Skype has announced a new way to communicate within the Skype app, incorporating brief film segments that are similar to GIFs in its chat service.
The new additions are dubbed "Mojis," and are, according to the company, short clips from films and TV shows that can be used while chatting with friends.
"Now, when you send a message on Skype, you can personalize your chat and pull in your favorite TV or movie moments to do the talking for you," said the company in a blog post. "Mojis are short clips from your favorite movies and TV shows that you can put directly into a Skype chat when words aren't enough to capture for that 'ah-hah, 'haha,' or 'yikes' moment."
To send a Moji, users simply have to press on the emoticon button and can then browse by movie or expression. Users can preview the Moji, then simply drag it into the chat window. According to the company, Mojis will include samples from movies such as Jurassic Park, Despicable Me and Pitch Perfect. More content is expected to be added as time goes on.
Skype itself has long been a popular service, however, it has seen its services undercut by the likes of WhatsApp and Slack for business, especially when it comes to its chat service. Skype as a brand, however, is extremely important for Microsoft, which recently renamed its Lync video chatting service for business to Skype for Business.
Of course, instead of being an all-new feature, some will see it as very similar to simply adding support for GIFs inside of Skype. Others suggest that this is likely Microsoft's response to Slack, the chat service for businesses, which famously supports animated GIFs.
The feature will roll out to Skype for Mac, PC, Android and iOS in coming days. You can see a video of the new feature in action below.
Via: TechCrunch
