Comcast today announced that Skype on Xfinity online tv, a fresh widescreen HD video calling experience, is currently obtainable in Boston and Seattle because the company begins its nationwide rollout with the service. Prior to the end of the week, the service will also be for sale in these towns: Atlanta, Augusta, Ga., Chicago, Detroit, Harrisburg, Pa., Indianapolis, Miami and Pittsburgh. With Skype on Xfinity, clients are capable of making and receive video calls from other TV in HD display quality, in addition to send and receive instant messages via Skype while you're watching cable online at the same time.

"We're continuing to create innovative communication services like Skype on Xfinity that will allow our customers to activate in new ways with the people they care about the most," said Tony Werner, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Comcast Cable. "Through our close collaboration with Skype, we centered on delivering something new which brings relatives and buddies together by way of a high-quality video calling experience for the first time."

Skype on Xfinity online satellite TV will be the latest example inside a distinct innovations through which Comcast is bringing personalized services to the customers. Through Skype on Xfinity, customers can:

Make Skype-to-Skype car stereo calls or send instant messages via Skype on a TV while watch cable online making use of their favorite Television show concurrently, and accept incoming Skype calls within a TV show by using Caller ID.

Import Skype friends right into a global address book which can also contain Facebook, Outlook, Gmail and smartphone contacts so you can find which of one's friends already use Skype and see when contacts are online and open to talk.

Have the ability to contact the vast sums of connected Skype users around the globe.

"Through our collaboration with Comcast, we are delivering a truly compelling HD calling experience to consumers, and demonstrating Skype's continued leadership in video communications," said Bob Rosin, Head of Business Development for Skype. "Our partnership brings video calling to the heart of the house - the living room - where it enables visitors to share life's experiences inside a totally new way."

Cathy Avgiris, Executive V . p . and Gm of Communications and Data Services for Comcast Cable, said "TV is rapidly evolving like a social experience, and Skype on Xfinity online satellite TV is bringing friends and family together to share with you life's moments through the use of the biggest screen inside their homes. Skype on Xfinity is straightforward to create and straightforward to utilize to be able to always think that you're there with friends and family members, even when physically you're miles apart."

To use Skype on Xfinity online satellite TV, customers will be needing Xfinity Internet service, an HDMI-capable Comcast cable set-top box plus a Skype account. To begin a Skype session through their TV, customers simply choose an available contact from other address book and choose enter. Skype on Xfinity will probably be brought to the Comcast customer's HDTV with an all-in-one kit which includes an adaptor box, a high-quality camera, plus a specially engineered remote device that allows customers to instant message with more than one friends on Skype in addition to control the quantity of their television. For Skype-to-Skype calls or instant messages, the other calling party does not need any special equipment beyond precisely what it takes to utilize Skype; they just have to be logged within their Skype account.