Facebook movie talk, free of charge. Thanks, Skype.

Facebook movie talk now comes baked into the social network. The announcement means that talking "face-to-face" is now only a few clicks away.

By Chloe Stepney July 7, two thousand eleven

It’s a elementary formula: the world’s largest social network, plus the world’s largest video-chat system, equals the world’s easiest one-click way to instantly see your friends.

The Facebook movie talk announcement means that its seven hundred fifty million users will be able to talk with any of their online friends thanks to a fresh partnership with Skype, which could soon be a part of Microsoft.

“It’s so minimal and so effortless to use, I just think a lot of people are going to want to use it,” says Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook.

After about six months of planning with Skype, Zuckerberg announced the fresh video-calling feature of Facebook talk at a press conference Wednesday with Tony Bates, CEO of Skype, and other Facebook employees at their headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. The announcement confirmed one of the many rumors that had been floating around in latest weeks about a fresh feature that Zuckerberg deemed “awesome.”

In the coming weeks, users will see a puny movie icon in talk boxes and a “Call” button on profile pages that with one click will launch a ringing noise on a friend’s computer. A window will then pop up, asking the friend to accept or decline the call.

If that friend has never used the video-calling feature, a plug-in can be installed within ten to twenty seconds before beginning the call, Zuckerberg says.

When a friend accepts a call, a large window will emerge in the middle of the screen, which very first shows the person making the call (so you know how you look). Then the person on the other end of the call will pop up.

“This stuff is possible because the social infrastructure already exists,” says Zuckerberg, who suggests that the past five years have been about connecting people, but now it’s time to build on top of the existing technology with fresh features.

“The driving narrative for the next five years is not going to be about wiring up the world,” Zuckerberg says. “It’s going to be about what kind of fresh stuff are we going to build.”

Adding to the fresh video-calling feature are two more advances spinned out by Facebook: group talk and a fresh design.

More than fifty percent of Facebook users are active in groups, says Peter Deng, a product manager at Facebook. People are connecting with each other and want to connect with numerous people at once without the hassle of setting up a group talk beforehand, he says.

With the fresh multi-person talk feature, a user can talk with one person and then invite other friends within the same talk box. If the friend is online, the message will be received instantly, but if the friend is offline, the message will be delivered to that user’s inbox.

The third fresh feature announced Wednesday is a fresh design for the talk tab that will take into account a user’s browser size.

“The fresh talk design includes a sidebar that lists the people you message most,” wrote Philip Su, Facebook software engineer, in a blog post. “Now it’s lighter to find your friends and commence a conversation. The sidebar adjusts with the size of your browser window, and it automatically shows up when the window is broad enough.”

The announcement of these three fresh features “marks the beginning of launching season 2011,” Zuckerberg says.

When asked if the features announced were available for Facebook on mobile devices, he said they are mostly designed for the browser, albeit group talk will emerge the same as a single-person talk on a mobile device.

“We attempt to do each thing, and each thing truly good, and then work on the next thing, which will very likely commence tomorrow,” Zuckerberg says.

Facebook movie talk, free of charge

Facebook movie talk, free of charge. Thanks, Skype.

Facebook movie talk now comes baked into the social network. The announcement means that talking "face-to-face" is now only a few clicks away.

By Chloe Stepney July 7, two thousand eleven

It’s a plain formula: the world’s largest social network, plus the world’s largest video-chat system, equals the world’s easiest one-click way to instantly see your friends.

The Facebook movie talk announcement means that its seven hundred fifty million users will be able to talk with any of their online friends thanks to a fresh partnership with Skype, which could soon be a part of Microsoft.

“It’s so minimal and so effortless to use, I just think a lot of people are going to want to use it,” says Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook.

After about six months of planning with Skype, Zuckerberg announced the fresh video-calling feature of Facebook talk at a press conference Wednesday with Tony Bates, CEO of Skype, and other Facebook employees at their headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. The announcement confirmed one of the many rumors that had been floating around in latest weeks about a fresh feature that Zuckerberg deemed “awesome.”

In the coming weeks, users will see a puny movie icon in talk boxes and a “Call” button on profile pages that with one click will launch a ringing noise on a friend’s computer. A window will then pop up, asking the friend to accept or decline the call.

If that friend has never used the video-calling feature, a plug-in can be installed within ten to twenty seconds before beginning the call, Zuckerberg says.

When a friend accepts a call, a large window will show up in the middle of the screen, which very first shows the person making the call (so you know how you look). Then the person on the other end of the call will pop up.

