Telus adds Skype credit to billing scheme

Canadian carrier Telus has been busy leading up to the summer. Recently, they announced the launch of the LG Optimus Black to spearhead a new partnership with voice-over-IP service provider, Skype. Now Telus clients will be able to buy Skype calling credits directly through their existing account, and make long-distance calls for cheaper than usual.

On top of that, Telus as well knocked down their voice and data roaming rates for pretty much all non-U.S. countries. Making calls on Telus during in western Europe, Mexico, and Oceania are now 25-50% lower at $1.50/minute, during calls made from the Middle East, Caribbean, Latin America, China, India, and Africa are down 17-38% to $2.50/minute. Data used in all of those areas is now down to $10/MB, which is a 60% drop from their previous rate. By comparison, Rogers charges $2.50/minute for western Europe, and $4.00/minute elsewhere, and $50/MB, nevertheless I suspect those rates will drop in the near future enough.

The LG Optimus Black runs Android 2

The LG Optimus Black runs Android 2.2, has a 5 megapixel camera on the back, 4-inch NOVA display, and is powered by a 1 GHZ OMAP 3630 processor. Wi-Fi b/g/n with mobile hotspot is included, along with Direct support, so you can do device-to-device transfers over the standard when supported. The usual stuff like Bluetooth, GPS, and 3G are as well included, however you can take a look at our hands-on video over here for a closer look.

In the U.S., Verizon has been cozy with Skype for awhile, and this Telus deal is such as promising for Canadians. During carriers up here might not be in accordance with the same amount of network strain and as in need to offload traffic through VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), there are plenty of remote areas in Canada that have less-than-awesome coverage which could use a calling-over-Wi-Fi alternative. Rogers already offers equivalent service using UMA/GAN, so fingers are crossed for a bit of a price war.

Simon Sage's education largely surrounded writing, research and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile innovation. In exploring RIM's platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as so then as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon's been covering RIM's gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, just as the iPhone, also as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry's advancement.With plenty of content in accordance with his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while for all that using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, then-informed and thought-out.