So, the biggest acquisition in Microsoft's history. The Wall Street Journal reports - and it has been confirmed - that Microsoft and Skype will announce today that Redmond will buy Skype for $8.5 billion. That's a lot of money for a company that hasn't ever actually made any profits. Update: and it's official: yay on Skype on the Xbox360 and Windows Phone, and this: "Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms." Let's hope this includes Linux.
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Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2005-06-29
Thanks for that horrific mental image! (yuck)
Anyway, I doubt this is going to cause any impact on the wired and wireless voice carriers. I have a feeling that, as mentioned elsewhere, Skype technology will end up embedded in Windows 8, specifically for use on tablets but probably enabled on any device. By that time T-Mobile will be swallowed by AT&T, and likely Sprint as well by Verizon. That leaves us Microsoft-friendly AT&T vs Android-friendly Verizon, and VoIP concerns will wane in favor of the epic battle between the two carriers for your metered data consumption.
I also don't think they would automatically kill the ports to Linux and other OSes; that would cut out a significant chunk of their Windows customers' contacts. I doubt they will do much to improve performance and features on those ports either though; after all, they have an obligation to their shareholders to make Windows appear to be the superior platform.
And finally, don't forget that Google Voice is still out there, integrates perfectly with Android phones (and fairly well with Blackberry phones as well) and is free for another year in the US. I'd be willing to bet that Microsoft has plans to use Skype to try to take a piece of that pie too.
Member since:2006-01-06
Rrrrright, because it's not like Microsoft has any experience running a large-scale network that supports realtime communications on a global scale like Xbox Live...
Oh, wait...
Member since:2005-11-21
It already has the ISP infrastructure from MSN in place (the ISP not the messenger app). So it would simply be a case of developing/buying mobile data coverage (no need for 'voice' infrastructure).
One 4g licence and they could undercut the UK mobile operators in terms of cost of calls.
4g licence(s) are going on sale here in 2012 and expected to sell for much less than 3g did. The current estimates are that 4G will cover 95% of the UK
Would certainly turn the status quo on its head here...
How do you figure? They own ZERO Wireless or Wired Backbone.
Member since:2005-07-06
If they purchase part of the 4G network, thats going on sale, they Will own the rights to use that in the same was as current wireless telcos do. This at a swipe would give them data coverage over 95% of the UK (official estimate).
Calls/sms/MMS all using the skype/internet protocols over their data network. Why would they need the wired network?
Their expirience as an ISP would doubtless be an asset in managing these data networks. Its a question of if they can be cheap enough to make people switch.
Dont get me wrong, we are prob talking a couple more billion of investment, but this is certainly achievable if they were so inclined and would open up a whole new market to Microsoft.
"So in summary... Google has pulled the plug on support on a protocol they've helped popularize, after years of promising interoperability, for reasons that are dubious at best, and in a way that leaves people who don't jump to the new Hangouts app unable to talk to their contacts without any feedback that their IMs aren't getting through... And they've done that with no warning to anyone. I imagine there's a bunch of people out there wondering where some of their buddies have gone, or why their messages aren't getting responses, because this isn't documented anywhere." Google really messed this up. Such a dick move.
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Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
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"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently."In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies."The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.
Member since:
2005-07-06
With Skype, Microsoft could, in theory, set itself up as a whole mobile network operator in a position to compete with the established players.
It already has the ISP infrastructure from MSN in place (the ISP not the messenger app). So it would simply be a case of developing/buying mobile data coverage (no need for 'voice' infrastructure).
One 4g licence and they could undercut the UK mobile operators in terms of cost of calls.
4g licence(s) are going on sale here in 2012 and expected to sell for much less than 3g did. The current estimates are that 4G will cover 95% of the UK
Would certainly turn the status quo on its head here...