Facebook Teams Up With Skype for Video Calls
Facebook teased a big upcoming announcement last week, and it appears that surprise has manifested as a deal to integrate Skype video calling into the Facebook service.
Facebook announced the deal and said that Skype integration would start rolling out over the next few weeks. However, many users are already reporting that they have access, so the integration might be completed sooner than that.
Now Facebook users can download and install a video chat add-on, which allows them to set up a video call with their contacts instantaneously. If a friend doesn't have the download yet, Facebook will notify you and prompt the friend to download.
So far, the quality seems mixed. Some report it works as well as regular Skype, while others are reporting dropped calls and choppy video.
Facebook also introduced a few improvements to its original chat service , including sorting by contacts you message most and, more important, a group chat option. Now it's possible to carry on a chat conversation with multiple people in the same window.
