Nokia and Skype have announced plans to fully integrate Skype into selected Nokia devices. Kicking off with the Nokia N97, Skype will be part of Contacts, enabling users to easily see when their Skype contacts are online, to call and to chat using a data connection. Other selected Nseries devices are also likely to come with integrated Skype functionality, through initial inclusion and through firmware upgrades. 

The first Skype-enabled Nokia N97 devices will appear in Q3 - the first N97s off the production lines will be able to add Skype functionality in a firmware update. 

Up until now, the official Skype solution for S60 has been to use a Java client, whilst a number of third party clients hook into Skype IM. Today's announcement sees a much deeper integration of the market-leading Skype comms platform.