Fire Alarm Companies

Now that Web video is really mainstream, Facebook and Skype will see enthusiastic reception of their new collaboration

Mark Zuckerberg was fine, jaunty form for the last night 's lecture on Facebook' s new features. He looked better and sounded more fluid than ever before, rattles from an anecdote about a comment an elderly neighbor who 'd put in a request form for video telephony. Tick!

• First - the most important announcement of integrated Skype phone. The timing is absolutely right. Two of the biggest names in the consumer Web services, both mainstream enough to accommodate large and at a time when consumers begin to finally realize that talking about the inhibition to overcome their computers. Zuckerberg 's story about the elderly neighbor shows, but I also know that if my mom is talking about "does a Skype' that this will really have hit the mainstream.

• Sugar Mountain has a fairly crude attempt to deflect attention away from those that may stall growth figures. Active monthly unique users, not the metric of choice for Facebook Towers is, he wants us to believe. He explained that to be so, despite the confirmation that Facebook now reaches 750 million users - so that 's 250m recorded in less than a year. No doubt, if Facebook did not last, that a billion target, active monthly users is considered good form again, but until then wants Zuckerberg us to believe that the volume of the common parts of the contents of a better representation of the activity on Facebook. And that 's 4 billion, doubled every day from this time last year.

• From the back, that an explosion in part, Zuckerberg mentioned that to support its growth, Facebook will be on multiple data centers, after his first was in April this year. No detail, but he said: "We 're definitely on this trend now, where it makes sense for us to flow, given the extent of use and the information through the network, where we' likely to be, re our own data centers rather than leasing. "

• He several subtle but interesting excavations at Google has strengthened its strategy sent to describe Facebook as a social standard of the railway infrastructure on which all other elements of social services provide. Default MySpace friend Tom Anderson wrote a good post on Google + released on Sugar Mountain 's Comments on Google, but it is also worth noting that Google + Zuckerberg described as just another company experimenting with social tools. With a touch of humility, Zuckerberg admitted that if Facebook doesn 't think innovatively, there is another social infrastructure company that takes its space.

• On the conference call for the press after the presentation I asked her what looks like the roadmap for the development of this function, especially, how exciting could Skype calls from within Facebook 's mobile apps.

"Our philosophy is to build the best experience for people on Facebook, and we want a lot of these experiences when we are able, they are building," said Peter Deng, Facebook 's video call project manager.

"I was part of the original team, Facebook Chat rebuilt in 2007 and over time we 've added more features, observed how people are using the service, what they like and don' t like understand what is the right move to .... it 's more of an iterative process [as a planned roadmap] when we product development. We' re going to try, next features out as quickly as possible, But to understand how people use these products first.

"We don 't have a schedule to announce now, but we' re on improvements already."

Video calls on mobile through the Facebook app would be a direct rival to Apple's FaceTime (still think that's a dreadful name) but with a powerful social driver to initiate calls from within Facebook. That's what makes the video call so compelling from within Facebook though that said, I think many people might have the same reaction as me - to thoroughly review and clean up their Facebook contacts. Hovering over profile thumbnails and bringing up the 'video chat' option made me realise how few of these contacts I'd really what to talk to! If we haven't spoken since school, there's probably a reason for that. But that's for another day.

• From the analyst:

Ovum's Eden Zoller said Facebook/Skype is a blow to Google and Google+ Hangout. "We would expect the Facebook's video chat service to develop a strong mobile play given that at least half of Facebook's user base interact with the social network via mobile and also because Microsoft is determined to take Skype in this direction. A deepening Facebook, Microsoft and Skype alliance is on the cards and is a powerful prospect and one that will keep Google awake at night."

Frost & Sullivan 's Jake Wengroff noted on Twitter, since that only 6% of Skype users to pay for services that tie-up is unlikely to make anyone any money. It 's strategic alliances. "I see it as a way for MSFT, Google 's new owner, a way to find work with FB \."

Colin Gill at BGC said, Microsoft confirmed it 's $ 8.5 billion acquisition of Skype: \. "This deal helps to explain the purchase price ... Facebook will drive ubiquity Skype"