While there’s probably no single provider that provides an exact like-for-like replacement for all of Skype’s features, there are plenty of companies offering great VoIP and video calling services; some of which are even better than Skype’s. Here is a list of my favorites: Read more »
Microsoft officially announced it’s paying $8.5 billion for Skype today. At a press conference in San Francisco this morning, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Skype CEO Tony Bates gave more details about how they see the companies working together. Read more »
If one thing was expected from Microsoft paying $8.5 billion for Skype, it was the criticism of the deal. I spoke with Steve Ballmer and Tony Bates about the deal and what comes next. Here are my notes from that conversation. Read more »
Microsoft’s $8.5 billion purchase of Skype is official, giving the Redmond company an instant voice and video calling user-base of more than 170 million globally connected customers. With only an estimated 2.5 million Windows Phone 7 handsets sold, there’s ample opportunity here to boost smartphone sales. Read more »
eBay can finally breathe a sigh of relief about its ill-fated Skype acquisition, now that Microsoft has bought the company for $8.5 billion. A back of the envelope calculation shows that eBay might have made a 40 percent profit on its Skype adventure. Here’s how. Read more »
Microsoft announced today that it will acquire Skype for $8.5 billion in cash and that Skype will form a new business division within Microsoft. Despite Microsoft’s position as a longtime Apple competitor, this deal could improve the state of video chat on Apple devices. Read more »
Now that the word is out on the Microsoft-Skype deal, the pick-up is still leaving many scratching their heads. Others, however, are seeing some of the wisdom in the move, though it still comes down to Microsoft making the deal work, which is far from given. Read more »
Microsoft confirmed that it has agreed to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion and plans to integrate the Internet communications service into a wide array of products from Kinect and Windows Phone 7 to Lync, Outlook and Xbox Live. Read more »
There may be many questions about Microsoft’s decision to buy Skype, but one thing is for sure: It can take video conferencing video calling to a whole different level, thanks to Kinect. If you watch these videos, you can easily imagine the future of video calls. Read more »
Microsoft is close to finalizing a deal to buy Skype for $8.5 billion. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the news after we had first reported the news yesterday. The deal is especially good for Microsoft’s partners including Nokia and Facebook. Read more »
People familiar with Skype indicate that some kind of news is forthcoming later this week, perhaps as soon as Monday. It is also rumored that Microsoft is a late entrant and is said to be in talks with Skype, the Internet telephony company. Read more »
Looks like Skype is in play, again. Unlike last time, both the suitors have good business reasons. Between Google and Facebook, the social networking giant makes perfect sense. We actually suggested this deal six months ago. Question is: why does Skype want to sell? Read more »
Fring released an update Thursday for its iPhone app that brings group video chat over Wi-Fi and 3G to the service. Android users can also get in on the action, using Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G and both platforms can talk to each other. Read more »
Qik has launched a new mobile app that will allow nearly all Android mobile users to video chat with their iPhone- and iPad-toting friends. That could opens its potential user base beyond just the few manufacturers and carriers it had struck deals with. Read more »
Skype, the web’s telephone and video chat pioneer, has seen a lot since its inception eight years ago. But it’s real legacy is its people. The well-connected network of alums reads like a Silicon Valley who’s who. Read more »
Skype not only patched a security hole in the Android client, it added 3G calling as well, which I’m testing as a primary voice solution. More Amazon tablet tidbits appear, lending credence to a new device soon. Meanwhile, the T-Mobile G-Slate Honeycomb tablet gets a review. Read more »
An updated Skype client for Google Android devices is available today with two notable improvements: a security patch and support for voice calls over 3G networks around the world, including the U.S. Could Skype be planning a data-only handset for voice calls over mobile broadband? Read more »
The first quarter of 2011 saw plenty of competition between various web companies — and some heated tension, too. Content farms generated the most debate, with Demand Media’s IPO attracting attention and controversy and Google making a major change to its ranking algorithm. Facebook, meanwhile, maintained its heavyweight status online, but this time the social network’s impact was centered on social search, unified communications and comment systems. And Facebook’s ongoing dominance raised the question, Is there room for more than one social network? If niche networks like Quora and Color are any indication, the answer is “yes.” Additional companies mentioned in this report include Twitter, Groupon, Microsoft, LinkedIn and MySpace. To see the full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
iPhone VoIP app Viber introduced a new update Thursday that introduces text messaging and some excellent UX refinements. Viber is growing fast (with 10 million downloads since its introduction), and smart updates like this will help make sure it keeps nipping at Skype’s heels. Read more »
netTALK has introduced the Duo, a hardware-plus-service option that’s about as simple to set up as anything I’ve seen. Plug it into an Ethernet connection, power and a phone, activate it, and you’ve got unlimited calling to the U.S. and Canada, and cheap rates elsewhere. Read more »
Skype users, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, are getting a new powerful desktop tool that brings a lot of Google Voice management features to Skype. MySkypeOffice offers a host of in-bound call management tools for businesses that rely on Skype as their phone system. Read more »
