Skype to launch iPhone app, Android gets Flash

Skype is planning to launch a version of its mobile VoIP software as an application on Apple's iPhone, according to a source at GigaOM. The source says that Skype could make an announcement this week at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas.

Skype already offers a version of its P2P and IM software for Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform and recently announced Skype Lite for Google's Android platform. However, iPhone users can only access Skype via third-party applications. GigaOm notes that 'a standalone Skype client would get a lot of traction among the Skype faithful.'

Mobile software vendor Bsquare has ported Adobe's Flash technology onto the Android platform on behalf of an unnamed 'global Tier 1' mobile operator. The move to embed Flash on Android gives Google's platform an advantage over Apple, which has yet to include support for Flash on the iPhone despite rumours that Apple and Adobe have been working on implementing the technology for some time.

Bsquare gave no hint as to the identity of the global operator nor when the new Flash-enabled Android phone would launch.