Skype moves to acquire video chat startup Qik
updated 10:45 pm EST, Thu January 6, 2011
Price of buyout remains unclear
Skype has confirmed that it has established an agreement to acquire Qik, a startup focused on mobile video streaming. The deal will allow Skype to take advantage of Qik's two-way video chat technology, which gained attention on HTC's Evo 4G smartphone as the first complete implementation on the Android platform.
For handsets unequipped for two-way video calling, Qik also offers utilities that allow users to record and upload videos to social networking sites. The technology reaches most of the primary mobile platforms including iOS, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile.
"Skype and Qik share a common purpose of enriching communications with video, and the acquisition of Qik will help to accelerate our leadership in video by adding recording, sharing and storing capabilities to our product portfolio," Skype noted on its official blog.
Skype last month made a further push into the mobile arena, with the launch of voice calling for all iOS 4 devices and two-way video chat to the iPhone 4.
The company has yet to disclose the financial terms of its Qik acquisition, or any specific plans regarding future products that will utilize the technology.
