Skype, Panasonic, LG announce team-up

The trickle of CES news is starting to work its way to flood status. Skype may have the lock of surprising announcements so far, though.  

The Internet communications company has announced a team-up with both Panasonic and LG that will let owners of Internet-enabled TVs from those manufacturers make voice and video calls from those sets. The service is expected to roll out this spring.

“The addition of Skype to our VIERA CAST offerings truly takes HDTV connectivity to a whole new level,” said Bob Perry, Vice President of Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company in a statement. “Owners can now not only share photos and videos online; with Skype they can also talk to family and friends from the comfort of their living room.”

The catch here is that to use the service, you’ll need to buy a specially designed camera for the TV, which is plugged into the TV – and delivers video quality of up to 720p, depending on your broadband connection.

No price was given for that camera from either manufacturer.