Skype: Nearly half of adults don’t install software updates
A new survey commissioned by Skype reveals that 40 per cent of adults do not always update their software when prompted to do so, and that 25 per cent skip software updates because they think they offer no real benefit.
The survey was offered on Skype's behalf to some 350,000 individuals in the US, UK, and Germany by internet pollster YouGov.
A quarter of the adults surveyed said they did not understand the benefits of software updates or what they were supposed to do.
About the same number said they didn't know how to check for updates, and another quarter said they'd need to be prompted to upgrade their software at least twice before they would do it. Read more...
Microsoft silently kills silent, automatic Skype install via Updates
Microsoft has pulled the plug on a Windows update that snuck Skype onto business PCs.
Corporate admins got a nasty surprise on Wednesday when Skype 5.9 was automatically and silently installed on work machines via Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) - including PCs that did not have the voice chat software previously installed.
IT bods on this microsoft.com forum complained of hundreds of computers infected by the update and scrambled to remove the VoIP client centrally from PCs. Read more...
Microsoft reassures Apple, Android users of Skype
As it wrapped up its acquisition of Skype, Microsoft again assured users that it would continue to develop versions for platforms other than Windows.
Earlier today, Microsoft announced that it had closed the $8.5 billion deal for Skype, the Luxembourg-based Internet phone and chat giant. Microsoft and Skype unveiled the planned acquisition in May.
Skype will operate as a new business division within Microsoft, and Tony Bates, formerly the chief executive of Skype, will report directly to Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer.
In May, Ballmer promised that his company would continue to develop and support Skype on rival platforms.
"A, I said it and I meant it," Ballmer said when a reporter asked for assurances that Skype would continue to support operating systems and devices not sold by Microsoft. "B, we're one of the few companies with a track record of doing this," Ballmer added, citing Microsoft's Office edition for the Mac. Read more...
EU antitrust regulators give Microsoft-Skype deal green light
Antitrust regulators in the European Union today approved Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype, the online telephone and chat giant.
"The Commission considers that there are no competition concerns in this growing market where numerous players, including Google, are present," the European Commission, the EU's antitrust agency, said in a statement today, referring to competition concerns for consumers, who make up the bulk of Skype's customers.
The commission also dismissed concerns that the deal would stifle competition in the enterprise communication market. Read more...
Skype gulps group app as it is swallowed by Microsoft
Another Microsoft me-too Web 2.0 project looks to be headed for the chop with Skype's proposed purchase of a mobile messaging start-up.
Skype is buying GroupMe, another app masquerading as a business, that has 20 employees and $10.6m in funding. The service lets you marshal your contacts into groups.
Microsoft itself is in the process of buying the loss-making Skype for a remarkable $8.5bn. This is remarkable in any world but more so when Microsoft could have got away with paying "just" $7bn.
Using GroupMe you can set up private chats, share your location and photos, and also conduct conference calls using boring old voice using its service.
GroupMe works on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. Read more...
Skype acquiring startup GroupMe for group text messaging
Internet calling company Skype said Sunday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire GroupMe, a startup that offers a free group text messaging and conference call service on mobile phones.
Skype did not disclose how much it is paying for GroupMe in New York.
Set up in 2010, GroupMe offers its application on Apple's iPhone, Research In Motion's BlackBerry, and phones running the Android operating system. It also launched in July a version of its application for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. A short message service (SMS) version for users without smartphones is also available in the U.S. Read more...
Microsoft patents spy tech for Skype
A newly patented Microsoft technology called Legal Intercept that would allow the company to secretly intercept, monitor and record Skype calls is stoking privacy concerns.
Microsoft's patent application for Legal Intercept was filed in 2009, well before the company's $8.5 billion purchase of Skype in May. The patent was granted last week.
From Microsoft's description of the technology in its patent application, Legal Intercept appears similar to tools used by telecommunication companies and equipment makers to comply with government wiretap and surveillance requests. Read more...
Skype video chat on iPad app moves Microsoft closer to Apple
Skype is reportedly set to release a video chat app optimized for Apple's iPad even as the maker of video and voice products is on tap to be acquired by Microsoft for $8.5 billion.
