Skype takes video one step further

Skype has announced its users can now make conversations even more fun-packed by sharing video content with their friends and family across the world. Following new partnerships with leading independent video sharing sites Dailymotion and Metacafe, Skype™ 3.5 for Windows lets you download your favorite videos from these sites and add them into your Skype ‘mood’, giving color and personality to your online profile.

User moods are a way of sharing your feelings with friends and family and are becoming increasingly popular in the Skype community because they are a simple, more personalized way to share all sorts of things with other Skype contacts.

“People thrive on sharing stuff with one another,” said Carter Adamson, general manager, desktop products for Skype. A little over a year ago, we had 100 million registered users worldwide and we’ve more than doubled in size in the space of twelve months. This is because we continue to develop Skype and come up with amusing things to do. User-generated and licensed video content are incredibly popular. Working with Dailymotion and Metacafe means everyone can try out downloading their favourite clip and putting it in their online profile. Video content is a great conversation starter because people love talking about video clips and especially the ones that are personal to them.”

In addition to sharing video in your mood, people can now also include video content in online Skype chats, making it easy to discuss the latest viral videos with friends and family around the world.

“Video mood messages provide members of the vibrant Skype community a great way to express themselves by tapping into the original and entertaining videos available on Metacafe, including those in our Producer Rewards program that pays video creators for their best work,” said Erick Hachenburg, CEO of Metacafe. “Online video has become so popular over the past couple of years in large part because it’s fun to find something entertaining and forward it to a friend who’s likely to enjoy it. Videos placed into Skype mood messages make this process even easier.”

“With this partnership, the online global community is really coming together to create a new experience in video sharing,” said Benjamin Bejbaum, CEO and cofounder of Dailymotion. “From now on, Skype users will have access to more than 3 million videos, including premium content and exclusive artwork from our MotionMakers.”

Skype also lets you take still photos when making a video call. Moments such as showing off a newborn baby via webcam or having a far-away friend wave ‘hello!’ can now be permanently captured and shared.

Skype 3.5 for Windows lets users transfer their incoming calls to another person or a group of people on Skype (or, for Skype Pro subscribers, to a landline or mobile phone number).

In addition, auto redial has been introduced, where if the number being called is engaged Skype can automatically redial it every two minutes, until the call is answered. These new features make it even easier and more convenient to keep in touch over Skype.