
This article originally appeared at alphr. Even if the person being invited doesn't have Skype, they'll be able to join in using Skype for Web. It may appear differently on other platforms.

Skype is also updating its chat invite feature, which lets users add people to group chats even if they aren't on that user's contact list. This is how the Flag: Australia emoji appears on Skype Emoticons 1.2. Microsoft will in fact be working with Intel to enable the company's SILK audio codec to work with Azure cloud servers powered by Intel's processors. The company said it is releasing a new 'optimized' version of Skype which will perform better on devices running versions 4.0.3 to 5.1. If 25 people sounds like a hefty processing load for Microsoft to carry, it's because it is.

There's even a 'focus view' feature where Skype automatically focuses on the person talking. Just when you thought you could escape your family, now you'll have your face jammed in the corner of a screen beside your second cousin Mary and your uncle's neighbour's dog, Jim. Up to 25 people can participate in a Skype video call. Western Europe and North America will get the feature first, and Skype has said it plans for group video calls to be available worldwide in March.

Skype has announced the rollout of group video calling on iPhone, iPad and Android phones, starting today.
