March 2, 2010 by James Oliver
Jack of all trades electronics company Samsung have this week announced that we will soon be able to see our long lost relatives or faraway friends in glorious HD on their new range of televisions.
Much like their rivals Panasonic and LG, Samsung will be releasing new 7000 and 8000 series TV’s that will have Skype enabled access. The TV’s will have an ‘apps service’ (where have we heard that before?) that will allow users to access different applications such as Skype and the recently announced BBC iPlayer.
Do not be fooled though, the TV does not actually come with a built-in webcam, Skype will be selling separate HD video processing cameras that will have to be attached separately, meaning that the TV’s come as Skype compatible but not Skype ready, much like the whole ‘HD Ready’ debacle.
These HD video processing cameras will retail from the Skype store at around $200 (£131).
Users will be able to log into their Skype account or create a new one (just like on the computer or phone) using the televisions remote which will control the program.
Skype have said that they will be using their SILK audio codec for voice calls which will give the user the best possible calling experience along with the camera.
Skype is becoming more and more popular with more then 20 million users online at any one time, now that it is being made available on such other platforms as TV and mobile phone we may soon see an end to paid telephone contracts as everyone will be ‘skyping’, whether or not it proves a popular addition to TV’s is yet to be seen though.
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