Skype deepened its partnership with Facebook today by adding Facebook video calling directly within Skype for both its Mac and Windows applications. The just announced Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac and Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows can initiate a Facebook video call without having to fire up your browser, log in to Facebook, and then initiate a Skype video call. While this isn't earth shattering, it is pretty convenient. Previously, you could initiate a Facebook-to-Skype call from within Facebook (With the Skype plugin). Now you can do the reverse - Skype-to-Facebook. For the inside scoop on how Facebook integrates with Skype, check out my article here.

All you have to do is connect your Facebook account to Skype, select a Facebook friend and hit the Skype video call button. Your friend can answer the call directly from within Facebook.

They also added new features to Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac and Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows including improved video rendering giving smoother video for Mac users and group screen sharing for Windows users with a Premium subscription (group screen sharing is currently available for Mac users). Users who are chatting one-on-one will also be able to screen share with live video streaming. Here's a video:


Via Big Blog