Skype for Mac 2.8 launched

Macworld 2009: Adds screen sharing and pay-per-minute features

6 January 2009 3:36 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Skype is to officially announce on Tuesday that it has added new features to the Mac version of its Skype application.

New features, which will see Mac users benefiting ahead of PC users, will add the ability to share your screen as well as by wireless access to make Wi-Fi calls by the minute.

Users with a Skype Access account will be able to select pay-per-minute Wi-Fi thanks to a partnership the company has done with Wi-Fi hotspot provider Boingo.

Under the scheme users will be able to (as the name suggests) pay per minute with Skype Credit saving the need to fiddle with credit cards or log-in details.

The price to use Skype Access and connect to a Boingo Wi-Fi hotspot is based on a flat, global rate of 0.14 euros/$0.19 per minute (0.16 euros/$0.22 incl. VAT), which will vary based on currency. The company says there will be no connection fees or monthly charges for Skype Access.

For those not interested in the pay-per-minute offering Skype has introduced a new screen sharing function that enables you to show others something you are working on or to explain how to do something.

Similar to a Skype video call, it works by capturing, encrypting and transferring the content of your screen in real-time to the person you are sharing your screen with however the software will not transmit audio from within the PC like Sling Media's Sling Presentation software used with its Sling Catcher device.

You are also able to share your screen with Skype for Windows and Skype for Linux users, but cannot see theirs yet. A Skype spokesman told Pocket-lint that this feature will be coming to PC users in the near future, although declined to put a date on a launch.

Other features include the promise of improved chat management, the ability to easily add people to chats and large profile pictures like Skype 4.0 Beta 2 for Windows.

The beta version will be available from Tuesday 6 January.