Those of you who use Skype (News - Alert) on your iPad, either at home or work, now finally have a new app that takes advantage of the tablet’s larger screen size.

The folks at Skype last week finally rolled out a version of their iOS app optimized for Apple’s (News - Alert) popular tablet. Instead of having to work with the small iPhone size or doubling the screen view, you can now run Skype in its full-screen glory.

Beyond just the larger size, what else will you find in Skype for the iPad?

The new app offers all of the standard features you normally find in Skype – video and voice calls, instant messaging, and access to all your contact lists. But in a twist, you can now IM someone during a video call.

The larger screen real estate lets you view and navigate your various contact lists and groups. The opening screen, called Tags, displays thumbnail links to each of your various contact lists, such as your Skype contacts, your iPad contacts, and all contacts. Simply tap on any thumbnail to see a list of all the contacts in that list.

Tapping on any contact opens the person’s Skype profile window, from which you can choose to either call or message that person. From any contact list, you can open the dialer window to call someone who’s not on any your lists. You can also save a new contact with name and phone number and search the Skype directory for other potential contacts. A History list keeps track of recent calls and messages.

Finally, you can access your own Skype account by tapping your profile photo in the upper right corner. From here, you can change your status among online, offline, and other choices. You can update your profile, check any Skype credit that you hold, view your online number and voicemail status, and set up call forwarding.

Skype for the iPad can use either Wi-Fi or 3G connections, and both the front-facing and rear-facing cameras can be put into action during a video call. Video calls require iOS 4.0 or higher. The iPad 2 can send and receive video, but the original iPad can only receive it.

Overall, I’m happy to finally see a dedicated Skype app for the iPad, but like most first attempts, it could stand some improvement.

In addition to displaying the large thumbnails for each contact list and each contact, the app should offer a simple list or details view, the same as you’d find in a Windows-based file manager. I’d also like to see the dialing window available from the Tags start screen, instead of having to open an existing contact list to see it. For example, the iPhone (News - Alert) version actually opens with the dialer window but gives you the option to tap into your contacts and other options via a series of tabs at the bottom.

Overall, I think the iPhone version is better designed than its new iPad counterpart. For the next version of Skype for the iPad, I’d like to see the developers take the best elements from both versions and mesh them together into a truly user-friendly app.

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