M$ Buys Skype – Expands Their Platform Support!

Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion in cash (no stock swaps this time!) I use Skype, in fact, I have a “Skype-In” number for Dr. Bill Bailey.NET. I have also used Skype for video recording of netcasts as well. So, I am pretty “jazzed” that they are expanding their service on to other devices. More power to them! And, now that they have been purchased by Microsoft, I expect they will be BIGGER than ever! Wow.

Skype Confirms: We’re Coming to Xbox, Outlook, Windows Phone & More

“In the wake of today’s confirmed acquisition of Skype by Microsoft Corp., tech press, analysts and armchair quarterbacks alike have been busy speculating why Microsoft would buy Skype (and why it spent $8.5 billion to do so.) While we can’t address the price of the deal, we do know as of this morning, exactly what Microsoft plans to do with Skype…at least in part.

Skype, the company states, will be coming to Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone, Lync and Outlook, plus other Windows devices and communities.

According to a Skype blog post put up first thing this morning, the popular communications company will be integrated into many of Microsoft’s products and services, but it will not remove support for its product on non-Microsoft platforms, thankfully. That means that mobile apps like the iPhone and Android app will still be maintained, as will the Mac desktop application. How often those products will be updated, however, is unknown.

‘Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices,’ the blog post states, referring cryptically to ‘Windows devices,’ instead of saying ‘computers running the Windows operating system,’ for example, which is a bit curious, we think. The post then continues, ‘Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities.'”