“This stuff is possible because the social infrastructure already exists,” says Zuckerberg, who suggests that the past five years have been about connecting people, but now it’s time to build on top of the existing technology with fresh features.

“The driving narrative for the next five years is not going to be about wiring up the world,” Zuckerberg says. “It’s going to be about what kind of fresh stuff are we going to build.”

Adding to the fresh video-calling feature are two more advances spinned out by Facebook: group talk and a fresh design.

More than fifty percent of Facebook users are active in groups, says Peter Deng, a product manager at Facebook. People are connecting with each other and want to connect with numerous people at once without the hassle of setting up a group talk beforehand, he says.

With the fresh multi-person talk feature, a user can talk with one person and then invite other friends within the same talk box. If the friend is online, the message will be received instantly, but if the friend is offline, the message will be delivered to that user’s inbox.

The third fresh feature announced Wednesday is a fresh design for the talk tab that will take into account a user’s browser size.

“The fresh talk design includes a sidebar that lists the people you message most,” wrote Philip Su, Facebook software engineer, in a blog post. “Now it’s lighter to find your friends and commence a conversation. The sidebar adjusts with the size of your browser window, and it automatically shows up when the window is broad enough.”

The announcement of these three fresh features “marks the beginning of launching season 2011,” Zuckerberg says.

When asked if the features announced were available for Facebook on mobile devices, he said they are mostly designed for the browser, albeit group talk will show up the same as a single-person talk on a mobile device.

“We attempt to do each thing, and each thing truly good, and then work on the next thing, which will most likely commence tomorrow,” Zuckerberg says.

Facebook movie talk, free of charge

Facebook movie talk, free of charge. Thanks, Skype.

Facebook movie talk now comes baked into the social network. The announcement means that talking "face-to-face" is now only a few clicks away.

By Chloe Stepney July 7, two thousand eleven

It’s a elementary formula: the world’s largest social network, plus the world’s largest video-chat system, equals the world’s easiest one-click way to instantly see your friends.

The Facebook movie talk announcement means that its seven hundred fifty million users will be able to talk with any of their online friends thanks to a fresh partnership with Skype, which could soon be a part of Microsoft.

“It’s so minimal and so effortless to use, I just think a lot of people are going to want to use it,” says Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook.

After about six months of planning with Skype, Zuckerberg announced the fresh video-calling feature of Facebook talk at a press conference Wednesday with Tony Bates, CEO of Skype, and other Facebook employees at their headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. The announcement confirmed one of the many rumors that had been floating around in latest weeks about a fresh feature that Zuckerberg deemed “awesome.”

In the coming weeks, users will see a puny movie icon in talk boxes and a “Call” button on profile pages that with one click will launch a ringing noise on a friend’s computer. A window will then pop up, asking the friend to accept or decline the call.

If that friend has never used the video-calling feature, a plug-in can be installed within ten to twenty seconds before beginning the call, Zuckerberg says.

When a friend accepts a call, a large window will emerge in the middle of the screen, which very first shows the person making the call (so you know how you look). Then the person on the other end of the call will pop up.

“This stuff is possible because the social infrastructure already exists,” says Zuckerberg, who suggests that the past five years have been about connecting people, but now it’s time to build on top of the existing technology with fresh features.

“The driving narrative for the next five years is not going to be about wiring up the world,” Zuckerberg says. “It’s going to be about what kind of fresh stuff are we going to build.”

Adding to the fresh video-calling feature are two more advances spinned out by Facebook: group talk and a fresh design.

More than fifty percent of Facebook users are active in groups, says Peter Deng, a product manager at Facebook. People are connecting with each other and want to connect with numerous people at once without the hassle of setting up a group talk beforehand, he says.

With the fresh multi-person talk feature, a user can talk with one person and then invite other friends within the same talk box. If the friend is online, the message will be received instantly, but if the friend is offline, the message will be delivered to that user’s inbox.

The third fresh feature announced Wednesday is a fresh design for the talk tab that will take into account a user’s browser size.

“The fresh talk design includes a sidebar that lists the people you message most,” wrote Philip Su, Facebook software engineer, in a blog post. “Now it’s lighter to find your friends and begin a conversation. The sidebar adjusts with the size of your browser window, and it automatically shows up when the window is broad enough.”

The announcement of these three fresh features “marks the beginning of launching season 2011,” Zuckerberg says.

When asked if the features announced were available for Facebook on mobile devices, he said they are mostly designed for the browser, albeit group talk will show up the same as a single-person talk on a mobile device.

“We attempt to do each thing, and each thing truly good, and then work on the next thing, which will most likely commence tomorrow,” Zuckerberg says.

Related video: