Skype app available for download on Windows Phone 7.5

UPDATE: Rather strangely, if not downright prescient, mere days after stumbling across the Skype beta app for WP7, Microsoft and Skype have today released the full version of the Skype app for Windows Phone 7.5.  You can use the same Marketplace link below to download the app, which replaces the beta version in the Marketplace.  If you already have the beta installed, it should notify you of an available update, which will patch over with the full release version.

Somehow I completely missed the boat on this one, but I found out today that an official Skype app has finally been released for Windows Phone.  I’ve been waiting for a WP7 Skype app since I first got my HTC Trophy back in November 2010, so I was surprised to see that the app quietly launched as a beta on 25th February this year.  I guess I must have given up checking!  However, when I searched for the app in the WP Marketplace, there was no sign of it (I’m guessing because it’s only a beta).  It also doesn’t seem to appear in the Marketplace via the Zune desktop client.

To download the application for your phone, you’ll need to visit your local Windows Phone website, and find the application there.  Here’s the link for the Skype beta app on the UK Windows Phone site.  You’ll need to be running the Mango update (7.5) or higher to install the app and you may encounter issues with trying to install it directly from the site.  In my case, the site based install failed, so they emailed an installation link which I had to open on my phone to begin the installation.

It took an absolute age to download the 7MB installer as well, although admittedly that may be due to current network issues here in my office, rather than the Marketplace.

Has anybody else been using the application since launch or had any trouble getting hold of it?  Let me know via the comments section below, it would be great to hear your thoughts on the app.