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Skype for Windows Phone app coming in April

Skype for Windows Phone Beta
Skype/YouTube

Exciting news for Windows Phone users: A full Skype app is going to become available to you in April — and you can try a beta version of it right now.

(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft, maker of the Windows Phone operating system, and NBC Universal.)

According to the official Skype blog, the Skype for Windows Phone Beta app can be downloaded from the Marketplace at this time. While it won't offer all the features found in the full version of the app, the beta version will still offer a decent sneak peek at what's coming. You will be able to make free audio and video calls to Skype contacts (over Wi-Fi, or a 3G or 4G connection which of course may incur a data charge) and use Skype Credit to make calls to landlines or mobile phones. The app will also let you hold one-on-one and group chats, and take care of basic tasks such as updating your profile or account.

The folks at Skype say that widely available Windows Phones including the Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800, HTC Titan, HTC Radar, Samsung Focus S and Samsung Focus Flash have been "tested and certified" for the "best performance of Skype for Windows Phone." But you should be able to run the Windows Phone Beta app on just about any device running Windows Phone 7.5.

Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

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