Rumour has it video chat app developer Skype has acquired competing Qik for something to the tune of $100 million. Apparently an announcement at CES is forthcoming, though we haven’t heard anything yet.
Skype recently added video calling to their iPhone app, but Qik had actually beat them to the punch in the summer. Qik specializes in broadcasting streaming video from mobile, rather than just having direct calls with others, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to expect the feature in Skype mobile (and desktop for that matter) if this deal turns out to be true.
Although they’re both very active in the desktop space, Qik snagged a preload deal for the T-Mobile myTouch 4G and HTC Evo 4g, and Skype has a tight partnership with Verizon. Should Skype eat up Qik, that would leave one less quality alternative video chatting app out there, and I worry that it would get caught up in exclusivity deals, like with the current BlackBerry versions. With just about everyone claiming to have 4G these days, video calling will probably be the first application type that is enabled by the next generation high-speed wireless data connections, so I could see why Skype is trying to pick up as much talent as it can to ride the wave.
In any case, if this rumour pans out, we’ll probably hear about it sooner rather than later.
[via SFGate]
Update: Confirmed!