Technological advancements have minimized the need for employees to be as physically present in a traditional office setting, and employee relationships now extend across different time zones and geographies. This paper discusses the future of work and the workplace in that context. We examine the shifting nature of actual workspaces, from four office walls to the online world; the emergence of new flexible hours that no longer require a nine-to-five mindset; the role of consumer-grade technologies such as iPads, smartphones and notebooks in the workplace; and what role cloud-based services such as Box.net, Huddle and Dropbox play. Companies mentioned in this report include Facebook, Apple, Google and Skype. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Synchronous communications like mobile group chat are the latest battleground in the war over unified communications, and despite what the startups say, they won’t be contenders in the race to build a single, unified hub. Read more »
Skype is on its way to going public, and may entice more investors with an updated S-1 filing that provides full-year numbers for 2010. Among other things, Skype increased revenues to $860 million and grew its total user base to 663 million users. Read more »
As an IPO looms, Skype is looking for new revenue streams that will help continue its growth and improve its financial prospects. And today it unveiled the next big revenue generator: ads on its Skype Windows desktop client, which should lessen its reliance on SkypeOut. Read more »
Thanks to a partnership that’s been announced today with Citrix Online, Skype users will later this year get web conferencing functionality. By making use of Citrix’s popular GoToMeeting conferencing product, Skype users will be able to easily quickly set up online meetings. Read more »
The enterprise collaboration space has entered an exciting new phase of collaboration. New software and applications are coming to market, as are new concepts for how to work and communicate in the knowledge age. From consumer-grade apps like those from Box.net and Huddle to software from long-established players like Microsoft and Oracle, these tools are taking collaboration technology past the traditional IT decision-making process and changing the way we approach the workday. Additional companies in this report include Skype, Huddle, Jive, Moxie and Yammer. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Skype announced on its blog today that it now supports the H.264 video format on iOS devices, a change that will allow users to chat across multiple platforms, since H.264 is now the de facto standard for video playback on connected TVs and other devices. Read more »
Rajiv Dutta, former President of Skype and more recently a partner at private equity firm, Elevation Partners succumbed to colon cancer on January 31, 2011. He joined the private equity firm, after spending nearly 10 years at eBay. He also served as President of PayPal. Read more »
More exciting than examining the previous quarter is looking forward into the next 12 months and using the trends of 2010 to predict the realities that will surface in 2011. Throughout this past December, GigaOM Pro’s curators did just that, making trend predictions, pointing out companies to watch and even telling us what not to expect. Connected Consumer curator Michael Wolf’s thoughts, analyses and predictions are compiled here in a single report. Companies mentioned in this report include Netflix, Hulu, Facebook, Apple and Boxee. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
VOIP and video chat solutions are becoming much more common and user-friendly. While I recommend Skype because it’s multi-platform, I’m going to take you through changing the audio/visual settings on a variety of Mac-based voice and video apps, including iChat, Skype and FaceTime. Read more »
Rebtel is hoping a new update to its BlackBerry app will help it make up some ground on VoIP leader Skype. The app now allows Rebtel BlackBerry users to make free international phone calls to other Rebtel users on BlackBerry and Android apps. Read more »
VoxOx is a great idea: one program that does phone calls, IM, video chat, Skype messaging, conference calling, even incoming faxing. You can select your own phone number. Unfortunately, with an app that does this much, I suppose it’s inevitable that there will be shortcomings. Read more »
Skype was hit with a 24-hour outage just a few weeks ago — but now it’s back, bigger than ever, with 27 million simultaneous users logging in today, up from its usual peak of 25 million. The company owes some of that success to its iPhone app. Read more »
Who will set 2011′s standards in NewNet technologies like social media and real-time feeds? In terms of growing user adoption, revenues and technology innovation and influence, there are the sure-to-be leaders like Facebook going head-to-head with mid-size companies with potential to disrupt. Read more »
At CES today, Skype confirmed it has acquired mobile video startup Qik in a deal that will accelerate its move to capture the mobile video chat market. Skype also named new TV partners that will enable consumers to chat with others on their TVs. Read more »
Skype voice traffic is expected to grow by 45 billion minutes in 2010 to more than twice the volume added by all the world’s phone companies combined, according to research firm Telegeography. That means one out of five voice minutes is now going to Skype. Read more »
China has reportedly moved to block private VoIP services such as Skype and will only allow China Telecom and China Unicom to offer such services. It’s unclear when this will take effect or if it means the outright ban of services such as Skype. Read more »
Skype’s new mobile video chat support for iOS just arrived, but how does it compare to Apple’s FaceTime? I tested the new version of Skype on a Wi-Fi call between two iPod touch devices and have favorable first impressions although both solutions have unique advantages. Read more »
Skype makes it official; it’s pushing ahead with a major mobile video chat effort starting with an update to its iOS client. Skype believes this will be a major step in further mainstreaming video chat in general and accelerating the adoption of mobile video conferencing. Read more »
