Skype has always been about real time conversations but a feature that came out today with Skype 3.5 has to be one amazing conversation enhancer. Envision creating your own video and then putting it up in a chat window; viewing it in the chat window while continuing your voice and/or text conversation. Here’s a demonstration, using the "canned" content available from one of Skype’s video partner’s sites but both these partners also allow you to make your own videos.
In a chat session you will find an additional "Videos" icon above the text entry box. Click on this icon and a window with tabs for Metacafe and Dailymotion will appear on your desktop. Select a video from these tabs (notice there are multiple categories from each provider); you can preview the video in the window. 
Click on the "Insert in Chat" button; a link appears in your chat window text entry box which can then be sent as a chat message. Both parties can then click on the green arrow to start the video (it’s a streaming video). There are three options for viewing the window (set via icons in upper right hand corner of the video):
In the chat window at the top- As a separate window on your desktop, or
- Full Screen
Simple, easy to configure. When one of my contacts tried it out his response was: "I don’t want to make any videos because Hollywood might want me to be famous director and i don’t have time." (Ralph’s dry sense of humor kept our MBA classes amusing.) Toughest challenge will be to create interesting, attention grabbing videos. But the YouTube generation has lots of experience already.
One more item to note about Chat windows in Skype 3.5: When you open a window there are now several options for selecting how far back you want to go in looking at Chat History with a contact. A small, but most useful feature.
And, by the way, the North American football play shown in "Coach, Wrong Ball" (on Metacafe | Sports) is entirely legal. An innovative variation on the old sleeper play.
Tags: Skype, Skype 3.5, Skype video, Skype Chat, chat video
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