Facebook users can now have video chats with friends, in a new feature powered by Skype and available from today.
Users will be able to call their friend with a single click, either from their friends’ Facebook page. The call will require the one-time download a piece of software within the browser, which facebook says will take a matter of seconds, and which launches automatically immediately after it is downloaded.
Skype video calls come to Facebook
Facebook users should see the options appear on their pages shortly, along with two oteher feature – group text chats and redesigned chat window. The announcement yesterday by Facebook boss Mark Zukerberg was seen as an attempt to hot back at the new Google+ feature launched by the search giant.
At present, Facebook video chat supports only ono-to-one chats, unlike the Google+ application called Hangouts, which can let groups of up to ten friends talk to each other.
Zukerberg – who has already joined Google+ himself, quickly becoming the most followed user of the service – dodged a question askin him what he thought of the rival, saying only that seeing companies moving to add more social features was a validations of Facebook’s Vision.
He also announced that Facebook has now passed 750million users worldwide, and said that he thought the 1billion mark was within reach. However, he said ha was most interested in the accelerated rate at which people were sharing things over Facebook, with people sharing twice as book, with people sharing twice as much now as they did last year.
Zukerberg added that the site would be making more announcements in next few months, including partnerships with pre-existing apps. One possibility could be music streaming provided by Spotify, which said its US launch was coming soon.
By Tom Phillips in Metro
