French communications regulator ARCEP was gunning for internet telephony player Skype this week, which it suggests is committing a criminal offence by not declaring itself as a communications operator.
In a somewhat inevitable move by the software firm, Microsoft has absorbed its Live Messenger service into Skype, after acquiring the VoIP service in May last year. The firm released Skype 6.0 for Mac and Windows a few weeks ago and has now told customers to update to the service to send instant messages and make video calls with their Messenger contacts.
VoIP provider Skype has set up a public wifi network in the UK and Ireland in a bid to diversify its offering. The firm, acquired by Microsoft in 2011, has teamed up with wifi solutions provider Wicoms to roll out a service called Free Skype WiFi in UK high streets. The service enables shopping malls, retailers and other businesses to deliver public internet access to customers free of charge.
A US start-up is aiming to disrupt the wireless broadband market with its commitment to deliver free 4G services to its users. FreedomPop has launched the beta version of its service and will be offering 500MB of free data usage to each of its customers using US wholesale operator Clearwire’s WiMAX network.
Internet telephony darling and over-the-top success, Skype, stepped up its threat to operators with the introduction of direct operator billing this week.
Swedish operators attempting to ban Skype, claims local press
In 2010, KDDI and Skype entered into a partnership. Skype services were offered over “au”, the
operator’s mobile broadband service brand. The integration of Skype’s platform onto KDDI’s network
allowed for a superior voice quality for users of the Skype on au service and provided a clear
differentiator for Skype’s range of IS-series Android devices launched in November 2010.
Internet telephony player Skype, recently acquired by Microsoft, is doing some shopping of its own, entering into an agreement to acquire mobile group messaging provider GroupMe. Founded in 2010 in New York, GroupMe allows users to group text, conference call, and share pictures and location data.
When Mark Zuckerberg announced the death of privacy last year, The Informer thought the little dweeb was talking about Facebook, but recent events in the British media world would appear to suggest otherwise. Never mind the Winkelvoss twins, if anyone can lay claim to prior art when it comes to the innovation of making money from information that people thought was private, it seems to be the British media and police establishments.
Social networking giant Facebook and video chat leader Skype have announced a video sharing partnership enabling Facebook users to place Skype directly to any of their Facebook ‘Friends’ without having to leave the website.
Skype has upped its game in the mobile market, with the announcement of a “killer ability” that has long been waited for: cross platform video calling.
Users of Skype’s Android app will finally be able to make video calls, not only to other Android users but also to iPhones, laptops and PCs from their smartphones.
Microsoft has been granted a patent for a technology that will allow it to listen in on web-based communications such as video and voice calls – including those made on its recently acquired Skype service.
Microsoft’s bid for Skype has received the go-ahead from American anti-trust regulators, following an “early termination” of a review into the proposed sale. Under America’s Hart-Scott-Rodinho (HSR) Act, certain types of large mergers and acquisitions deals must be submitted for review by the government.
Carriers are going to need to think and act laterally if they’re to gain relevance in an over-the-top (OTT) mobile data market. This is the message from Openwave SVP for product management and marketing, John Giere, who said that with customer experience representing a key driver of growth, carriers need to drop their linear approach to billing and services and start taking advantage of their unique access to end-user data.
Software giant Microsoft is set to announce the acquisition of VoIP company Skype in an all cash deal said to be worth $8.5bn. Such a move would give Microsoft a greater presence with internet telephony and video calling capabilities.
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