Skype 5 permits users to put up there Facebook status using a tool dubbed mood messages by   incorporating a news feed of any change in your status messages from Facebook friends who use Skype. Users who have connected their Facebook account to their Skype account are the only ones who can benefit from this feature, so the only people who can be called via Skype are those who have their number on Facebook.

Some ancient and not so popular features of Skype such as screen sharing, SMS, file sharing, and some other are being made accessible by Skype 5. A new search application by design transfers your links to the crest of results listings. According to Skype  this  new edition will offer better call conditions.

Skype is also increasing its group video calling service, which will allow atleast ten people to take part simultaneously in a video chat. This development is at present in beta mode but Skype is planning on introducing it as an add-on service. According to Skype more and more people now prefer making video calls over regular calls and this will soon become a custom.

Skype-to-Skype calls are free of charge, but you will be charged for making calls to landline and cell phone numbers. You can pay through Skype Credit which will charge you according to the duration and destination of call.

An edition of Skype 5 for Mac OS X will be available in the coming months, reported Skype.

Keeping up with its promise of giving iPhone messenger application with video calling facility, Yahoo has won our hearts once again. This amazing application is now available live in Apple’s application Store for download.

Yahoo messenger also comes with the facility to make free voice calls to your friends added in your Yahoo messenger’s contact list. You can avail this awesome feature of making economical overseas voice calls by using your Yahoo Voice Phone Out account. Sadly, this last fragment is only available to users in US, France, Germany, Spain and Singapore

Last but not the least, this innovated application of yahoo messenger can also do multitasking, like your Apple iPhone device will run easily on the back ground while you work on other tasks.

You can download this application for free from Apple iTunes store.

Cisco` Umi does not only allow talking live with each other but it also makes users to show videos recorded earlier. If a user misses a call, the caller can leave a video message that can be retrieved on the TV, a PC or a mobile phone. There is a shutter on the camera for privacy that can be activated, leaving just audio coming from the home. Consumers who don’t have Umi will be able to participate in the video sessions through Google Video Chat on a PC, at a lower level of quality. No other third-party video services are supported at the moment.

Umi Console device allow users to zoom in on anything they want to show to the people on the other end of the connection, as well as pan the camera from one side of the room to the other and tilt it up and down. Subscribers can use Umi to record a video either to show later over Umi or to upload to YouTube or Facebook. There is no input for external microphones. Using the Umi remote, subscribers control the service through a “clover” interface with a center box and four surrounding icons representing different commands.

Cisco officials say that in addition to buying the equipment and monthly service, users will need to have a broadband service with at least 1.5M bps (bits per second) both downstream and upstream in order to enjoy Umi. Those speeds will deliver 720p video. For 1080p, users will need 3.5M bps both downstream and upstream. When users first set up the system, they will be assigned a unique six-digit number that can be used by other Umi subscribers to call them. After the initial call, each party can add the other to their contact lists, where each contact can be represented by a profile picture.

Umi will cost US$599 for the equipment and $24.99/per month for a service from Cisco. The service will include cloud-based contact lists and stored video. The system can be ordered now and will be available from the 14^th of November at the Magnolia high-end electronics stores at Best Buy. Verizon Communications, which has been running trials of the service, will offer it to its home broadband customers early next year.

Other vendors like Panasonic and LG Electronics are also lining up to bring videoconferencing to high-definition TVs. At the International Consumer Electronics Show early this year, Panasonic and LG Electronics announced TVs with embedded Skype software. Panasonic’s offering began shipping in May, and LG has said its product would be available by year’s end. Logitech has also recently introduced HD video calling in its newly announced Logitech Revue with Google TV product.

Social media is a useful  ingredient in building up a career and people seem to use it a lot  in there work places now a days.  Of course everything has lots of pros and cons ,like Facebook the biggest social network site can also lead to a bad end, and could even cost you your job if used improperly. However, if you are taking  on a new venture, Facebook will really be of immense help in kick off in the right direction. And its key advantage is, you get  to  meet people from diverse backgrounds, common interests, people who  could help build the foundation for something big. Twitter another such useful Social network that can help you spread your business by making new clients and staying in touch at all times .

