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Note: Skype for Windows Phone lags behind the experience available to Android and iOS devices, based on my experience trying it out on a Nokia Lumia 800.
Skype has become an essential business tool for many, especially those looking to tame travel-related telecom costs. The popular VoIP services work around the globe and support many desktop and mobile platforms with dedicated applications. On April 22, Microsoft made version 1.0 of Skype available to its Windows Phone smartphone platform, following a beta period of about two months.
I downloaded and installed Skype version 1.0.0.0 on my Nokia Lumia 800 and gave it a whirl. Skype for Windows Phone should be one of the crown jewels in Microsoft's mobile platform (after all, Microsoft owns Skype). Instead, it feels incomplete and lacks polish.
The user interface for Skype borrows heavily from Microsoft's Metro UI concept, with multiple pages in the app that are accessed by swiping sideways to the left or right. The UI uses Skype's well-known white-and-blue color scheme, and all the requisite Skype sounds are present.
Once you've logged in, the first screen visible is the contact...