The Skype video chat service will soon support a new feature called “living photos” following the news Monday that its owner Microsoft Corp. has acquired technology and assets from a company called Swing Technologies.

Swing is the startup behind the popular SWNG mobile application. SWNG, available on the iOS platform, is similar to the live photos feature in Apple’s stock Photos App, allowing users to create and share “photo-based moments” that play a snippet of video once clicked on. SWNG also provides slow-motion and a variety of filters for users to add some artistic flair to their living photos.

In an announcement, Swing said that some of its employees will join the Skype team at Microsoft as part of the deal. It added that Skype will fuse its image-enhancing technologies with its messaging and calling features at a later date.

Tommy Stadlen (pictured), co-founder of Swing, said it’s an “exciting time” for him to be joining a company that’s thriving under the leadership of Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive officer. “We believe in the power of brands and technology, so the Skype mission and values resonate strongly with us,” he said.

“The Swing team’s deep expertise in imaging technology will help us deliver great new features and capabilities for Skype,” said Amritansh Raghav, corporate vice president of Skype at Microsoft. “They have an impressive track record of delivering great user experiences and brand design around the technology they develop.”

Raghav’s comments suggest that the acquisition could be more about Microsoft getting its hands on Swing’s talent rather than its technology, said one expert. Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the research firm Enderle Group, said that the immediate focus would be on incorporating Swing’s imaging capabilities to make aspects of Skype more fun.

“I think they want to turn Skype into more of a universal platform for both consumers and businesses, and the fun aspect is likely for the consumer side but enhancements could also be applied to business,” Enderle said. “We can think of this as more about acquiring a unique pool of employees and intellectual property than just Swing’s product line. It’s an effort to positively differentiate Skype and step well ahead of its competitors. Nadella tends to think strategically and this plays to that.”

The acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, follows a major update to the desktop version of the Skype platform that was rolled out last month.

Microsoft updated Skype for Windows, Linux and Mac on Oct. 30, saying that its processing workloads now take place in the cloud rather than on the machine it’s installed on. The main benefit of this is a big improvement in PC battery life, the company said. The new version also comes with automatic updates enabled by default so users no longer have to do this manually, plus a revamped interface with custom theme options. Some new features were also added, such as the ability to “pin” contacts into different groups.

Microsoft also enabled support for add-ins for Skype Insiders, people who test new platform before they’re rolled out to everyone else. Add-ins are similar to web browser plug-ins, helping Skype users incorporate third-party services into their chats and calls. One example of that is PayPal Holdings Inc.’s Send Money add-in, available on the Android and iOS versions of Skype, which allows users to send payments directly through the app.

Image: Swing Technologies