Latest Skype 5.5 Beta - Adds Facebook Integration - Chat with FB Friends on Skype now!

Skype is bringing several new Facebook features to its voice over IP service. 

In today's latest release, Skype for Windows 5.5 beta, users can "like" things, comment on friends' statuses, and message Facebook friends without ever logging into Facebook. There's even a dedicated Facebook contacts tab rolled into the VoIP software—ideal for heavily invested Facebookers.

Simply connect your Facebook account with Skype - you can do this from within the Skype desktop software itself – and it will then show you a list of all your Facebook friends in a new “Facebook” tab. If a friend is online, click her name and choose “send an IM” to start a Facebook chat session.


Skype integrated Facebook in version 5.0 of its software last year, allowing users to check out their news feed and update their status. Prior to that announcement, AllThingsD reported that Facebook and Skype were working on a "significant and wide-ranging partnership" that would make Skype far more social than it had been in the past.

Skype gave us these highlights of the recent upgrade:

• Facebook Instant Messaging — chat with your Facebook friends directly from Skype.
• Facebook Contacts Tab — a new tab within Skype dedicated to your Facebook contacts list.
• "Like" and even comment on a Facebook status — You can also use the Facebook News Feed within Skype to easily "like" a friend's status or comment on it without logging into Facebook.
• New Call Control Toolbar — featuring redesigned graphic icons.
• Improvements to the saving of a phone number in the "Call Phones" section.
• Visual improvements to placing a call on hold

If you have been looking for a way to chat with your Facebook friends outside the browser, Skype is quite good an option. The chat feature is however only available in the Windows version of Skype at this time.