Skype today unveiled new calling features that include forwarding calls to a mobile or landline phone, its first venture away from the PC, and adding ringtones to VoIP. The new software, Skype for Windows Version 1.4, also promises to improve sound quality on cars, in an ongoing effort to attract more consumers to VoIP.

The new features are intended to help Skype address the growing competition in VoIP from Google, AOL, cable companies and others.

Skype Call Forwarding will allow callers to forward incoming calls to another Skype Name for free or to up to three numbers, either landline or mobile, to receive calls while they are away from their PCs, at SkypeOut rates of 2 cents a minute and up. The other new service, Personalize Skype, allows callers to add original pictures, sounds and ringtones to their service for $1.20 each and up. Skype has partnered with American Greetings, Qpass and Wee World to offer the content.

Qpass is providing the platform to manage the additional applications of the Personalise Skype storefront with its software platform, marking a significant migration of the company's technology to a non-wireless network. "They're the extreme case of testing this theory that communications service is free, and all the revenue to be made is around premium services," said Steve Shivers, senior vice president for corporate strategy at Qpass.

Skype, which recently announced its acquisition by eBay, hopes to tap the $5.2 billion ringtone business with the new capabilities. The company said the new software has been in beta since August, and that 83% of the beta testers found the call forwarding capability easy to use.

Other news features allow Skype user to import personal contacts from their Outlook address book into their Skype buddy list to expand the VoIP calling circle. A new toolbar allows one-click calling from Outlook and Internet Explorer, to make the service easier to use. There are also tools for Web masters and bloggers to add Skype calling buttons to their services for conference calls and chat. Basic set-up of Skype is now easier, using an “Getting Started Wizard” that takes no more than three minutes, company officials said.

Skype co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennstrom said the company is adding 170,000 new registrations a day.

“We are passionate about really understanding what motivates people to want to make Internet communications a part of their everyday lives, and listening to our callers about what they want from Skype allows us to stay ahead of the game,” Zennstrom said in a statement. “Today, we are thrilled to be delivering on this promise by offering a new version of Skype which both new and existing callers will find adds powerful and innovative new features like call forwarding and personalization, as well as offering our best ever sound quality on our simplest product to install and use.”