It seems Skype is moving into social networking, or perhaps enterprise conferencing. EBay's Voice over Internet Protocol unit is bringing a service to market that lets groups of 100 people hold
spontaneous conferences online. The company calls the shared communications platform "Skypecasts," and will be debuting the service along with an upgrade of its core Skype software. Skypecasts are
live, moderated discussions that allow groups of users anywhere in the world to discuss shared interests from classes to computers support to cultural or political debate. They're like conversations
on Web logs, but using voice, and possibly, video. To keep the peace, the service is to be moderated by a designated host who is able to pass the virtual microphone to participants in the group who
wish to speak. Moderators also get full license to silence or eject out-of-line participants. Hosting or participating in a Skypecast is completely free, but the product is currently in preview mode.
You can imagine businesses adopting the software as a low-cost alternative to enterprise videoconferencing.
Read the whole story at Reuters.com »
