Facebook users can now make video calls using the social network's instant messaging app Messenger. The company said that a video call can be quickly started from any conversation with just one tap. This overcomes the bugbear of smartphone users, when one user has an iPhone and the other an Android device, and they cannot interact.
Messenger has over 600 million users world-wide, according to Facebook. The addition of video calling makes it a fully-fledged competitor to Microsoft's Skype or Apple's Facetime. Facebook also owns the messaging app WhatsApp which has more than 800 million users.
The new function has been introduced in 18 countries and will be rolled out to other regions over the coming months, the company said.