I don’t know about you out there at other companies but we here at The Flickcast are a diverse group located in several different locations across the U.S., Canada and more. One of the ways we keep in touch and get things done is with the great innovation called Skype.

We’ve been using it for quite some time and are pleased to report that it has been updated to version 5.3 for Mac OS X. The update adds support for Apple’s latest OS X Lion operating system as well as HD video chat. Users will now be able to send and receive HD-quality video using their built-in Mac webcams or other HD-capable cameras external cameras. Nice.

According to Skype, HD will work best for those with internet connections that can maintain at least 1.5Mbps upload/download throughput. So those of you on dialup are out of luck. And really, why are you still on dialup anyway? Time to move on. The software is compatible with with OS X Leopard and later versions of Apple’s OS.

With Google rolling out its Google + service recently in an attempt to take some of Facebook’s social media dominance away, what’s Facebook to do to stay on top? Well, fear not, they’ve got something up their virtual sleeves. What is it? Read on.

Today, the social media giant unveiled a major addition to its service : video chat. Through a partnership with Skype, Facebook users will now be able to video chat with each other through the company’s new service.

The best part, it’s all free. The service works just like Skype’s normal video calling with video calls initiated from right in your Facebook profile with a simple click.

“A few months ago, we started working with Skype to bring video calling to Facebook,” said the company on its blog. “We built it right into chat, so all your conversations start from the same place. To call your friend, just click the video call button at the top of your chat window.”

Facebook will bring video chat to its users over the next few weeks. Or, if you can’t wait, click here to get it now.

In what may be a good thing or a bad thing, today Microsoft  announced it will buy Skype for $8.5 billion in cash. This news comes just days after reports cam out that Facebook and Google were both interested in purchasing the online video chat company.

Microsoft said Skype will be used to support Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and other Windows devices. Microsoft also said it will connect Skype users with Outlook, Xbox Live and other software platforms.

“Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world,” Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

Skype, which currently has 170 million users, will become a new business division at Microsoft with Skype’s current CEO Tony Bates taking on the role of president of the Microsoft Skype Division.

Click through for the full press release from Microsoft. So, is this a good thing or a bad thing?

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Even with the recent outage, it’s no secret lots of people use Skype to make calls on a daily basis. It’s also no secret many of those calls are video chats. However, if you wanted to video chat using your iPhone and all you had was a 3G signal, you were out of luck — even with Apple’s Facetime. That is until today.

Today Skype announced a new version of its iOS client simply titled Skype 3.0. The new update brings several improvements and, most notably, adds the ability to make and receive video-calls from your supported iOS device over both 3G and Wi-Fi networks. And while that’s great news when you can’t find a WiFi signal, I would take anything reported to work over AT&T’s 3G network with a big grain of salt. In other words, your mileage may vary.

Check out the full press release after the jump.

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Happy news VOIP and Mac fans as today Skype announced a new beta version of its chat software, Skpe 5.0 beta, is now available. According to Skype this software has several new features including:

• New call control bar — Hang up, mute and more from a mini Skype toolbar that sits on top of any web pages, documents or photos you’ve got open

• Search chat content to easily navigate past conversations

• Offline IM so that you can send and receive instant messages even if the recipient is offline

• Personalise contacts via user profiles

• Quickly rejoin calls if your Internet connection fails momentarily

• Floating Contacts Monitor to see your online contacts and contact groups

As users of Skype pretty much every week we think this is pretty cool. Check out a little video showing how cool after the jump.

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Today, the mobile phone landscape has changed quite a bit because soon you’ll be able to make calls via Skype using your Verizon Wireless cell phone. The two companies announced their “strategic relationship” at the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The new Skype mobile product enhances Verizon Wireless’ smartphones for users who have data plans by offering a new way to call around the globe, while also giving hundreds of millions of Skype users around the world the opportunity to communicate with friends, family and business colleagues in the United States using Verizon Wireless.

Here are the highlights of this new partnership:

• Users with a data plan can make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user around the world.

• Calls to international phone numbers, if made through Skype mobile, will be at the Skype Out calling rate.

• Users can send and receive instant messages to other Skype users and remain connected to see friends’ online statuses.

The rollout for Skype mobile will comprehensive and coming to existing phones like the BlackBerry Storm, the Storm 2, the BlackBerry Curve, the BlackBerry Tour, the Motorola DROID, the HTC DROID ERIS and the Motorola DEVOUR.

If you have one of those phones and a 3G data plan, you’ll be able to start using Skype mobile when it goes live in March. See AT&T, that wasn’t so hard.