  It works best on large (24"+) monitors and uses 1990’s html frames technology to bring sweet, sweet iPod camera information to your eyes as quickly as possible.

We are also trying to get an audio or video feed of the event and will pop it in if we find one.  Have fun!

In case you had any doubt…Yes, there will be some new iPods tomorrow.  You can probably have a new cover for it before that, though, as Best Buy is advertising new iPod Skins here.  Though, it looks like you can just buy a 2nd Generation iPod sleeve and get a big hole puncher…via Engadget

Update: Best Buy has taken down the link.

Gene Munster isn’t expecting any surprise announcements at tomorrow’s "It’s only Rock and Roll" event.  He says that even though iPhone sales have been strong (best sellers on AT&T), the lack of surprises will disappoint Apple investors.  He only expects cameras to be added to iPods and perhaps an iTunes update.  Traditionally, AAPL has lost an average of one point on announcement days.

"We expect Steve Jobs to introduce a new iPod lineup with a new iPod touch, new nanos, and a new classic, with cameras in the new models. We expect the stock to trade off on a lack of surprising announcements, representing a buying opportunity. In our sample of 12 recent Apple events, the stock has traded -1% on the day of an event."

 Ummm. That’s why they call it a surprise.  Tune in to 9to5Mac tomorrow at 1PM Eastern US time to find out if he’s wrong.

France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom have announced plans to combine their UK Orange and T-Mobile operations, part of a dash to convince Apple to grant the operators rights to distribute the iPhone.

T-Mobile and Orange hope their merger to create Britain’s largest mobile phone network will enable them to win the rights to the handset. The combination beats Apple’s current iPhone partner, O2, into becoming the UK’s second network.

We also understand the O2 iPhone tie-up is under review, with some summer reports claiming the exclusive arrangement’s set to fall apart in early October.

Tom Alexander, Orange’s UK chief executive, told The Telegraph: “We [Orange] are already the network of choice for multimedia devices, we’ve already got the biggest 3G network (which is used to deliver mobile phone broadband), now with T-Mobile we’ve got an even stronger 3G network.”

He added: “We’ve got a fantastic platform and are obviously the network of choice for all multimedia devices, including potential the iPhone in future.”

Gervais Pellissier, finance director of Orange’s parent company France Telecom, said: “We [France Telecom and T-Mobile’s parent Deutsche Telekom] are both very good partners of Apple in our domestic markets and [the joint venture means] we have a very good chance to be a strong partner here in the UK”.

Dr H. Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union said: “Both T-Mobile and Orange have strong R&D departments, so I see the newly formed operator as one to watch in terms of innovation in the products and services it brings to market. Becoming the largest operator in the UK will benefit customers by allowing the new corporation to offer more choice in mobile services and flexibility in pricing. Emerging markets will also benefit from the R&D investment being made in new technologies.”

The deal is likely to attract scrutiny from EU competition regulators and is not expected to fully complete until 2011, with the companies continuing separate operations until then.

We suspect lots of Orange and T-Mobile customers may be hoping for the chance to get an iPhone on their chosen network, particularly given O2’s various customer complaints has led many potential iPhone owners to lag in making the move.

How much storage do you need for Time Machine back-ups? Added to which, how much do you use for casual back-ups and your iTunes library? Perhaps a Terabyte or two?

Interesting then is a late night Cult of Mac report which suggests some MobileMe users are seeing their iDIsk storage capacity seemingly raised to 2TB. We’ve checked our own accounts and these still read 10GB, and the comments in Leander Kahney’s story suggest these 2TB storage explosions are isolated incidents, at best, that’s if they’re true at all….

Sure, you can already get up to 60GB of additional storage through MobileMe for a fee.  But what would a 2TB capacity through MobileMe mean to iDisk users? Quite a lot, we think. We can imagine Time Machine back-ups to your storage in the cloud, for example.

We’d like to think you could choose to store your iTunes library up there, too, making it available to all your devices – could this be a quiet dawn for that much speculated-upon iTunes in the cloud notion?

