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Skype for Android two-way video chat all but guaranteed

Nvidia spills Skype's beans in an abortive attempt to show off two-way Skype video chat on an unnamed Android tablet.

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Skype two-way video calling
Two-way video chatting: it's coming. Skype

LAS VEGAS--Skype's official CES press conference isn't until tomorrow, but there's a lot we already know, thanks to Nvidia. During a press conference today, the Tegra 2 chipmaker confirmed what we've been speculating for weeks, that Skype will introduce two-way video calling for Android devices.

The announcement came casually, as Nvidia President and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang welcomed Manrique Brenes, Skype's director of Business Development, to the stage to show off Skype video chatting on an Android tablet running one of Nvidia's dual-core chips.

Choked bandwidth caused Huang to scrap the demo and move on, but not before making it clear that two-way video chat is a reality. Skype recently brought video chatting to the iPhone, after falling behind mobile competitors.

Although he didn't say more than a few words about it on stage, Skype's Benares did say this in a statement:

We are excited that NVIDIA has leveraged SkypeKit to build a reference implementation of HD video calling on Android Tablets. In the near future, consumers will be able to make video calls from their Tegra-powered Tablets to anyone else using Skype, whether it's on a PC, Mac, TVs, or phones.

We think it's a safe bet we'll see the same in a Skype-made app for Android smartphones. Skype's press conference begins tomorrow (Thursday) at 10:30 am. Check back with us then.