November came and went, and behold – the 3Skypephone is now available to the masses. As I blogged last October, the 3Skypephone is the lovechild that came out of a union of Skype, that well-established name in VoIP, and of the mobile network 3.

So, what is the lowdown on the 3Skypephone? Well, as promised, 3Skypephone users can use their Skype account to call and send instant messages to other Skype users for free. All you need to do is to press the central button with the Skype logo to open your Skype account. But Skype usage becomes free only after coughing up £10 to keep the service activated for 30 days. The 3 network must be used, however, for these Skype calls and IMs to be free. If the calls and the IMs are made outside the coverage of 3’s network, users are charged with roaming fees. Fair use fees are also applied if the Skype calls exceed 4,000 minutes and if the IMs exceed 10,000.

You want to make regular calls and send text messages using the 3Skypephone? That is entirely possible, but don’t expect them to come at reduced rates, since SkypeOut is not supported by the 3Skypephone. There are rumors, however, that the SkypeOut may become an optional feature for the 3Skypephone in 2008.

What other nifty features does the 3Skypephone have? It has:

• A launcher hotkey that can open websites and applications like Yahoo and Google Search, Windows Live Messenger, YouTube and Facebook.
• An mp3 player and bundled headset, with videos and mp3 tracks downloadable from Planet3.
• A 2-megapixel camera that works well outdoors with ample light, but not indoors and not without enough light.
• An impressive battery life that lasts three or four days.
• A multitask button at the side of the unit that will bring up the last six applications used.

More info is available at the 3Skypephone website.