U.K. mobile phone operator Hutchison 3G UK which is also known as “3″ in the U.K., introduced a Skypephone, a handset designed to simplify use of the Skype VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) application. The candy-bar style handset, which comes in white and black, was developed by Huchison 3 and Qualcomm. It has a 2-megapixel camera, MPHuchison 3 player, Bluetooth connectivity, 16M bytes of internal memory that can be expanded to 1G byte with a Micro SD Memory Card.

Huchison 3G which is part of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, is offering free calls between Skype users through the 3G mobile phone. Huchison 3 has already been offering unlimited Skype calls on its pricier X-Series phones, but the Skypephone is simpler and aimed at the mass market.Skypephone has a prominent button at the top of the keypad which will activate Skype. Once launched, the application will open the user’s contact list and instant messaging service.

Huchison 3 is not charging for the cost of Skype calls on its network, although it does limit the service to about 4,000 minutes per month. Huchison 3 will then suspend outgoing Skype calls but allow incoming ones.While it is possible to access Skype from a number of handsets, this has involved downloading third-party software, something that has put off the majority of users.

If a user is outside of Huchison 3’s network, roaming charges apply, which can be pricey. The Skypephone is dual-band and won’t work in the U.S. The Skype-phone will be the first instance of a phone operator launching a mass market device that is designed to allow free calling over the internet from a mobile.

Though Huchison 3’s Skypephone allows free calls between registered Skype users, but the SkypeOut service that allows PC users to call regular telephone numbers using Skype is not available. Those must be dialed as regular calls charged for by Huchison 3. The Skypephone will be available to UK customers on November 2, and will be released by the end of the year in Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Macau and Sweden.

The phone will be available on contract or on pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis. On contract it will be free while PAYG users will have to buy the handset for about $100 and ensure they top it up with minimum $20 each month.

There are currently about 246 million registered Skype accounts globally but only 70 million are thought to be regular users. In the UK, 3 has 4.1 million users of which 1 million are believed to be inactive.

Written by Mahesh Chawla in Cellular