One Step Closer to Web-based Skype

We’re not quite there yet, but it’s good to know that at least somebody’s working on that web-based Skype client that I’ve been pulling for. The German-based Shape Services, a company with experience developing Skype mobile applications, announced yesterday a web-based, iPhone-formatted version of its IM + for Skype, reports GigaOM.

Of course this means very little to most people because it doesn’t offer true Voice over IP yet — and honestly, who uses Skype to text chat anyway? The app, free in beta for a limited time, seems to accomplish voice chat by calling your phone number to connect you with the other party, meaning you’re still paying for the airtime.

If we see a Skype client with VoIP using wifi, it might actually make sense for me to buy the phone (without activating the AT&T service, of course). Then I’d get a lot more mileage out of that year’s subscription to SkypeOut.