Skype for Windows Phone 8 adds HD video support

New version of app offers clearer imaging and easier access to Skype contacts.

CNET - "Am I making myself clear?" takes on a whole new meaning now that Windows Phone 8 users can chat with their Skype contacts in high-definition video.

Out today, version 2.4 of Skype for Windows Phone 8 taps into the hardware acceleration in Microsoft's mobile OS to enable high-quality video calls.

Lower-end phones will deliver VGA video. But higher-end devices, such as the Nokia Lumia 920, HTC 8X, and Samsung Ativ S, can amp that up to 720P HD video, Skype said today in a blog about the new version.

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Skype Security Flaw Potential Terrorist Threat?

The Yeshiva World - A flagrant security flaw in the massively popular Skype video chat service may be putting Internet users worldwide at risk.

The serious security breach in the Internet video chat program, which boasts over 500 million users around the globe, means that any evil computer nerd could easily hunt down users’ whereabouts, according to a study co-authored by an NYU-Poly professor.

Skype was quick to downplay the importance of the research. But Keith Ross — part of an international team of researchers who uncovered the problem — said blackmailers or other cybercrooks could, for example, use the flaw to track the travels of a cheating spouse.

And more alarmingly, terrorists or criminals could use the security gap to determine the locations of groups of government officials or employees of a large organization, he told the New York Post.

“Any sophisticated high school or college hacker could easily do this,” Ross told the Post.            
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Facebook Unveils Video Calls With Skype, Group Chat

Facebook's "something awesome" event on Wednesday included the introduction of video calling with Skype, group chat, and a redesign for Facebook chat.

Video calling will bring Skype right into the Facebook interface, while group chat will allow users to chat without having to set up an actual Facebook group, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a press event at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters. The chat revamp, meanwhile, is intended to provide users with easier access to friends who are online.

With video calling, users can leverage Skype to contact friends, right from Facebook.com. It rolls out today, and Facebook promised access in as little as two clicks. It is not yet available on mobile.

To activate, click the video call button at the top of the chat window. The first time you use it, click setup, approve the applet, and Skype will automatically download within the browser. That should take about 30 seconds on any broadband connection, Facebook said.

Skype CEO Tony Bates made an appearance and said the company has been working on the Skype integration for about six months. He was not concerned that this will draw traffic away from Skype's main service. Skype has a goal of 1 billion users and "this helps us get there," Bates said. "We want to be as ubiquitous as possible."

Skype, of course, is in the midst of being acquired by Microsoft, which has a long-standing partnership with Facebook. Zuckerberg said Skype's ties to Microsoft "gives us the sense of stability" and the knowledge that Skype is a company Facebook can trust.     More