Skype to offer HD video calling on Panasonic TVs

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Skype’s voice and video calling technology will be embedded in upcoming high-definition televisions with Internet capabilities.

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Skype said Tuesday that its Internet phone service will be included in Panasonic’s 2010 VIERA CAST-enabled HD TVs and LG’s new LCD and plasma HD TVs with NetCast Entertainment Access. The televisions are expected to be available in the middle of the year.

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LG and Panasonic will sell webcams that support the 720p high-definition format and are meant for making video calls with the televisions.

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Skype, which eBay Inc sold to an investor group in November, offers free voice and video calls to other Skype users, and charges for calls to cell or landline phones.

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Skype also said that consumers who use Skype on their personal computers will soon be able to make 720p high-definition video calls.

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Those users must have a high-speed Internet connection, one of several soon-to-be-released webcams, a computer with a 1.8 GHz dual-core processor and Skype 4.2 Beta for Windows, the company said. Skype did not indicate if and when Mac support would be available.

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Skype said upcoming webcams from faceVision and In Store Solutions, which are slated to be released in February and March, respectively, will support the video calls.

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