Facebook's "awesome" product announcement
(CBS) - Facebook is set to make a product announcement at 10 a.m. (PST) this morning. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg told a group of reporters that the company planned to launch an "awesome" new product, when he paid a visit to Facebook's Seattle office on June 29.
See live updates from the press event...
10:59 a.m.
Zuckerberg thanks everyone for coming and ends the press event.
10:55 a.m.
AFP asks if there any financial terms to this partnership and about Microsoft's involvement. Zuckerberg says there is no financial partnership. Says that working with Skype alone would've been fine, but now that Microsoft is in the picture there is a sense of stability. Bates emphasizes that Skype is not part of Microsoft yet and the partnership began before the Microsoft acquisition.
10:50 a.m.
CNBC asks "What's in it for Skype financially?" Bates says it's about just reaching people.
10:45 a.m.
The questions and answers sections begins with both Facebook and Skype CEOs. Ben Parr of Mashable asks Zuckerberg what he thinks of Google+ Hangouts. Zuckerberg says that video chat is currently one-on-one, but wouldn't rule anything out. Elaborates on his thoughts of Google+, says he "hasn't spent that much time on it."
10:40 a.m.
Zuckerberg returns to the stage and introduces CEO of Skype Tony Bates. Says that 3% of all calls today are video calls. Bates finishes by saying, "We look forward to offering video calling powered by Skype on Facebook."
10:37 a.m.
A live update from Facebook Seattle via video chat: "Already launched to a million users."
10:33 a.m.
Group chat and video calling will be rolled out today.
10:32 a.m.
Zuckerberg exits. Passes mic to Peter Deng for demos.
10:30 a.m.
Officially introduces video chat with Skype.
10:28 a.m.
Today we're going to talk about some private communication channels. The screen has Group Chat, New Design and Video Calling up.
10:20 a.m.
Sums up the past 5 years of Facebook. Says that now it's about what you can build now that the world is wired. Talks about the next 5 years of Facebook and the exponential growth of sharing on the Internet.
10:15 a.m.
Mark Zuckerberg enters. Tells a few jokes.
10:12 a.m.
First sign of video is a room full of journalists awaiting Mark Zuckerberg's arrival.
10 a.m.
No streaming up yet.
Last week, TechCrunch speculated that Facebook was planning to launch video chat via Skype integration, which would rival Google+'s Hangouts. A partnership between the social network and chat service is a logical conclusion to Microsoft's involvement with both companies. The software giant purchased a 5% stake in Facebook in the fall of 2007 and acquired Skype in the spring of 2011. Other rumors included a long-awaited iPad app and a desktop application.
The announcement event comes on the heels of Google's launch of its own social network, Google+. The rivalry between the two giants has been heating up. Facebook clocked more visits than the search engine for the first time in the spring of 2010, although Google continues to be ranked number one by several ranking agencies.
