Facebook to launch in-browser video chat powered by Skype?

Microsoft’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype hasn’t closed yet, but it looks like Redmond is already working behind the scenes to make the service even more ubiquitous. According to some anonymous sources interviewed by TechCrunch , Facebook is going to introduce video chat next week, and that service will be powered by none other than Skype. And while the service will be browser-based, it’s also said to include a desktop component. We’d say none of that sounds too fantastical — video calls would be a logical extension of Facebook chat, a nd let’s not forget about the $240 million Microsoft invested in the site back in 2007. What’s more, Facebook sent out invites for an event next week, where Mark Zuckerberg was clear the outfit would unveil a new product from its Seattle team. That’s in Microsoft’s backyard, of course, the invites themselves have chat icons on ‘em, and, most tellingly, that Seattle office has been snapping up engineers specializing in desktop software. All told, that adds up to a likely true story to us, but we won’t know for sure until the long, beachy weekend is through. Facebook to launch in-browser video chat powered by Skype? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Jul 2011 17:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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