Skype makes video calls easy

Posted on 3 Feb 2009 at 18:13

Skype 4.0 has been launched with the promise of making video calling easier, while reducing clutter on your desktop.

"We've built Skype around video," said Mike Bartlett, director of Windows product management at Skype. "It's the future of how everyone will be talking."

With the old version of Skype video calls had to be initiated after a voice call had been established. The new version now has a dedicated video call button, so you can start a video chat immediately. This seems to be something that users are clamouring for with Skype reporting that video calls account for around 30 per cent of all conversations.

As well as making it easier to make calls, Skype has increased the quality, too. Video now dominates the large chat window, so you can see more easily the person you're talking to. Broadcasting the video doesn't come without restrictions, though, and you'll need at least 384Kbit/s of upstream bandwidth in order to use the best-quality mode.

The other big change to the software is that everything is now in a single Window, rather than chats and conversations appearing in separate pop-ups. For purists that don't like the new view, the classic view is still available.

Skype 4.0 is available for free for Windows computers now.

Author: David Ludlow

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