Analysts are taking note that Microsoft, the classic Apple competitor, is indirectly ingratiating itself with Apple's industry-leading tablet computer. It's been widely reported that the Skype app will be available in iTunes starting Tuesday.
"It's interesting that this app puts Microsoft on the iPad --- potentially," noted Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. "MicroSkype takes a bite of the Apple." Read more...
Skype executives depart after Microsoft buyout
Eight Skype executives have departed the company following Microsoft's $8.5 billion buyout in May, a Skype spokeswoman confirmed on Monday.
"Skype, like any other pragmatic organization, constantly assesses its team structure to deliver its users the best products," the company said in a written statement. "As part of a recent internal shift Skype has made some management changes."
The spokeswoman declined to say whether the eight executives were laid off or resigned. Read more...
FTC lets Microsoft proceed with purchase of Skype
The Federal Trade Commission is letting software giant Microsoft Corp. proceed with its largest deal ever, an $8.5 billion bid for web chat and call service Skype.
The FTC announced Friday that it had finished its review of the buyout so it can proceed if the Department of Justice also approves. Both agencies must review any deal worth more than $65.2 million, according to the FTC's website. Read more...
Skype kills integration with open source PBX Asterisk
Skype has decided not to renew an agreement that allows open-source telephony system Asterisk to be integrated with the service using software developed with Digium.
The decision is more about a change in strategy, rather than the company closing the door on third-party integration after the Microsoft acquisition of Skype, according a Gartner analyst.
Skype for Asterisk is based on proprietary software that allows the open-source telephony system to join Skype as a native client, according to Digium, which has put out a product notice detailing the change. Digium drives the development of Asterisk and sells commercial products based on it. Read more...
Google and the NFL: Saviours of the free internet?
Almost a decade has passed since Skype brought free phone calls to the world. In the intervening years, consumers have grown to expect that if it's online, it's gratis.
Many free sites and services online rely on money from adverts to keep themselves afloat but despite expectations that advertisers will spend $106bn online this year, the bulk of the cash goes to major players such as Google, leaving slim pickings for smaller ad-supported ventures.
If the bulk of ad-supported sites and services are to survive, then Michael Cusumano, professor at MIT Sloan School of Management and tech guru, believes online firms should look to an unlikely source for inspiration - American football.
Since the 1960s, the US National Football League (NFL) has pooled the revenue generated from various sources including TV broadcasting rights to all games, and split the takings evenly between each team. Read more...
Microsoft promises not to ditch Mac, iPhone, Android Skype users
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today promised that the company would continue to develop and support Skype on rival platforms.
"We will continue to invest in Skype on non-Microsoft client platforms," said Ballmer during a news conference announcing the company's plan to buy chat and Internet phone software maker Skype for $8.5 billion.
Skype currently offers versions of its software for Apple's Mac OS X and Linux on the desktop, and on Google's Android, Apple's iOS, RIM's BlackBerry and Nokia's Symbian mobile operating systems.
Ballmer was adamant that the new Microsoft Skype division would not ditch owners of iPhones, Android smartphones, Macs and more. Read more...
Microsoft near deal to buy Skype
SAN FRANCISCO – Microsoft Corp. is nearing a deal to buy the popular Internet telephone service Skype in what could be the biggest deal in the software maker's 36-year history, according to a published report.
If Microsoft does buy Skype, The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal could be valued at $8.5 billion, including assumed debt. At that price, a Skype takeover would top Microsoft's biggest previous acquisition — a $6 billion purchase of the online ad service aQuantive in 2007. Read more...
Skype to Fix Wormable Bug in Mac Software
Skype plans to push out an important update to its Skype for Mac software next week that will fix a big that could be leveraged by hackers looking to build a self-copying worm program.
Details of the flaw haven't been made public, so it's unlikely that anyone is going to write a worm any time soon. But the bug is serious, according to Gordon Maddern, the Australian security researcher who reported the issue to Skype. Read more...