Skype has finally arrived on the iPhone and will come to BlackBerry devices by the end of May. The Skype app for the iPhone allows users to make Skype-to-Skype calls, SkypeOut calls and even IM to your Skype contacts. However, to make calls, you have to be in a Wi-Fi network as the app doesn’t allow calls to be made over 3G, forget EDGE.

In the meanwhile, other VoIP clients that had for long enjoyed the absence of an official Skype app on the App Store are now cringing. Take Truphone, for instance, which not only has Skype but also has its own VoIP service along with popular IM clients like Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk and AIM. As soon as the Skype app was announced, we received a mail from the folks at Truphone underlining how Truphone scores over Skype. An excerpt from the mail:

“News has abounded this week that Skype is launching its application for Apple’s iPhone.
This is great news – it promotes the ability to make free and cheap Wi-Fi calls using a VoIP client such as Truphone and others.
What has been missing from all the news so far is that Skype’s application is limited to making calls when the iPhone is in Wi-Fi access.
Truphone, using its Truphone Anywhere service, is able to make calls when not in Wi-Fi by routing the first leg of the call over the cellular network (not data over 3G) and then taking the call from there over Truphone’s network, allowing consumers to make international calls at incredibly low rates while on the move and out of Wi-Fi. The cost of the call will simply be a local call with a network operator (probably covered within contracted bundled minutes) and then the Truphone rate to the country you are calling. This applies to calls made using Truphone to other Truphone users, landlines and mobiles around the world as well as Skype users for IM and calling.
Skype’s service, while a welcome addition to the VoIP clients already available for the iPhone and iPod touch, doesn’t quite offer the options available to Truphone customers who use its Skype service as well as the other IM chat and calling communities such as Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk and AIM as well as mobile and landline calls around the world, all within a single application.”

We will be reviewing both the apps in the coming days to find out the better app. Keep tuned in…