Facebook & Skype to launch video chat service

Just as Google''s next big thing ''Google Plus'' is all set to launch, Facebook and Skype are about to strike a deal that would bring the video chatting service to the social networking site. With Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promising an "awesome" new feature on July 6, Skype, which was recently purchased by Microsoft for a whopping USD 8.5 billion, could become a fixture on the world''s largest social network.

The beta version of Google''s social network, Google Plus, debuted last week to rave reviews, especially for its +Hangouts feature that allows for multi-user video chat. At present, Facebook users update message and status through their profile, and share photos but the addition of video chat will bring an interesting change to their account. Editor of Tech Crunch, Michael Arrington stated in the Next Week that Facebook, in collaboration with Skype, will unveil its video chat option which will be powered by Skype. This move will strengthen Facebook''s position in the social networking market.

Facebook at present is the most influential and one of the biggest social networking sites in the world having over 500 million active users. This isn''t the first time that Skype has been linked to Facebook. Back in September 2010 the same rumour reared its head and this March it was reported that talks had resumed between the two companies.

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All the things are reporting that Facebook and Skype are working together to bring integration of the two services to both Facebook and Skype.

The partnership is likely to include integration of SMS, voice chat and Facebook connect, and according to Facebook their goal is to integrate the two services more closely together to add more tools and ways for users to communicate.

Skype has over 560 million registered users, with 126 million of them using it at least once a month, whilst Facebook has over 500 million users worldwide.

When the two services are integrated, users will be able to text, and call facebook friends from Skype, as well as being able to use video chat to chat with your Facebook friends.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011 by deivam P Mohanraj · 0