back to article Facebook's 'awesome' plan to hook up with Skype?

Facebook is reportedly about to launch a new video chat product powered by Microsoft-owned Skype. The move follows on from the company founder Mark Zuckerberg's comments last week that Facebook would have an "awesome" new feature to shout about on 6 July. TechCrunch, citing an insider with knowledge of the partnership, is now …

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  1. JDX Gold badge

    Do FB users WANT to see each other?

    I thought the whole point of FB was to AVOID having to actually speak to, much less look at, your 'friends'.

    1. Fibbles
      FAIL

      If you'd ever actually used it

      You'd know most people on facebook are only 'friends' with people they know in real life* rather than casual internet acquaintances. The purpose being to keep in greater contact with people you may only otherwise see on a saturday night or whenever. They can also already see each other through the photos they share.

      *Admittedly some of these will be through very old and spurious connections, ie "we went to the same school 16 years ago and we've never talked since but add me as a friend please".

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Paris Hilton

        Can see each other?

        Whilst technically true that they can see each other through photos, consider this

        I can 'see' Paris Hilton naked in photos, but it's not quite the same has seeing her in a live one-to-one video chat is it?

        Which would you prefer?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          FAIL

          Useless analogy...

          Paris Hilton isn't on my friends list and never will be, whilst unsurprisingly my friends are. I'd never add anyone to that list that I didn't want to talk to, via video chat or otherwise. What would be the point?

  2. The BigYin

    I can see it now

    Chav 1: That Chav 2 is a pure minger

    Chav 2: Yeah, mingin'

    [And over on Facebook profiles]

    *Auto* Chav 1 unfriends Chav 3

    *Auto* Chav 2 unfriends Chav 3

    Thank you for using Facebook voice recognition! (On be default)

  3. Bunker_Monkey
    Thumb Up

    If so..

    This is long over due.. and would make less hassle with Live Messenger

  4. Adam Cooper
    Facepalm

    "then the timing of such a union is interesting"

    Especially so given that Google+ has said feature already - and was put out to trial last week.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    The headlines will write themselves...

    12 y/o boy exposes [redacted] to 9 y/o girl....on Facebook

  6. Rob Davis
    Thumb Up

    Re-inventing Microsoft; competition is good.

    Perhaps the tie ups with Facebook, Skype, Nokia will help wean Microsoft off of its dependency on revenues generated by the Windows platform and develop a more diverse service-oriented portfolio of income. Also perhaps an Ecosystem to rival Apple's.

    All companies need competition.

    1. Mike Flugennock
      Facepalm

      New rule...

      Anyone using the word "ecosystem" in an IT/digital-tech rag will be tied to a stake so that Steve Ballmer can throw chairs at them.

  7. Patrick O'Reilly

    Can we hangout?

    Does this mean a group and friends can "hangout" in a video chat? Woops, sorry, wrong social network....

  8. NoneSuch Silver badge
    Coffee/keyboard

    Any company...

    ...that ties itself to Microsoft will only end up benefiting Microsoft.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Windows

      Almost

      I agree with the "end up being destroyed" part, but I am not sure that Microsoft can actually benefit from anything, rather than just dragging others down with it.

  9. louis walsh's toilet
    Go

    actually makes perfect sense....

    we're forgeting that the kids/eediots love this sort of thing.

    and you're not forced into a video chat with someone.

    and it's a better idea than hooking skype to ebay......

    1. Marvin the Martian
      Mushroom

      MS and FB?

      They deserve each other.

      Only adding AOL-when-they-were-a-notable-entity could make it a more unholy trio...

  10. Mike Flugennock
    Facepalm

    Hot damn, Chatroulette is back!

    Skype video chat invites informing me that Hott Chicks In My Area Want To Meet Me in 5... 4... 3...

  11. genericallyloud

    Strong move for microsoft

    Skype already has a lot of users - approaching that of facebook even, but if they effectively turn facebook friends into skype contacts, I think it could see a lot of growth in use beyond cheap international calls/etc. that it is really useful for now. The trick is the free one-click calling you'll be able to do once user connection/discovery becomes so much easier.

  12. h4rm0ny

    Well...

    Time to start finding an alternative to Skype. Facebook are the last people I want involved in my call records.

    1. Fibbles
      Facepalm

      Yeah because...

      Microsoft and Ebay are well known for their scruples...

    2. Disco-Legend-Zeke

      There Are Thousands Of...

      ...audio video enabled chat sites. Many encrypted.

      From tiny unknowns like 1-US.US to giant YAHOO.COM.

      A Google search for "video chat" (with quotes) returns 66 million links.

    3. MarkieMark1
      Go

      give them a chance

      could be that Skype's reasonably good confidentiality model may prevail - at least they have call encryption that gmail voice/video chat urgently needs to add - rather than Facebook's generally lacking privacy;

      the involvement of MIcrosoft adds a further dimension too

  13. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    MSFT adding functionality to FB

    You can now throw chairs at your friends - with video !

  14. Ashton Black
    Meh

    That's it?

    Seriously... linking Skype to FB?

    I think me and MZ have a different definition of the word '"Awesome."

    Not impressed icon, ftw.

  15. JayKay
    FAIL

    Re: real facts

    "Sometime back i was working for FB and moved out when i found the FB was doing business in an unethical way."

    I stopped reading after this sentence. Sanctimonious b@stard.

  16. Bear Features

    not again

    This is like those that be that thought buyers and sellers would get all excited chatting on Skype. If you have people you want to chat with on FB, you can use Skype. What does bloody everything have to be integrated?

  17. marc 9

    On your phone?

    If the Facebook app on my phone suddenly sprouted a "Call" button (that was free, using Skype) I can see the benefit. A genuinely useful feature.

  18. Mikel
    Holmes

    Aaaaaand that's the end of Facebook.

    Who's got next?

  19. nick47

    Microsoft already has an instant message client

    It's called "MSN Messenger" (Officially called "Windows Live Messenger" but everyone simply calls it "MSN".) It's got a huge user base and it supports video chatting and has done for more than 8 years. They seem to have forgotten about it...

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I love Skype

    I got into Skype very early, so early that they had a plan that allowed me to call anywhere in the world (unlimited calls) for 22.99 USD a month flat. Just had to buy a skype number. That's a great thing about Skype, but I can't see what integrating skype with facebook will actually do except make facebook even slower than it already is.

  21. dssf

    Does this mean that ms and skype get to be regulated now

    as a public utility?

    One can imagine the telcos just SCREAMING over call streaming.

    Considering that this can cause a precipitous drop in long distance and toll charges income for telcos, ms may be in for more than it bargained for when at least 200 million live/active accounts holders each call 10 contacts a day -- in a 12 hour period. Even if ms can get the infrastructure lined up, those telcos involved will probably claim network overloads and find a way to charge ms a pretty penny. That'll probably lead to ms REALLY being forced to monetize facebook accounts to something more than just zynga games and selling accounts in backdoor deals to advertisers.

    I at first thought the SEC, FCC, and other agencies in the USA might eventually be seen in the headlines as opposing this, but now that'll probably be a smokescreen since other strings-pulling agencies in the USA will make sure this goes though to streamline accounts monitoring. Eventually, the USA will make other nations "see the light", although their governments will probably see it as a no-brainer.

    Next up: ms buys Cisco & Baidu and Alibaba buys Yahoo! (in stunning reversals and surprises...)

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