Earlier today I wrote about Skype. Here’s a hot-off-the cyber-presses Skype announcement made today:

If you’re in the US or Canada, you can use SkypeOut to call any landline or mobile number in both the USA and Canada for free.

Is it really free? What are the strings attached? Yes. It is really very, very free. There’s no prepayment, no minimum use, no subscription, no monthly fee, no nothing. You just download and install Skype and then you start calling. Both the caller and the number called must be in either the US or Canada. There are no strings attached.

The only condition is that we have said free SkypeOut within the US and Canada is guaranteed to last until the end of this year — that is, until December 31, 2006. We’re not quite sure yet what we will do after that. Maybe we extend the free period, maybe not. You’ll hear more about this towards the end of the year.

Until then, happy calling.

Happy calling indeed! This may be just the thing to encourage you to try Skype if you haven’t already. (And no, I don’t get anything from Skype for recommending their service.)