Skype hints at grand plans for its Windows Phone app

Promises that 'no hardware or vendor limitations' will make a much better experience for users.

Skype might not be a Microsoft subsidiary yet - the deal is awaiting regulatory clearance - but the VoIP company is already making plans for its official Windows Phone app.

"A Windows Phone app, if done well, can show people what a really great Skype experience is like when there are no hardware or vendor limitations," Skype's Neil Stevens tells Forbes in an interview.

Limitations? Stevens explains that on iOS, the Skype app cannot access the device's video processor or address book, while on Android it can only access the latter. With video-calling an increasingly important feature for Skype, he sees this as a major issue.

"We’re disadvantaged against FaceTime because of this closed environment," he says.

No further details are given of Skype's plans for Windows Phone. However, some clues may come in the way Facebook is tightly integrated into the Windows Phone software, accessible throughout the phone rather than from merely within a single app.