One of the world’s leading voice over IP services, Skype, has just announced a new version of its interface, ‘Skype for Windows’. It will help bring you and your co-workers, friends and family members together like never before, the service claims. The brand new version having integrated into it the Facebook News Feed & Phonebook will make it easier to remain in touch with the other members.

The group video calling feature now available in open beta will allow you to bring more of them together.The aim is to make aspects like making voice/video calling, IM (instant messaging), screen sharing as well as file sharing more intuitive and easier to navigate. An effort has also been made to revitalize the look and feel of it.

New enhanced features

With it, you can check in Skype your Facebook News Feed; put up status updates, which can then be synced with Skype mood message; comment and like friends’ updates as well as wall posts; make Skype-to-Skype call free of charge if your Facebook friend happens to be a Skype contact; and call/message your Facebook friends on their landlines and phones. Detailing the new enhancements, an official blog post mentions:

“Video calling accounted for approximately 40% of all Skype-to-Skype minutes in the first half of this year, and with the new version of Skype, you’ll receive a free trial of group video calling in beta. We’ve added a dynamic group video calling view, which it easy to follow who’s talking by moving the focus to the person speaking on the call.”

The new version includes automatic call recovery. It will allow you to reconnect calls, which are interrupted. Also, the call quality manager will gauge audio/video quality, to improve the calling experience. The new Skype Home will serve as the dynamic dashboard for your complete Skype experience. It incorporates a feed of mood messages from contacts, plus tutorials on key topics. This new service is especially helpful to those away from home. For them, it will become cheaper and easier to stay in touch with others.

Users need to install the Skype version 5.0 (for windows) to use all the new features. After downloading it they can import their Facebook contacts into Skype address book simply by signing in to Facebook accounts. The Skype-to-Skype service run via Facebook is free. All these features make the new integration superior to most other Facebook integrations.

Skype also has recently introduced a service to help advertisers gain more customers. It lets them call advertisers at nominal rates. Advertisers using the service, called ‘Click & Call Advertising’ on Skype, will get their number highlighted when displayed online, stating ‘Free Call’ – – with a blue button.
To download the new version, you may visit this link. For Mac users, the service intends to come up with  an update to its Mac app in the near future.