Facebook on Wednesday officially rolled out Facebook Video, there new competitor to Skype (although they are partnered with the the company for the product) and Google + video calling systems.
The program allows Facebook members to chat with one another by simply clicking on a video calling icon, however users will first need to download a file and install the program on their PC or MAC based systems.
The application at this time is limited to one-on-one video chatting, however given Google +’s capabilities of 10 way video chatting I highly doubt the program will remain limited for very long.
On the company’s blog today Philip Su wrote:
“Video chat has been around for years now, but it’s still not an everyday activity for most people,” while he went on to add, “Sometimes it’s too difficult to set up, or the friends you want to talk to are on different services. So a few months ago, we started working with Skype to bring video calling to Facebook.”
Company CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company spent a long time developing the program so it wouldn’t be “disruptive” to users and in my opinion Facebook reached that goal by providing a small video chat request icon that is clicked on your friend’s profile at which point a small notification is shown with an audible ring and an “accept” or “dismiss” button is given to the receiving party.
When specifically asked of group chat was on the way Zuckerberg said he “wouldn’t rule anything out.”
The new program is immediately available to all 750+ million users of Facebook. You can find the program at Facebook.com/videocalling.
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