Skype Acquires Qik

Skype, known as a provider of Internet voice and video calls, to acquire Qik, known for making video and image capture and sharing possible on mobile phones.
Skype’s new CEO, Tony Bates, recently announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Qik. Although no information was provided concerning how much the deal was worth, what was said was that the deal is expected to be consummated this month. Even the terms of the said acquisition was not disclosed.
Skype’s acquisition comes at a time when it was about to introduce a two-way video calling feature for Android mobile phones and tablets. Because of the announcement, the two-way video calling feature wasn’t tackled or demoed as yet. But the acquisition would certainly drum up some excitement as to what both Skype and Qik might have in store. According to the Skype blog, the partnership with Qik would certainly accelerate the development of video sharing and communications on mobile devices. Indirectly, this new partnership may eventually make Android phones become even more popular as a potential feature of better video communications would certainly be a great benefit for users if it does come out in the near future.

Skype Adds Group Video Calling To Enterprise Offering

Skype has made another announcement,launching group calling functionality to its business offering for Windows PCs (the feature had previously been added to its consumer clients for Mac and Windows computers last year).

The new version of Skype for enterprise allows businesses to have video calls with up to 10 concurrent participants, adding to the client’s existing chat, screen sharing and conference call features. Group Video Calling for businesses is available from Skype for $8.99 per user per month.

Skype's New App Brings Video Chat To The iPhone, iPad And iPod Touch

Skype is launching a brand new version of its iPhone app that includes the ability to turn on video in any Skype chat.

Users can make free Skype-to-Skype video calls over AT&T’s 3G network and on Wi-Fi. Android phones are not yet compatible.

Video chatting is already popular among people who use Skype on their computers, accounting for 40 percent of all Skype minutes during the first half of this year. However, Skype's mobile phone users have been unable to make and receive video calls until now.

The beauty of the app is that it brings free video calling to iPhone 3G devices, iPad and iPod Touch, all of which couldn't run Apple's video calling feature.
Skype’s new app is compatible with recent iPhones and iPod Touches. Recent iPads can receive video calls, but not make them.
[TechCrunch]

Skype preparing to launch web-based service in 2011

Skype could be gearing up to release a web-based version of its VoIP service. According to job postings on the company’s website, Skype is putting together a team that will build an infrastructure capable of supporting hundreds of millions of users and bringing voice, video, chat and presence to the web. TechCrunch did some digging around and claims to have confirmed that the new service will launch in the first quarter of next year.



The launch is expected to include integrations with multiple partner sites, such as LinkedIn, and will be based on browser plug-ins rather than being a full HTML5 solution. Apparently Skype wants to transform itself into a platform and needs to embed itself in many places for people to expand its footprint and bring in more dollars. To this end the company is supposedly readying premium telephony features on top of its current set of options currently available.