It"s looking like Microsoft will be adding an interesting new feature to its Skype service in the very near future. The reveal came not from Skype"s blog, but from an unlikely source; the Terms of Use section of their website.
The newly updated page states in part that people who sign up to use the paid Skype Premium service will be able to " ... send and receive an unlimited number of Video Messages and any Video Messages you send and/or receive shall have no expiry date." The Terms of Use adds that free users of Skype will also be able to send Video Messages but that " ... the number of Video Messages you can send are limited." There"s no word on the specific number of messages allowed for free Skype users to send, but they can still receive an unlimited number of Video Messages.
Any Video Messages that are sent or received by free Skype users will expire after 90 days, according to the Terms of Service. Free users who upgrade to Skype Premium before the end of the 90-day period will be able to save those messages.
Microsoft has already announced that Skype will be replacing its older Windows Live Messenger program sometime in early 2013 as part of the plans to integrate Skype into more of its software and hardware products.