The introduction of apps and data plans have opened the doors for contacts to be used in new and unexpected ways. For example, you can use contacts to instant message friends using a data plan, or you can use contacts as a way to video conference with colleagues. A contact list is a list of people, so it should expose all the possible ways that you can communicate with those people.
Read More - http://tech.xtremelabs.com/android-contacts-explained/