MySpace will use Skype for VOIP in social network
MySpace will give its millions of members the ability to engage in free voice chats via the MySpace instant messaging service, thanks to a partnership with VOIP provider Skype.
News Corp.'s MySpace and eBay Inc. subsidiary Skype will announce the beta version of the service, called MySpace IM with Skype Wednesday at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.
MySpace, the world's largest social network, has about 110 million monthly active users, while Skype has about 220 million registered users, the companies said.
MySpaceIM with Skype will mesh MySpace's IM service, which has an installed base of 25 million users, with Skype's Internet voice communications services, the companies said.
MySpaceIM with Skype will be released generally in November, along with the ability to let people also link their MySpace profiles with their Skype accounts.
The voice chat service will let MySpace users call others in the social network as well as Skype users. MySpaceIM with Skype will not require users to download any additional Skype software.
MySpace will launch the voice chat service in 20 countries where it has "localized" communities. Meanwhile, Skype will allow its users to link their accounts to their MySpace profile worldwide except in Japan, China and Taiwan.
Beyond the free voice chat service, MySpace users will also get the option of buying other premium Skype products, such as SkypeOut for generating calls from Skype to outside lines, as well as SkypeIn for receiving calls from outside lines.
IDG News Service
Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Backup Exec System Recovery 8 deliver industry leading Windows data protection and system recovery. Download this whitepaper to find out the top reasons to upgrade and how to get continuous data protection and complete system recovery.
Data and system loss — from a hard drive failure, malicious attack, natural disaster, or simple human error — can happen anytime. Don’t leave your business vulnerable. Make sure you have a secure recovery strategy in place. Symantec's latest backup and system recovery technology can efficiently restore critical applications, individual emails and documents and even restore your entire system in minutes in the event of a loss.
Businesses face a growing challenge to ensure that the IT environment is properly protected. Backup Exec 12 integrates with other applications in the Symantec family of products, to complement your current data protection strategy, keep your data securely backed up and make it recoverable when you need it most.
