Skype Beta for Windows Phone arrives

Skype, now a division of Microsoft, has announced the availability of Skype Beta for Windows Phone, with free video calling.

Before you rush off to install it, note a few caveats:

• It’s a beta, so not all features are working properly.
• The only supported language is English (“we plan to expand the number of languages in the production release”).
• The app doesn’t run in the background, so you won’t be able to receive incoming calls or instant messages unless the app is open in the foreground.
• Video calling works only in landscape mode.
• You can’t add or manage contacts from the app.

Those are some pretty serious limitations, especially the inability to run in the background. Calling it a beta seems ambitious—it’s really more of a technology demonstration.

Perhaps a more polished version will be ready in April, when a major update to Windows Phone (codenamed “Tango”) is due. Liveside has the details of that release.

If you decide to give the Skype app a try, leave your feedback in the comments.