After all, we know Apple harnesses some big online plans, following its decision to build a huge $1 billion server farm in North Carolina.

What’s really set us thinking is the Cult of Mac report when read in conjunction with a second item on TechCrunch this morning. An opinion piece which describes the “inevitable move of iTunes” into the cloud.

In a well-argued piece, author, MG Siegler, points out that the data capacity demanded by movies and TV shows (and series) is huge, taking up valuable space on your Mac and forcing users into having to make back-up decisions. It’s a little clumsy.

Given too the move toward streaming music services, as evinced by Spotify, then could this iDisk move – if true – be Apple’s way to offer legitimate music owners a way to set up their very own personal streaming music service to access their own files, while perhaps bolstering that offering with its own fee-based streaming service?

Perhaps we’ll find out more tomorrow.

Also consider ABI Research data published in the last hour. The researchers claim, "The number of mobile cloud computing subscribers worldwide will grow rapidly over the next five years, rising from 42.8 million subscribers in 2008, (approximately 1.1 per cent of all mobile subscribers) to just over 998 million in 2014 (nearly 19 per cent)."

According to senior analyst Mark Beccue: "From 2008 through 2010, subscriber numbers will be driven by location-enabled services, particularly navigation and map applications. A total of 60 per cent of the mobile Cloud application subscribers worldwide will use an application enabled by location during these years."

Beccue concludes by reiterating his finding that "By 2014, mobile cloud computing will become the leading mobile application development and deployment strategy, displacing today’s native and downloadable mobile applications."

Meanwhile, if you’re a 9to5Mac reader with a MobileMe account, why not take a second to check to see if you’ve been bestowed with a 2TB storage surprise. Let us know if you have, we’re interested.

And swing by tomorrow for our September 9th live event coverage, hopefully with a little video…
 

This is an interesting development. Manomio went though all of the App Store hurdles to get the C64 app approved over the past months. This included all of the complex licensing issues and slicing out one of the coolest features, the BASIC interpreter, that a lot of us had our first programming experience on.

It turns out, it wasn’t sliced out, but just covered, only to be revealed by an undocumented easter egg-type hack.

If you’re dying to get your BASIC on, however, reader Stooovie let us know you can still access it by enabling “always show full keyboard”, starting a game, paging over to the EXTRA keyboard, and then tapping RESET. Boom, dropped into BASIC with a ready-prompt…

As soon as Apple got wind of this (last night), it was pulled from the App Store.

The developer is saying that they never intended for this to be revealed, that it was put there in anticipation of Apple, at some future time, allowing them to open up the BASIC functionality.  They’d activate this functionality remotely. Manomio at C64iPhone.com has this to say:

Unfortunately Apple this night pulled the C64 App from the App Store. We had agreed with Apple to remove basic from the application, but as we believed it would be possible to convince Apple to let it in later on, we left it in the app to be activated remotely by us when we had “go” from Apple.

Due to the extreme publicity the app has received over the weekend and the fact that several users found a way to enable the basic back, Apple decided to remove the app from App Store until we have solved the issue.

This is very frustrating as we had no intention of tricking basic into the app and the fix was done in a few minutes the moment we found out – a new version has been submitted to Apple, and we can only hope Apple will appreciate our efforts to apply the changes they need in order to put it back on.

We have a feeling Apple isn’t going to be in any hurry to get this app back onto the App Store.  Also, how many other approved apps have secret back door functionality that can be enabled remotely?

We all know Apple will introduce its all-new potentially camera-equipped iPod range during its special event this week, now slight evidence has come to light supporting some earlier claims the company may stick it to the competition – principally the Zune HD – by introducing its new products at aggressively lowered prices.

Or it may not. This is speculation and rumour, after all.

A recent blog posting claimed the entry-level 8GB iPod touch will be introduced at $149, a price which would immediately widen the company’s market. 

What if Apple were to do something like it has done with the iPhone and kept a previous generation model (8GB iPhone 3G@$99) around at an incredibly low price?  Sell the iPod Touch 2G without camera, compass, or GPS for $149?  Or less.

