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SHAPE Services, the developers of IM+ All-in-One Messenger and IM+ for Skype iPhone apps send a word along to let iPhoneWorld.ca readers know that for a limited time both of these IM apps are currently available at a special price of 99 cents each.

Skype, the Internet telephone unit of eBay Inc, is planning to launch its service for iPhone users on Tuesday and for BlackBerry in May as part of its effort to expand beyond desktop computers.

While an official Skype client for the iPhone was a welcome announcement, the news that carriers' and Apple's Terms of Service prevented VoIP calls being made over 3G connections put a dampener on things.

Nimbuzz is a powerful, versatile, fun, and easy-to-use text and voice chat application that lets you connect to virtually every major IM service. Nimbuzz puts MobileMe, AIM, GoogleTalk, Skype, MSN, Nimbuzz's proprietary service, and even Facebook right in your pocket, with excellent results.

Vonage now offers an unlimited $24.99-a-month international calling plan for iPhone and BlackBerry users, the company said Wednesday. The new "Vonage World Mobile" VoIP service competes with a $12.95-a-month service from Skype.

Cellular carriers now offer decent pricing for domestic calling plans, with choices among large pools of minutes each month or unmetered (so-called unlimited) service. Rates for dialing from your cellphone to outside the United States remain usurious, however.

With all the attention in the arena of iPhone applications being fixed squarely on Skype for the past few days, it almost escaped my view that Yahoo has finally released their free Yahoo Mobile app, which we reported on in February. The app's release coincides with a revamp of their entire Yahoo Mobile web portal, and is designed to provide a uniform experience across products. The iPhone version has some unique hardware-based features, however, but how does it stack up to Google for iPhone?

A group of lawmakers wants the FCC to investigate Google Voice over charges the service blocks calls to their rural constituents. Such calls are expensive to connect, but landline carriers are prohibited from blocking them.