While the development of Skype for consumers seems to have slowed down significantly over the past few months, Microsoft still releases updates on a somewhat regular basis. Now, it's bringing the app to version 8.55 on all supported platforms, adding some new capabilities.
The most notable addition is the new Meet Now button, which lets users start a video chat with another person immediately, even if the other person doesn't have a Skype account. Skype will generate an invite link that anyone can access to begin the meeting right away. This feature is available for mobile and desktop devices.
For desktop users, it should also be possible to send voice messages now - though this feature isn't available on our test devices. It's already available on mobile as well.
As for mobile users, there are a few new features for the camera, which appear to be borrowed from Microsoft's Office Lens technology. It's now possible to scan documents and whiteboards right from inside Skype, making it easier to share this kind of information with other users.
Finally, all versions should have some general bug fixes and improvements to look forward to. Skype version 8.55 began rolling out on December 10, and it should be available to all users sooner rather than later.
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