It does not end at Facebook and Twitter, Social Media has become so common and useful that there are several other sites that have proven to be equally constructive and swift in spreading the word around when taking on a new dealing.  Diaspora, Idenit.ca and LinkedIn are some of the many sites who have proven to be more practical than twitter and facebook due to the few number of spams. They are also helpful for those looking for jobs, making new clients etc. one other way that can prove affective for your business is creating your own blog.

Social media is a useful, less expensive and now quite common technique of marketing your business and for making clients that will help flourish your career.

Google the search giant has offered a simple solution,make a Google Voice Account and make and receive as many free long distance calls as you please via gmail. People doing small scale businesses can save significant amount of money which can be invested to help grow their business.

Skype is one other network through which you are able to make free long distance calls but it requires both sides using Skype whereas through Google gmail calling feature you can make direct calls to mobile and Land line numbers anywhere. Nothing is perfect. With lots of advantages that we receive there are certain inconveniences that come along. In a very few cases the Google voice quality has shown to be a little disruptive, and in such cases you might have to cancel the call and reconnect and talk undisturbed.With the convenient and economical service that Google has offered, this one hitch can be overlooked.

Accuconference also offers demo conference calling accounts. Unlike other conference calling services such as Skype conference call service, Yahoo conference call service or for that matter, Google’s conference call service, Accuconference call service does give a great value to its daily customer market. To support this statement, they have a toll free number which can be contacted 24 hours for customer support and services.

In all, among the available online conference call services, Accuconference call service is far better when it comes to connectivity, call charges, conference call features and package plans.

Fring provides various options to the mobile users like free voice calls, free video calls and live IM chats directly from your iPhone and iPod touch. So if you want to avail the opportunity of video calling just go to Apple itunes app store now and downloaded this update version of Fring for your iPhone, iPod and iPod Touch.

To be a bit precise, well VoIP is the most convenient service that we can enjoy today over the internet. Think about the expensive calling rates offered by various cellular companies and even PSTNs. Through VoIP service, you can make free calls anywhere in the world.

It can also be said the VoIP is a part of internet telephony, i.e. internet calling services which include voice, voice messaging and facsimile. And no doubt VoIP free phone is the most valuable technology we are blessed with in today’s modern world.

Internet calling was first made commercial in 1974 and it is a step initiated by IEEE engineers. Some of the technologies used in internet calling include:

• Real time transport protocol
• Session initiation protocol
• H.323
• Media gateway control protocol
• IP multimedia subsystem

In all, the free internet calling services we have by Skype and other companies are the most popular communication technologies in today’s world. Because if we are asked to choose between expensive cellular calling networks and free internet calling or VoIP, we will definitely go for the free option.

With the current recession, businesses are trying to slash their traveling and other overhead expenses. Conference call service provider have made cost efficiency easy for businesses. Not only this, there are a lot of conference call service providers which offer free conference calls. And with high-tech audio, video conferencing systems available in the market, it is quiet rational for corporations to use them.

The main idea of a conference call is to connect two or more parties (depending upon the conference call system that is in-use) through telephone, web or an online video chat. But generally it is observed that conference calls which include connectivity between more than three parties are charged extra depending upon the number of extra parties connected to that particular conference calling.

Now we also experience a totally new form of conference call system; the 3rd Generation Partnership Project or 3GPP. This particular system works within the IP Multimedia Systems or IMS which is based on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and BFCP (Binary Floor Control Protocol).

In all, audio and web conference call is the cheapest and the most effective way of communication between three or more parties considering the time constraints and other related barriers.

For the first time, PTCL offers its land line users a conference call service. Although there are a lot of conference call service providers and that too low cost or cheap conference call service providers. But the repute of PTCL and its size of operation will surely shake up the market with such service.

It is simple, any PTCL user can subscribe for conference call service and connect to any user locally or abroad. However, PTCL wireless users are not yet offered with the new conference call service.

In short, PTCL has done well by introducing conference call service for land line users. It has also done well by keeping the conference call connectivity procedure simple. To subscribe, PTCL users can dial 1236 from their land-line number and get the latest conference call service.