Facebook and Skype are working on a deal that would integrate Facebook Connect with Skype accounts, AllThingsD has learnedciting sources familiar with the situation.
ATD has managed to get a hold of a screenshot showing the new features in action: once you connect Skype withFacebook, you’d be able to SMS, chat with or call your Facebook friends directly from Skype. You should also be able to login into Skype with your Facebook credentials.
The new features should go live in Skype 5.0 when the new version goes out of beta in a couple of weeks.
It’s a logical step for both companies. Facebook’s chat capabilities are somewhat limited compared toGoogle Talk, which is deeply integrated with Gmail, and offers voice and video chat capabilities. Enabling new ways to communicate with your Facebook friends is definitely one of Facebook’s goals. Skype, on the other hand, will be very happy to extend its user base with Facebook’s 500+ million users.
If the story turns out to be true, it would be interesting to see whether Facebook will also integrate Skype features into its web interface, or perhaps its mobile application.
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