VoIP service Skype has become so popular that it has entered the vocabulary of pop culture, with people telling their friends and family that they will Skype them in just the same way that they might Google something or indeed Facebook a friend to get in touch. Version 5 of this software has just launched and so it is worth refreshing our memories and taking a look at why this is the market leader when it comes to making calls over the internet.
If you have a Skype account you can still make voice and video calls to anyone in the world with an account of their own, without having to pay a penny for the privilege. What is new for this edition is an impressively deep integration of Facebook and an overhauled interface which has a new homescreen that draws in updates from your various contacts, in a manner that works to the strengths of our increasingly inter-connected social experience. Those who are entirely new to the software will be able to find their way around with ease if they check out the instructional tutorials found on the homescreen, but this might not be necessary as Skype's developers have worked on simplifying the interface without removing any of the underlying functionality.
In terms of calling, the solid quality remains the same across the board, but the addition of the ability to host a video conference call with multiple parties is a serious improvement. The inclusion of this video conferencing feature has been inspired because 40 per cent of conversations held by users involved the use of a webcam. For the early adopters of Skype 5 the video conferencing will be free to use, but it is expected to come at a price, once the software has a wide installed user base, so taking advantage of it now is sensible to see whether it is worth the cash in the future.
Skype has made sure that the video conferencing tools are fairly deep, allowing you to choose either an organised view which gives each member of the party equal space onscreen, or a dynamic option which privileges the window containing the current speaker, so that they are larger than everyone else. To check the quality of the video and audio, a meter is located on the bottom of the window and if you drop a call for any reason, the new automatic call recover tool will help you reconnect with minimal delay.
The inclusion of Facebook tools is definitely worthwhile, given that half a billion users around the world have accounts with this social networking site. You can update your status from within Skye as well as choose contacts who you want to call without leaving the program. If you are not a Facebook user then there is no real penalty, but for those who have jacked in their lives to the site, the benefits will be clear.
Skype 5 takes an already solid program, adds some new mechanics and gives it a fresh lick of paint, amounting to a very worthy update.