Facebook's New Products

Although three products were announced, I feel the first two products were more revisions than new products. Group chat and a new sidebar... I don't know about you but a sidebar is the last thing that gets me excited. So let's focus on the last product. Video Chat, that was the bombshell everyone was looking for. The bigger bombshell, Skype. The new video chat is powered by Skype. This in my opinion is a game changer. One click to connect and a plugin download in under 30 seconds. I would say the can not get much simpler than that. The product is already rolling out today. I'd imagine most users will see these products start shown up in the next week or two.

Back to Skype. Skype was just purchased by Microsoft. What I am trying to grasp is how this development continued through the buyout. More importantly, now Microsoft is now even more intertwined with Facebook. First is Bing Maps on Business Pages. Now, Microsoft is technically the backbone of the video chat. I'm just going to go out on a limb and make the prediction right now, Microsoft and Facebook will either merge or continue to integrate until they defeat Google. Why? Both companies will gain with Google out of the picture. Microsoft will gain search usage through Bing. They already have Facebook integration through their search. Facebook will regain users who may jump ship for Google+. Here is another prediction... Facebook Ads on Microsoft Products. Think about it. Now to back up a little. Microsoft doesn't technically own Skype yet. According to Skype CEO, Tony Bates. I am writing this while the Q&A session is still in progress, so if they mention something that I miss feel free to let me know. Comment give me you feedback on the Microsoft & Facebook super partnership.

-Matt