[NewsPoster]

Group video calls on Skype are now free for users on Windows desktops, OS X, and the Xbox One, according an announcement by the Microsoft-owned service. The company in fact says it intends to make group calls free across all platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and the Windows 8 "Metro" interface. A precise timetable hasn't been revealed.

Skype began requiring at least one person in a group call to have a Premium account in January 2011. Premium costs $5 per day or $9 per month, though, something that may have encouraged people to switch to alternatives like Google Hangouts, which doesn't charge anything for group calling.

The Windows and Mac versions of Skype allow for up to 10 simultaneous video connections; the Xbox One is limited to four. Skype has yet to finalize the number of connections other platforms will support.

[jdonahoe]

Great, I paid $60 for a service that they now will offer for free.

[slapppy]

To win. Give it all away and fund it with a monopolized business revenue model. lol