Skype has announced some major advances for the consumer in video calling – with high-definition pictures enabled and integration with TV sets.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it isunveiling partnerships with LG and Panasonic to offer Skype–enabled HDTVs from the middle of this year. Their 720P HD webcams with built-in microphones are specially designed to pick up video and sound from couch distances.
I am a limited user of webcams for staying in touch with relatives abroad – too often one party or the other is not equipped to be sat in front of a camera-enabled PC or laptop. But through the more mainstream medium of the living-room television, this kind of service could take off.
Initially, users will have to buy one of Panasonic’s line of 2010 VIERA CAST-enabled HDTVs or one of LG’s 26 new LCD and plasma HDTVs with NetCast Entertainment Access™ to take advantage of the service.
One would hope that a service could be provided through a set-top box at some point for those without integrated TVs, but there is no sign of any announcement about this at CES.
Skype says its TV interface will include voicemail, conference calling for up to 24 participants and calls to landline and mobile phones.
For those still tied to their PCs, Skype is announcing 720P HD availability in its regular Skype software, although users will have to purchase HD webcams, available in February and March at prices ranging from $70 to $140.