The new $150 price point would be revolutionary for people who need Email, light browsing, 70,000 apps, music, movies, photos etc on the go.  It would also make Microsoft’s $220 entry level also GPS-less/Camera-less ZuneHD a tough sell. (More on the impact of the $150 iPod touch here.)

Marco.org also postulates the following price points, and warns that the iPod classic will be retired (despite some claims it will be updated to match the rest of Apple’s media player products with the inclusion of its own camera.

– $59: 4 GB Shuffle (no changes)

– $99: 8 GB Nano (minor update, maybe with camera)

– $149: 8 GB Touch (3GS internals, camera)

– $199: 16 GB Touch

– $249: 32 GB Touch

– $349: 64 GB Touch

That it is possible Apple would be able to shave a few dollars off the cost of its iPod touch and iPhone devices is also suggested by a second report on DigiTimes.

The article, “Touch panel IC quotes dropping fast”, relates that the current price of 3.5-inch touch panels have dropped near 50 per cent, from $16-18 one year ago to $9-11 today. Chip prices on the segment have also fallen, to $2 from up to $5 each. The report cites market sources.

If the trend is one in which key component prices are falling, as production efficiencies bring in cost savings on the one hand, while economic woes cause manufacturers to lower prices to stimulate trade, then Apple does have an opportunity to bring in its next-generation iPods at lower prices.

This could be considered by Apple management to be an appropriate reaction to the slow erosion in iPod sales growth, particularly as it cannibalises its own market with the iPhone.

That the opportunity to do this may exist doesn’t necessarily mean Apple – at heart a premium priced brand – will take the chance. But with Microsoft’s Zune HD set to cost $219 (16GB) when they debut later this month, reducing prices to eradicate Redmond’s price war threat could make some sense.

We’re in the “wait and see” camp.

French Mac Website HardMac (MacBidouille to Francophiles) is reporting that there might be some production problems slowing down the release of the new iPod touch products related to the new 3.2megapixel camera module.  They postulate that the issue could cause delays in delivery of camera-toting iPods.

If this rumor does materialize then this would give Microsoft’s Zune HD release of 09/15/09 a potential leg up in sales. We will all find out this Wednesday at Apple’s "It’s Only Rock & Roll" event.  Make sure to stop by 9to5mac for the live show – we hope to grab a live video feed again.

From HardMac:

According to one of our reliable source (however, it remains a rumor), Apple is facing problems with the production of the new iPod Touch. The issue would be linked to the new camera module. We did not get any further details, but the problem has been spotted in the first dozen of thousands units produced. Those units have been put aside.We do not know if the problem has been solved in the meantime. In any case, the iPod Touch availability would be delayed and initial volumes reduced. If the problem has not been solved yet, then the updated iPod Touch might be significantly delayed.

One-time champion of music on the move with its decade-defining Walkman cassette players, Sony seems set to begin a land-grab for future growth in the mobile device segment, with SCEE head of developer relations, Zena Colaco, making a series of statements putting the smack down on the App Store economy.

“Unlike with the App Store, we’re looking to support everyone that develops for us, instead of leaving developers out in the wilderness,” he told Develop magazine.

“We’re not immediately interested in giving developers free access and no help,” he added, noting that Sony intends focusing on developers who can deliver the highest quality applications for its PSP Go and PSPmini ranges.

Sony’s developer boss may not make himself hugely popular among the majority of iPhone developers with his next statement. “Some of the developers working on the App Store and PSP Minis tell us that they prefer our approach because they get more visibility. I’m not suggesting that iPhone developers are unprofessional, but I think that the App Store has attracted a number of hobbyists. Clearly, the PSP is designed for gaming.”

Colaco stressed that its not Sony’s intention to war against Apple, at least, not right now, saying: “Our focus isn’t directed straight towards the App Store. We acknowledge that we’ll be competing in that space, and I think at some point we’ll give developers access that allows things to move down that route.”

