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Facebook Will Launch In-Browser Video Chat Next Week In Partnership With Skype

Earlier this week while visiting Seattle, Facebook CEOMark Zuckerberg tipped off Seattle press that the company would be launching an “awesome” new product next week that has been built by Facebook’s Seattle team. The press invitations to that event went out today, saying nothing more than “Please join us for an event at Facebook” on July 6.

So what is the new product? MG Siegler speculates here that it might have a desktop component given all the desktop software hiring going on in Seattle.

And he’s right. This isn’t the main project that team is working on, but next week, says a source with knowledge of the partnership, Facebook will launch a new video chat product, powered by Skype, that works in browser. Suddenly those chat icons in the invitation have a lot more meaning.

The product has been built on Skype and will include a desktop component. It’s not clear to me whether that means it will just work if a user has Skype already installed on the computer, or if additional software will need to be downloaded even if the user already uses Skype. But it’s clear that there’s very deep integration between the products, and from the user’s perspective, the product will be an in browser experience.

Facebook and Skype have already been working together, including integration of various Facebook features into the Skype service.

But this is something else entirely. The partnership could substantially increase Skype usage. Facebook has more than 750 million active users. Currently Skype has just 170 million. And it will certainly help Facebook become even stickier for users as they start to have voice and video chat as an option to communicate.

And this also brings Facebook even closer to Microsoft, which is a Facebook shareholder and has a pending acquisition of Skype. The guys in Redmond must be smiling today, something that happens far too infrequently at Microsoft HQ.

Social Addicts Rejoice! HTC ChaCha Facebook Phone Headed For AT&T

Have you ever excused yourself from a real-life interpersonal conversation to play Farmville? Do you update “what’s on your mind” more often than you eat? Do you scour the social network religiously for signs your ex-girlfriend is “in a relationship?” If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s possible that you have a Facebook addiction. Luckily, HTC has created a way to keep you hooked on the ‘book, instead of ween you off of it: the HTC ChaCha, photos of which have surfaced with an AT&T logo emblazoned across the front.

You might remember hearing about the ChaCha back in February, when it was announced alongside the Salsa at MWC. For those who don’t, the perhaps poorly named HTC ChaCha boasts less-than-impressive specs but gets points for originality due to its dedicated Facebook button. Basically, anytime the user taps the Facebook button, the last thing he or she viewed is automatically incorporated into a status update, whether it be a song, a picture, or a link to a web site.

In terms of specs, the Android-powered ChaCha sports a 2.6-inch 480×320 display, runs a 800 MHz processor, and has a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and a VGA front-facing camera for video chat. It comes with support for a microSD card, Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, and will most likely run on AT&T’s 3G network, if this leaked photo is meant to be any type of indicator.

We’ve yet to receive word from AT&T and HTC about official availability and pricing, with unconfirmed reports suggesting the phone will launch by the end of this quarter. If you’re paying close attention, you’ll notice that the date displayed on the phone in the leaked picture reads July 17, which could also be a clue about the ChaCha’s release.