In addition to the new rate plan, Skype also released Skype 3.0 today, with several new social elements that enable things like virtual game playing and music recommendation through Last.fm.
The new features in Skype 3.0 for Windows are called Extras and Public Chats. Extras enables game playing and music recommendation through Last.fm. There will also be something called “mood messages,” which will allow users to “explain how they are feeling and what they are doing with their friends and families, no matter where they happen to be,” according to Skype’s release.
Public Chats are essentially chat rooms, which are nothing new but Skype has not had them before. They have had group chatting capabilities but not theme-based chat rooms.
“Skype is about freeing communication on a global scale. Since the beginning we have enabled free conversations between friends and family – people that know each other,” said Stefan Oberg, GM of Telecoms & Desktop for Skype, in the release. “With Skype 3.0 and features like Public Chats, we are making it easier for people to make new friends and meet others that share a common interest from a global community of more than 136 million Skype users.”