Skabble's new desktop chat tool has a lot of potential, but not many practical features just yet. If you're going to launch a new chat client, you're going to have to consider the fact that there are established chat tools that support integration, which will make growth a bit easier. Skabble doesn't appear to have taken advantage of this just yet, and is essentially requiring its users to start from scratch, building up new buddy lists and finding new friends.
This particular feature is something we're seeing manifest in a number of different Web-based communication mediums, such as virtual worlds like Rocketon, social browsers like Flock, and browser "widgets" like Yoono. The benefit of these competitors is that they're already integrated into the browser, whereas Skabble is a desktop client, disconnected from the actual Web-browsing experience.