Skype tries out group video chat

THE LATEST BETA of Skype 5.0 for Windows has a group video chat feature.

According to the Skype blog the second beta of Skype 5.0 brings a number of changes but the most obvious is that you can now make group video calls with up to 10 people.

We are not sure how many systems can handle ten video streams at once but Skype has been playing with video compression techniques for some time. However the video function has been the most unreliable aspect of Skype and typically causes the most crashes.

Skype says that its Skype 5.0 beta 2 has a fresh new look as well as increased stability and better quality when making group video calls. Actually it looks about the same to us with a few more icons.

However it adds another feature called Skype Home, which lets you follow your contacts' mood messages, set your profile picture and mood message, receive account notifications and learn more about using Skype.

The beta can be downloaded here, so find ten friends and see if you can break it. µ

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