Stickers and filters are table stakes for a modern social app, apparently.

The Skype crew hasn't been shy about wanting to emulate Snapchat and hang with the cool kids... and that's truer than ever today. Skype has added a slew of decidedly Snapchatesque photo effects to its mobile messaging apps, including face stickers, filters, captions and handy info like the weather. You won't necessarily have to dig them up yourself, though. The effects take advantage of Microsoft's machine learning chops to detect your age and emotion, suggest text and even determine your celebrity doppelganger. The effects can vary by the day (including holidays), so you're encouraged to check them often to see what's new.

The effects should show up in the next few days if you don't have them already. They're not strictly new -- Microsoft first introduced the AI-powered suggestions through its Sprinkles app. They should get considerably more use now that they're in a major social app, mind you. The real question is whether or not this will improve Skype's stature. This probably won't lure you away from Snapchat (or Instagram, or Facebook). However, it might keep you using Skype if you thought it was falling behind the times.

Source:
courtesy of ENGADGET

by Jon Fingas

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