[LINK] Skype's future under Microsoft: integration everywhere?

[Kim Holburn]

Note that: 
> The most obvious places for integration are ... and Windows Phone.

How did that pass Anti-trust reviews again?

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2011/10/skypes-future-under-microsoft-integration-everywhere.ars

> Microsoft has big plans for Skype; we just don’t know exactly what they are. But with Microsoft gaining both US and European regulatory approval for its $8.5 billion acquisition, the merger is likely to be completed in the near future, letting Microsoft integrate Skype into various product lines.
> 
> The most obvious places for integration are Lync, Microsoft’s unified communications platform, and Windows Phone. But over time, Skype could be baked into more products like Outlook, Windows Live Essentials, and Xbox Live, or even become a pre-installed component of Windows on the desktop, analysts are speculating. While users of the current Skype service probably won’t see any major changes immediately, future versions integrated with Microsoft products could get the Metro interface that dominates Windows Phones and the upcoming Windows 8 desktop software.
> 
> After receiving approval for the acquisition in June from the US Federal Trade Commission, Microsoft got clearance a few days ago from the European Commission. “Competition reviews are still under way in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Taiwan,” the Financial Times notes. But in all likelihood, Microsoft will soon be the proud owner of Skype and the provider of its services. While Skype has 663 million registered users, the number of active monthly users has been pegged at 170 million with concurrent users numbering 20-30 million.

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-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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