His comments emerge as the company plans to open its very own applications store, the Minis Store, on its PlayStation Network this October, when it releases the PSP Go. As a temptation to woo developers, he also noted that the company may in future make PSP development kits completely free.

On the launch of the Minis Store, the Sony exec added: “We’re not short of product. Right now we’re working with about 60 developers with about 50 games coming out before Christmas. I think we’re going to launch with about 15 titles.”

Sony’s move comes as Nokia, Microsoft, RIM, Palm and others all begin launch of Apple App Store-inspired online application stores for users. Though Apple remains the biggest fish in this pond at present, with its $3.3 billion App Store industry.

The corporations. They do keep growing, expanding, forming their own blueprint across the planetary landscape, a sleight of hand so crafy some things just get lost in the ether. Not this one though: Fresh from its iPhone deal, China Unicom today took a slice of another iPhone carrier, O2 parent company, Telefonica. (Or perhaps its true to say the two corporations took a slither of interest in one another).

Spanish-owned Telefonica is one of the largest fixed-line and mobile telecommunications companies in the world: 3rd in terms of number of clients (with the acquisition of O2, Movistar and Manx Telecom) only behind China Mobile and Vodafone, and in the top five in market value.

Apple’s brand-new Chinese iPhone carrier partner has agreed to shell out $1 billion for a 0.88 per cent slice of Telefonica. In exchange, as this corporate love-making goes public, the Spanish firm intends increasing its investment in China Unicom by around $1 billion to an 8 per cent stake, from 5.38 percent currently.

There’s more: Expect joint work on network and technology development, shared infrastructure, working together on developing wireless services. and lots of deals on roaming and sharing of “skills”.

The two firms together account for 405 million subscribers right now.

We wonder what the impact of this nesting between the two carriers will have on Apple’s ongoing conversation with China Telecom.

We know that part of the problem Apple’s had with nailing a deal with Chinese mobile telcos has been the latter’s refusal to engage in revenue sharing deals, and some pressure on Cupertino to relinquish control of the App Store. (As we understand it).

Interesting then to note that the world’s largest indie music aggregator, The Orchard, last month sealed a deal with China Telecom to offer music through that company’s wireless service.

Talk continues to favour the notion Apple and China Telecom will reach an iPhone deal in future. Is all the activity – including recent Chinese government moves to promise more action against copyright abuse – simply Apple’s future Chinese partners putting themselves into position to best benefit from Apple’s smartphone salvo.

There’s a degree of symmetry to this proposition: After all, your iPhone was indeed designed in Cupertino – but made in China.

Cordell Ratzlaff, Director of Cisco’s User-Centered Design Team in the Voice Technology Group shows us what the company’s been developing for WebEx meetings and the iPhone. Love the way he shakes his iPhone to change the WebEx client. It’s pretty cool.(The magic happens at 1:35)

Here’s some advice for those Skype iPhone developers: Stop everything else you are doing right now and work on getting Push Notifications working – Nothing else matters until that works.  They’ve updated the following (and some of these things are nice) but frankly we’d trade all of this and more for Push Notifications.

What’s new in Version 1.2
– Set up call forwarding from your iPhone – forward Skype calls to a phone number when you’re not signed in.
– Improved performance and better audio quality on Skype-to-Skype calls.
– Even easier to send text messages (SMS) – Send SMS from the Call tab.
– Calls are connected much faster.
– Status of your contacts is updated more often.

– You can now decide whether you want to stay online/offline when the iPhone is  locked. We’ve added this into settings.
– Contact groups are now supported, making it easier to see who is online and separate your saved phone numbers.
– You can now edit the name of your saved phone numbers.
– Added support for skype: URL schemes in Safari.
– When creating a new account the country in your Skype profile is taken from the language used on your iPhone.
– Group chat profile pictures are now shown.
– You can now remove your profile picture.
– Added a ‘Help’ link to ‘Forgot your password’.
– Improved support for proxy configurations.

Download Skype 1.2 for iPhone (iTunes Link)

Also Top Up your Skype account with these discounted rates.