I’ve been testing out the new Skype for iPad app and so far I like it. I tested an iPad-to-iPad connection, one on Wifi and the other on 3G. The latency wasn’t too bad, about a half second. I liked that it gave me a warning on the 3G connection about carrier charges, because I don’t always remember to disable cellular and connect to Wifi. Next I tested between a 3G connected iPad and a Macbook Pro. This connection seemed to have a lot more latency, sometimes 2 or 3 seconds. It could possibly be that my 3G was having tower issues. Since Facetime only works on Wifi I was really interested in how 3G held up with Skype. It was definitely usable and given that in my current location the AT&T 3G network is very weak, I expect it would perform just fine in a stronger coverage area. Like Facetime, Skype lets you use either the front or back cameras, and easily switch between. One feature Skype has over Facetime is the ability to chat while video calling. However, for privacy reasons you will want to make sure you aren’t logged in on multiple devices. I forgot that I had Skype open on my laptop and while I was testing the chat feature on the iPad app, the entire chat log +timestamps was also being displayed on my laptop in the Skype chat window. I can see THAT causing some issues for some people… Have fun and let me know what you think about Skype for iPad. Also happy Wifi day 8.02.11, how appropriate.