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Report: Facebook connecting with Skype

TechCrunch reports that Facebook is about to announce a browser-based video chat feature powered by Skype.

Erica Ogg Former Staff writer, CNET News
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur.
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Erica Ogg

Facebook is having an event Wednesday, and one report says it will be to announce a partnership with Skype to support video chat.

In a post today, TechCrunch cited "a source with knowledge of the partnership" that Facebook will introduce an in-browser video-chatting feature that is "powered by Skype."

The report adds that the feature will "include a desktop component." TechCrunch points out that Facebook and Skype have a history of product integration, including the ability to instant-message with Facebook friends from within the Skype client.

The speculation around what Facebook might announce comes after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg cryptically announced following days worth of chatter about Google's new social projectGoogle+, that his company had something "awesome" in the works.

But not everyone thinks that's the surprise Facebook is cooking up. GigaOM reported earlier this month that Facebook is working on partnerships with music services, including Spotify and others. CNET reported earlier today that music industry sources sayFacebook and Spotify have held discussions recently about integrating the music service into Facebook in a significant way once Spotify launches stateside.

It's not clear whether those discussions would mean an announcement would be ready for Wednesday.