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Skype video messages coming to Windows in April – after iOS, Android, and Mac
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February 15, 2013 5:55 PM
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Skype will roll out its new video messaging service for Windows by the end of April -- a couple months after beginning to test it on non-Microsoft platforms.
Early Friday Skype confirmed to The Verge that it had launched a beta of the video messaging service for Android, iOS, and Mac. The service lets users record video messages and send them to other Skype users who aren’t available to chat live.
While Windows desktop and mobile users can receive the video messages, they can’t send them. With Skype owned by Microsoft, that prompted questions about why Skype wouldn’t include a full experience for Windows at launch.
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This afternoon, Skype confirmed to CITEworld that Windows users would get the ability to send video messages by the end of April.
The lack of a Windows offering at launch, even of the beta, seems to indicate that Skype is continuing to be run independently of the corporate overlords at Microsoft.
Microsoft now has many products and services that it offers on non-Windows platforms. Apps for SkyDrive, Xbox SmartGlass, and OneNote are available on Android, for instance. But it is notably holding out so far on an Office app for non-Windows phones and tablets, highlighting the conflict Microsoft faces as it offers more apps and services in a world that is no longer totally dominated by Windows.
Skype stressed that the video messaging app truly is a beta right now. “We ask you to be patient with us as we fine-tune the product ahead of its official launch,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.
Skype told The Verge that users will be able to send 20 free video messages. After that they’ll have to pay for the Skype Premium subscription, at $5 a month, to keep sending video messages.
Also in April, Microsoft is making the switchover from Windows Live Messenger, its current instant messaging client for Windows, to Skype. That transition starts April 8.
Nancy Gohring is a freelance journalist who has been writing about mobile networks, cloud computing and consumer electronics for more than a decade. Read Nancy's bio
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