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If new technology and the word beta don’t send you running into a Norwegian doomsday vault, we’ve got something for ya. Today, Skype released a beta version of Skype for your mobile, a mobile “thin” client that works on about 50 of the most popular Java-enabled mobile phones from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. Take a look at the product pages to learn more about what it can do at this early stage — and to give it a test run.

]]>The beta version of Skype for your mobile is available worldwide with a feature set that includes chat, group chat, presence, and receiving calls from Skype users, and through SkypeIn. Additional features, which include the making of Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls from the mobile handsets, are initially supported in seven markets: Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

See the bottom of the press release or the product pages to get the lowdown on costs. One nice way to cut costs further is to sign up for one of Skype’s new subscriptions. This way, you won’t have to worry about paying SkypeOut rates when calling regular phones in your subscription region (as long as your monthly talk time is under 10,000 minutes, the subscription fee covers that bit).

You can get the beta version of Skype for your mobile either as a direct over-the-air download to a compatible mobile phone, or download it first to a computer and then transfer it to the phone. For instructions, as well as a directory of currently supported mobile phones, please see — that’s right — the product pages.

Gareth O’Loughlin, Skype’s head of mobile and hardware devices says that Skype for your mobile is intended to expand Skype users’ mobile options in a space that also includes a nicely humming partnership with 3, of the 3 Skypephone fame, in eight markets. For the time being, however, he’s calling on beta users to play with SFYM and send us their feedback, be it through surveys or user forums. There’s nothing quite as invaluable as real-world use by beta-friendly techies — before a new product loses its early kinks and can be unleashed upon the rest of us.