Whoa whoa whoa! Hot on the heels of Skype’s new global calling plans comes (in my geeky opinion) some even more exciting news—the release of Skype for your mobile beta!

So what is it and what can you do with it?

Skype for your mobile (beta) is a ‘thin’ client for Skype that works on Java-enabled mobile phones. It lets you use many of Skype’s features on the phone you already have. On the main information page (here), you can get instructions for how to install it on your phone and you can see a list of phones that Skype for your mobile has been tested on (though it may work even if your phone isn’t listed, the phone needs to be Java-enabled).

Using Skype for your mobile beta, you can

• Make Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls
• Receive calls from Skype contacts and from people calling your online number (SkypeIn)
• Send and receive instant messages (including group chats)
• See whether your contacts are online
• Set your online presence
• Adjust your account settings

There are a couple things to be aware of though:

It’s beta

Skype for your mobile is a beta and the full feature set is not available everywhere. Right now, you can use all the above features in the United Kingdom, Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Poland and Estonia. Elsewhere you can use the data-only features (like sign in, see who’s online, conduct chats and set your presence) and receive Skype and online number (SkypeIn) calls, but you can’t make calls. And because it’s beta, it may not always work perfectly—known bugs are here, and you can report other ones you find here.

There may be fees

Skype to Skype calls are and will always be free, but because you’re interacting with your mobile carrier to use Skype for your mobile, there may be additional charges you need to be aware of.

Skype for your mobile uses your mobile’s data connection to connect to the Skype network so you can see which contacts are online, have individual and group text chats, and set your presence. If you don’t have a data allowance or an unlimited data plan, you’ll probably be charged by your carrier for data usage (but the client doesn’t use that much data—a person with 20 contacts, who’s online for 1 hour, IMs for 10 minutes and has a 20 minute call each day will use about 1MB of data per month).

Skype for your mobile uses your phone’s voice minutes to make calls—the client ‘dials in’ to the Skype network and uses the network to make the call. Therefore you’ll be using your contract minutes (or paying for pay-as-you-go minutes) to call Skype contacts. You can call regular phones too, and in that case in addition to using your phone minutes, you’ll use your SkypeOut credit (or make the call as included part of one of the new global calling plans).

Receiving calls

When you’re signed into Skype on SFYM and you receive a call from a Skype contact or from someone calling your online number (SkypeIn), Skype for your mobile treats the call like it’s being forwarded to your mobile, so you’ll pay the SkypeOut fee for calling a mobile in your country when you answer incoming calls. It’s worth noting that when you’re signed in to Skype on your computer and Skype for your mobile, both devices will ring so you can answer the call on the computer without any fees as you would normally.

My impressions

When I was testing out an early version of Skype for your mobile, I found it really liberating to be able to call family and friends overseas using my SkypeOut credit (and contract minutes) wherever I had mobile reception. I got to play with the version released today and will post a video of the interface shortly.

Learn more about Skype for your mobile beta (and download a copy for your phone) here.