Microsoft is deepening its connections with Facebook via Skype, as it would allow users of the said Internet phone service’s software to make video calls to their Facebook friends and receive them, too.
The same would be provided in as a free feature, which was released in a beta test version of Skype’s software on Thursday. This would work on PCs as well as Macs, throughly expanding the existing partnership between the companies.
Going back to July, the social networking giant has been allowing users with webcams on their computers to make Skype-powered video calls on Facebook. Notably, earlier even one was allowed to chat with their Facebook friends via Skype’s instant-messaging feature, but there was no video component for the same.
In short, not Skype allows users to make calls, conduct video chats and send instant messages over the Internet. Again, being a free service, it only adds to the advantage of users and popularity of the service. Reason for the same being that if one makes use of a service to call regular phones from a computer, is chargeable.
Skype’s chief technology strategist, Jonathan Rosenberg, said the company wants to help a billion people communicate, particularly with video. He expressively said that working with Facebook “is really taking us a big step closer to that goal.”
Rick Osterloh, vice president of product at Skype, said in a blog post, “This new feature lets you maintain social connections with your Facebook friends and complements previously announced features such as being able to see when your Facebook friends are online, read their status updates and IM them all from Skype.”
Osterloh had further detailing to note as he wrote, “Initiating a Facebook-to-Facebook call from within Skype is quite easy; all you need to do is connect your Skype and Facebook accounts. Then, select a Facebook friend and hit the video call button in Skype — your friend simply picks up the call from Facebook.” Concluding, he noted, “Users who are chatting one-on-one will also be able to screen share with live video streaming.”
Talking about the extras, the update even includes a smoother video rendering on Macs and group screen sharing for Windows. But an icing on the cake surely is the ability to share screen with a live video stream, which is even a part of the update.
Looking at the combination of the three big names involved in this partnership, the success can be assured as Microsoft has a big customer base all over the world, while Facebook has more than 800 million users. Skype, on its own has been successful in earning a customer base of more that 170 million. On the whole, the target audience is huge and is only growing. No doubt, there is considerable amount of competition, which is even growing, but the combination of the three big names makes them unique and still a popular mix.
Microsoft, has been quietly getting all over the social world, expanding its social presence in the minds of users. Skype is not a part of Microsoft and it even has a stake in Facebook.
The software giant might be trying to make its presence felt as the new Windows Phone series would be out and therefore promoting it would be comparatively much more easier for Microsoft.