Skype betas for Windows, Mac add Facebook video calling
Skype today announced yet another extension of its partnership with Facebook. Microsoft, which finished acquiring Skype last month, has launched Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows and Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac, allowing you to conduct a Facebook-to-Facebook call from within the Skype client.
To start a Facebook-to-Facebook call from within Skype, you must first connect your Skype and Facebook accounts (sign in to the Skype client, click on the Connect to Facebook tab, and log in to Facebook). Once that's done, you can select a Facebook friend and hit the video call button in Skype – your friend can then pick up the call from Facebook.
Skype already lets you see when your Facebook friends are online, read their status updates, instant message them using Facebook Chat, comment and Like their posts, check and update your News Feed, all within the client. After helping Facebook launch video calling for its 800 million active users, the company has now ported the feature over to its desktop application as well.
In addition to the new Facebook integration, Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows adds group screen sharing for Windows users with a Premium subscription while Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac adds video rendering to give a smoother video experience. Users who are chatting one-on-one will also be able to screen share with live video streaming.
"This new development in the Skype-Facebook partnership is the latest example of how Skype is removing communication barriers and making it easier to connect with friends, family and business colleagues," a Skype spokesperson said in a statement. "Our approach to social is about personal connections with people. We are on a mission to connect over one billion people and our continued partnership with Facebook brings us one step closer to this goal. We're excited about these new enhancements and we would love for you to download the latest version of Skype so you can bring your social network to life with Skype."
See also:
- Zara Phillips declares Facebook dangerous, prefers Skype
- Facebook announces video calling, powered by Skype
- Facebook denies killing third-party app for its own Video Calling service
- Leaked: Facebook Messenger to get video calling
- Interview: the single engineer who built Facebook Video Calling
- Skype is officially now a Microsoft division