New Yahoo Messenger app to support video calling on Android and iPhone

David Katz, Yahoo's VP of Mobile for the Americas, told Reuters that his company soon will be offering versions of Yahoo Messenger that are equipped with video calling technology. The Yahoo app will be free and allow iPhone and Android users to conduct video chats with each other and will PC users who use Yahoo Messenger for video calls now. Currently, Yahoo has 81 million Messenger users worldwide.

T-Mobile announced earlier this week that the new updated version of its myTouch smartphone will come with a front-facing camera, and a built-in app from Yahoo for video calling. Unlike Apple's Face Time, which for now works only when both sides of the conversation are in Wi-Fi coverage, Yahoo's system will work over a carrier's wireless connection.

While other services like Fring and Tango allow iPhone users to make video calls over both 3G and Wi-Fi, the Mountain View based company has much bigger footprints than either of those firms, and thus stands to have a much wider impact as video calling starts to spread and a front-facing camera becomes a standard feature on new phones.

T-Mobile myTouch Specifications

source: Reuters