Internet telephony company Skype will soon release a new version of its peer-to-peer VoIP software for the Mac with 10-way conferencing capabilities that can only be used on Apple Macs with Intel dual core processors, The Mac Observer has learned.

Version 2.0 of Skype for Mac will take advantage of the multi-tasking capabilities of Intel dual-core processors and allow a conference call to include up to ten people at the same time. The new feature can only be used with the iMac and MacBook Pro laptops, both announced in early January as the first Mac products with Intel Core Duo processors.

"The new version will be available to Skype users sometime in the second quarter," Tim Cox, a public relations representative for Skype with the firm Spark PR, told TMO. Mr. Cox said the new version will work with any Mac, but will auto-detect Macs with the Intel dual core processor to allow use of the added features.

Skype announced February 8th Skype 2.0 for Windows with the same new features for Intel dual-core processor-based PCs. The two companies are planning additional feature extensions and optimization of Skype for Intel’s dual-core processors including optimized video calling.

“Through our partnership with Intel we can ensure that Skype performs better than any other Internet calling application and drive widespread business and consumer adoption” said Henry Gomez, general manager of Skype North America, in a prepared statement.

Users with Skype’s free software can hold telephone conversations over the Internet with other Skype users, or can call from their PCs to land lines or mobile phones for an additional fee.