Looks like Skype is dead, bought by MS for 8.5bn

[Bateluer]

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...-security-vulnerabilities-feel-right-at-home/

Didn't eBay buy them, then spin them back into a separate company? Guess the real questions are 1)How will MS address the security problems with Skype's current platform? and 2)Will Skype be enough to bring WP7 to relevance?

As of this morning, Skype is now officially tucked safely away in Redmond with its new Daddy: Microsoft. For a reported $8.5 billion MS has acquired the VoIP giant with plans to implement it into future products. The question on everyone’s mind is, of course, what does this mean for Android? Aside from the guaranteed increase in security risks (I kid, I kid), MS claims that they "will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms," so we’ll have to wait and see exactly what that really means.

 

[Oyeve]

Methinks MS will pull skype from every portable platform (smartphones) and make it a WP7 exclusive.

 

[Krynj]

Methinks MS will pull skype from every portable platform (smartphones) and make it a WP7 exclusive.

Probably. I don't use Skype, so it's impossible for me to give less of a shit.

 

[mammador]

I can't see Skype being misused by MS. Along with Windows and Office, it must rank alongside its best business units (IE is a hunk of poo, and is being overshadowed by Chrome and even Opera and Firefox).

I can't also see MS reducing the number of channels/platforms the product is available in. Skype is a prize acquisition for MS, so reducing its scope will defeat the purpose. IMO, it's key to see how Google will respond. Google voice is waaaay behind Skype, heck it's only available in the USA chiefly, whilst Skype is international.

 

[M0RPH]

Dumb subject title. Skype is dead? Did you really think MS is going to pay 8.5B for a company just to kill it?

 

[gsaldivar]

Did you really think MS is going to pay 8.5B for a company just to kill it?

They won't kill it outright, but do you really think MS will maintain the Skype's products as they exist today?

The real assets are the patents and the brand name. The software will most likely be rewritten to favor MS's own platforms, with secondary platform support left to languish...

 

[dpodblood]

Repost?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2163880

 

[Bateluer]

Repost?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2163880

No, thats in OT.

 

[M0RPH]

They won't kill it outright, but do you really think MS will maintain the Skype's products as they exist today?

The real assets are the patents and the brand name. The software will most likely be rewritten to favor MS's own platforms, with secondary platform support left to languish...

Yes they will maintain the products. Of course they'll probably change some things, maybe rename it as Windows Live Voice or something like that. Heck, they may even make it free to compete with Google Voice. I don't see this buyout as a bad thing.

 

[Aikouka]

Maybe they'll make Skype less annoying? It's rather annoying when it randomly pops up (from being minimized in the system tray) just to show me some sort of Skype advertisement. I've had it do this while I was playing a game, and I was not pleased.

 

[gsaldivar]

Yes they will maintain the products.

There is no way for you to know that for sure.

If MS keeps with their usual practice, they view this acquisition as (1) a strengthening of their own position (brand name, patents), and (2) the elimination of a direct competitor. The software itself will be viewed as legacy code. It will be rewritten, it will be optimized for Microsoft's own platforms (Windows, Windows Phone), and any secondary platform support will be phased out/dropped over time.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

they might take it out of the mobile OS but its going to stay on PC. besides, i'm waiting on google to fix gchat/gtalk or whatever they call it...that has the scope to be a killer messaging and video app.

 

[mammador]

There is no way for you to know that for sure.

If MS keeps with their usual practice, they view this acquisition as (1) a strengthening of their own position (brand name, patents), and (2) the elimination of a direct competitor. The software itself will be viewed as legacy code. It will be rewritten, it will be optimized for Microsoft's own platforms (Windows, Windows Phone), and any secondary platform support will be phased out/dropped over time.

I cannot see it. Skype has over 600 million users. I can't see MS letting most of them go.

 

[MotionMan]

No, thats in OT.

Then one of them is in the wrong forum and should be moved/locked, no?

MotionMan

 

[gsaldivar]

I cannot see it. Skype has over 600 million users. I can't see MS letting most of them go.

Surely they will try their best to funnel those users onto a Microsoft platform. Skype's features will probably be merged with other Microsoft products like Hotmail, etc. But over time, secondary platforms will lose feature parity with the Microsoft equivalents. Inevitably, they will back-burner support for Skype legacy products. The rest will be history...

 

[Bateluer]

Then one of them is in the wrong forum and should be moved/locked, no?

MotionMan

I scanned GG&P for Skype buyout threads before I posted. If the mods want to lock or merge the threads, that's they're call to make.

Surely they will try their best to funnel those users onto a Microsoft platform. Skype's features will probably be merged with other Microsoft products like Hotmail, etc. But over time, secondary platforms will lose feature parity with the Microsoft equivalents. Inevitably, they will back-burner support for Skype legacy products. The rest will be history...

This will happen, exactly as you say. MS has a history of doing this. They don't want those 600 million users using WebOS, iOS, and Android. They want them using WP*, and will migrate them over to their own platform as surely as the sun rises.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Skype is not dead.

 

[Bryf50]

This will happen, exactly as you say. MS has a history of doing this. They don't want those 600 million users using WebOS, iOS, and Android. They want them using WP*, and will migrate them over to their own platform as surely as the sun rises.

BS with no proof. Look at it from another angle. Is Skype support enough for you to choose one platform over the other? Probably not. So wouldn't Microsoft instead want its name all over its competitors OS. And they have to make the product work well on these other OS's or it would only reflect poorly on them. Why does Microsoft make Office for Mac?

 

[Adramalech]

BS with no proof. Look at it from another angle. Is Skype support enough for you to choose one platform over the other? Probably not. So wouldn't Microsoft instead want its name all over its competitors OS. And they have to make the product work well on these other OS's or it would only reflect poorly on them. Why does Microsoft make Office for Mac?

They might make Office for the Mac, but it used to be a rather sad port. No VB script support, interface differences, and even compatibility issues. Some of these problem are still around in the 2011 version.

 

[gsaldivar]

They might make Office for the Mac, but it used to be a rather sad port. No VB script support, interface differences, and even compatibility issues. Some of these problem are still around in the 2011 version.

Exactly.

"Office" for the Mac is nowhere near feature-equivalent to the PC platform. Since Office 2001, Mac users had to make due with the neutered MS Entourage email client. It's only now, with Office 2011, that they finally getting what is supposedly a "full" Outlook client...

 

[uli2000]

Did they get the patents for that price? I hear the problem Ebay had was they spent 3.5B on Skype but didn't buy the patents and the holders of the IP tried to rape them to license the platform.

 

[gsaldivar]

Did they get the patents for that price? I hear the problem Ebay had was they spent 3.5B on Skype but didn't buy the patents and the holders of the IP tried to rape them to license the platform.

I'm sure the patents and possibly the brand constitute the bulk of the price. The software, while significant, is viewed as legacy code and mostly (if not completely) rewritten with special Windows/WP7 optimizations included of course. As for Skype's users, even assuming MS overpaid for Skype's user base, $50.00 per each of Skype's 170 million users is an outrageously high price to pay.

In my opinion, the majority of Microsoft's cash is being paid out for ownership of the patents and the brand.

 

[gsaldivar]

And so it begins...

http://now.eloqua.com/es.asp?s=491&e=162556

Skype for Asterisk will not be available for sale or activation after July 26, 2011.

Skype for Asterisk was developed by Digium in cooperation with Skype. It includes proprietary software from Skype that allows Asterisk to join the Skype network as a native client. Skype has decided not to renew the agreement that permits us to package this proprietary software. Therefore Skype for Asterisk sales and activations will cease on July 26, 2011.