Skype embeds on Nokia, Sony-Ericsson phones

As Skype says, so Skype does. The company has made arrangements to embedded its software on Nokia's newest devices and get a "screen" on the Sony-Ericsson Xperia X1 phone.

Skype's announcements at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain are fulfillment of an objective announced at CES and other venues to have its client pre-loaded and integrated onto handsets to provide better ease-of-use and market penetration. Downloading and working with a client not integrated into a handset is seen as a hurdle to further penetration; if users have to download it and then have to hunt for it on their phones, it is more of a headache. Skype wants seamlessness to the communications experience.

Nokia has agreed to integrate Skype into its devices, starting with the Nokia N-series and the N97 "flagship" device. The N97 will incorporate Skype in the third quarter of 2009, with Skype as a part of the address book of the phone, enabling presence, IM, and voice calls. Users will be able to see when Skype contacts are online, IM them, launch free Skype-to-Skype voice calls, and use the client to make low-cost Skype-Out calls.

On the other hand, Skype is one of a bunch of new panels added to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 phone over the past two weeks. Users can customize the X1 user interface, bringing the apps and content they want to their active desktop. Skype's panel brings up Skype on the X1 and provides the functionality you'd expect - IM, presence, and calling.