Facebook Video Chatting: New Skype Beta Allows Social Network Users to Video Call
Skype just announced today that it would allow users to call and receive video calls from their Facebook friends.
A beta version of Skype was released today for Macs and PCs. This newly added Facebook Chat feature would become a part of a test version.
To access this beta edition, users must download Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac and Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows. Once finished, users will have to connect their Facebook account with Skype. Then, users can look up a Facebook friend and call them.
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Premium Skype subscribers can use the group screen-sharing feature on Macs and PCs. According to Skype, improved video rendering is also on its way.
Facebook users were allowed to use their webcams to make Skype-related video calls since July. The Facebook Chat feature was also accessible through Skype's instant-messaging feature, but no video option was offered yet.
Users of Skype are able to make phone calls, interact with others through videoconferences, and use the Internet to send instant messages to friends. There is no fee for the basic services for Skype. Other users do pay for additional services, such as calling people's regular phones.
This new partnership between the social networking website and the video conferencing application could bring tons of people together.
Skype's chief technology strategist Jonathan Rosenberg said Skype wants to help a billion people communicate, particularly with video. Skype's deal with Facebook "is really taking us a big step closer to that goal."
Facebook currently has a user base of 800 million worldwide. Skype has more than 170 million users. This partnership could lead to an even larger number of users for both applications.
Microsoft has stake in both companies. The company owns a small amount of Facebook and bought a piece of Skype for $8.5 billion earlier this year.
