The free internet calling service Skype will allow group video chats for the first time.
From next week users will be able to chat with up to four other people at the same time.
Although it will be free during an initial testing period Skype will start charging for it along with some other upcoming features in three or four months.
Skype users can make video calls to each other around the world for free. The new group chat feature will be charged
Skype will continue to allow people to make normal voice or video calls and send instant messages to other Skype users for no charge.
Users pay for services such as making calls from a PC to a landline or cell phone.
Skype consumer manager Neil Stevens, said group video chat will first be available to those who use the software on Windows PCs, and the company expects to roll out a Mac version later this year.
Mr Stevens said the feature is the one users have requested most.
He added that the company also plans to focus on getting Skype on devices beyond computers, such as smart phones. Skype has been installed on 12 million of Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch devices and calls are made over WiFi. An app is being developed for Apple's iPad.
Skype will also expand its monthly subscription offerings to include calls to both mobiles and landlines in more than 170 countries from next week.
The company's existing subscription plans include one that allows calls to more than 40 countries, but they focus mostly on calls to landlines. That is generally cheaper for the company than routing calls from the internet to cell phones.
Next Wednesday Skype plans to unveil new subscriptions that let users choose which countries they want to call and whether they want to call landlines and mobiles or just one of the two.
Skype helped to pioneer internet calls and says it now has more than 560 million users world-wide.
The company was sold late last year by eBay for about £1.3billion to an investor group that includes Skype's founders
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment