Skype is working on a technology that will no doubt be impressive when used once and then promptly ignored for the rest of time – 3D video calls! The project was revealed in relation to commemorate Skype’s 10th anniversary.

Microsoft’s Corporate VP for Skype Mark Gillett told BBC that Skype’s labs has been doing work on both 3D capture and 3D display of video calls, and while it’s impressed with the progress made in monitors and TVs that can produce a 3D image, the company still believes there’s a lot of work needed to be done before the 3D capture technology is where it needs to be. That’s because there’s too much tuning required to get the multiple cameras you need for producing 3D images angled as you need them for live video calls.

Gillett said in the BBC interview that Skype has the tech working in the lab, but needs the hardware ecosystem to be able to support it before it’s introduced. But he also said that 3D video chat would take longer to catch on with consumers than other 3D video tech in all likelihood, which begs the question of whether it ever really will.

In the BBC article, Gillett says that Skype is looking in the near-term at more practical improvements, like bringing 1080p video calls to hardware beyond the upcoming Xbox One console. Building 3D calling capabilities in the unlikely event that the tech takes off in a big way may turn out to be a prescient move, but for now it seems like a case of building something no one likely wants.

Yahoo has just released a significant new update for its Flickr photo app for iOS, a further sign of how it wants to be not just where you go to store and view pictures, but where you create them as well. Today, to keep up with the Instagram-led field of mobile photography, it’s adding a number of new filter features and new camera tools — perhaps (?) a direct result of its recent acquisition of GhostBird. And, in its bid to bring in more hardcore photography enthusiasts, it’s also dropping the paywall on some of its pro features, bringing the app in line with Yahoo’s decision in May to drop its old Flickr Pro pricing tiers and instead offer paid tiers for those who want to skip ads or have significantly more storage space.

It doesn’t look right now like the update has extended to Android; we’ll keep checking.

And indeed, here Yahoo is also trying to go one step further. In addition to new filters, Yahoo is offering “live” filters so that you can use them as a lens while photographing. You can also create custom filters on the app. In addition to the camera tools that include grids, pinch to zoom, focus lock and a better ability to manage exposure points, this points to how Yahoo wants this also to replace the role played by apps like Camera+ and Snapseed for avid users.

Something else worth pointing out: If you were familiar with the apps that GhostBird was producing before it was acquired and shut down by Yahoo, you can see that there is a direct link between what is being presented here in the Flickr app and what GhostBird itself had developed as a standalone company. If it’s the case that this is actually a product of that acquisition, announced in June 2013, this is another sign (if one were needed) of how Yahoo, under Mayer, continues to push itself to work at a much faster pace to improve its products and release updates to show for it. (In the past Aviary handled filter technology for Flickr, we understand.)

It comes at the same time that Instagram is also adding more features for pro-users who want to add that extra level of effort to make their pictures perfect.

On the subject of pro users, to bring more people on to the Flickr platform, Yahoo has been lowering the paywall for premium features online, and that’s now extending to the mobile site too. Today, photo enhancing features, cropping, sharpening, adjusting color and use levels, as well as vignettes are all among the features that become free.

The overall working of the app also now has animated transitions, Yahoo says, adding to the general slick nature.

All in all, considering that Flickr was such an early and big mover in the online photo space, it had a lot of catching up to do. This is already the seventh update to the app (some have been really more for bug fixes that major updates) since it was relaunched as a version 2 in December last year, as one of the key moves in CEO Marissa Mayer’s bid to sort out Yahoo’s dismal standing in mobile.