glennda Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 Do we think this is M$ attempt into the Telephony Market? BBC News - Microsoft confirms takeover of Skype I wish i Had £5.2 billion to spend!
CyberNerd Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 Do we think this is M$ attempt into the Telephony Market? nah, their just trying to keep up with googles web services.
tech_guy Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 It's a cheap price to pay for 600-odd million users. Just glad I don't use Skype - another great tool about to be ****ed up by Microshaft.
Domino Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 Do we think this is M$ attempt into the Telephony Market? errr, Communicator/lync have been out for a while now - I'd say they're fairly well embedded in the telephony market. and the Sale's now gone through: Official: Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5bn ? The Register ...that was quick!
TheScarfedOne Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 errr, Communicator/lync have been out for a while now - I'd say they're fairly well embedded in the telephony market. Thats a good way or cornering out the IP telephony market. I have to say though, I am quite impressed with Lync/Comms Server - Im just wondering what buying up Skype achieves for them in the public arena? Even the WLM Live call functionality is ok - so where does it fit in?
mac_shinobi Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 what other VoIP Services are there other then skype - seeing as microshaft are going to make it go down the swanny that I can use on OS X ?
Arthur Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 What other VoIP services are there other then Skype ... that I can use on OS X? Telephone.app seeing as microshaft are going to make it go down the swanny Unlike eBay, I think Microsoft will actually do something useful with Skype. I wonder if they could get away with integrating it into Outlook v15.0? 1
somabc Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 If you look at the SEC IPO filing, the most recent numbers (Dec 2010) are as follows: * 663M registered accounts * 145M connected users * 8M paying users Amendment No 2 To The Registration Statement On Form S-1/A
mac_shinobi Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 Telephone.app Unlike eBay, I think Microsoft will actually do something useful with Skype. I wonder if they could get away with integrating it into Outlook v15.0? I feel there software is too bloated and doesn't seem to have handy features - take for example MSN on Mac vs Adium Want to merge chat windows / dialogs, easy enough on adium as the windows merge / snap together and you get tabs , msn for mac you just get a different window for each person you chat with and takes up screen estate which is a pita.
Arthur Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 I feel their software is too bloated and doesn't seem to have handy features I agree. They also made the UI a total mess in v5.0.
glennda Posted May 10, 2011 Author Posted May 10, 2011 If you look at the SEC IPO filing, the most recent numbers (Dec 2010) are as follows: * 663M registered accounts * 145M connected users * 8M paying users Amendment No 2 To The Registration Statement On Form S-1/A I think that is the problem why ebay sold of most of it in the end - with under 1.5% of users actually paying for it but I had forgotten about Lync server so my bad!
CAM Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 Could go either way, on one hand they just bought the #1 player in the VOIP market and are now in a perfect position to sabotage Skype for the success of their own IM and calling services. But on the other hand, if they are smart, could look towards linking Skype up to the Windows Live service for cross network VOIP/IM. If I could log in to MSN and communicate with my contacts on Skype instead of having two clients running, it'd be great.
Dos_Box Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 With a bit of thought, this does actually make a great deal of sense. Skype has infrastucture and Microsoft has technologies, and with a new version of Windows apparently due late next year it would make sense for Microsoft to bring telephony to it's O/S as a standard feature. Coupled with several of their Lync/Exchange technologies such as voicemail/email integration, the ability to sell a fixed telephone number to a user and their next O/S will provide users with their entire home communications systems in a portable (if installed on a laptop) platform that only requires an internet connection. If they can sell this service for less than the phone companies charge for a phone connection per month then they will be onto a winner from not only businesses but an increasingly mobile younger market (obviously there will still be a 'free' version). I suspect Microsoft were really after Skypes infrastructure and services rather than their technologies and I think this could be a really interesting feature for any future version of Windows, but we shall have to wait and see.
mac_shinobi Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 What is ichat like? Chris you only get that properly if you have a mobile me account and I dont know many people with mobile me, I have got it but obviously not sure how to chat or use that ( might just be me lol )
mac_shinobi Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 (edited) I agree. They also made the UI a total mess in v5.0. reading that blog originally skype made the mac version look flash and great and the windows version was pants so to even it out they screwed up the mac version to make it the same as windows like wth ?? on a side note what is skype like with 0845 or 0871 type numbers , just with virgin media seem to be paying a lot to use these numbers and don't have a choice as banks are using them along with other places that I have to call in order to find out or make changes to certain things. I was contemplating buying a tenners worth of skype credit once a month so we can use skype to call those type of numbers Edited May 10, 2011 by mac_shinobi
jinnantonnixx Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 reading that blog originally skype made the mac version look flash and great and the windows version was pants so to even it out they screwed up the mac version to make it the same as windows like wth ?? I'm quite impressed, they've released a 64 bit Linux .deb package for Linux which works like a charm. on a side note what is skype like with 0845 or 0871 type numbers , just with virgin media seem to be paying a lot to use these numbers and don't have a choice as banks are using them along with other places that I have to call in order to find out or make changes to certain things. I was contemplating buying a tenners worth of skype credit once a month so we can use skype to call those type of numbers Annoying isn't it? Try this though - there may be a 'real' number behind the 0845 number. SAYNOTO0870.COM - Non-Geographical Alternative Telephone Numbers
Norphy Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 (edited) you only get that properly if you have a mobile me account and I dont know many people with mobile me, I have got it but obviously not sure how to chat or use that ( might just be me lol ) iChat is a slightly glorified AOL Instant Messenger client, you can chat to anyone who is on AIM. The only Apple specific stuff is video calling I think and even then it's just a case of both clients having to have iChat running rather than both people needing to have MobileMe accounts. It also talks to Jabber servers and works with Google Chat. It's a cheap price to pay for 600-odd million users. Just glad I don't use Skype - another great tool about to be ****ed up by Microshaft. They're effectively paying $1000 for each paying customer who will bring nothing like that kind of money back to them. I hope that you're wrong about Microsoft messing it up (won't use asterisks because I got neg repped the last time I did) but we all know how mixed their past record is with their acquisitions. Edited May 10, 2011 by Norphy
Dos_Box Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 As I said earlier. Microsoft have, I suspect, aquired Skype for it's infrastructure, and prepare to see a rebranded Skype client as an embedded part of the next Microsoft desktop O/S, with both free and subscribed functionality on offer.
Arthur Posted May 11, 2011 Posted May 11, 2011 This is what I would like to see happen... If Microsoft integrated Skype into Windows Phone to provide Google Voice-like services to a global market, with free calling to existing Skype and Messenger users and cheap international calling, this could revolutionize the cellphone market. It would relegate the network providers to mere dumb pipes, putting an end to per-minute call charges—or rather, putting an end to per-minute call charges from the networks—and transforming the industry. (Source)
mac_shinobi Posted May 11, 2011 Posted May 11, 2011 This is what I would like to see happen... Probably still pay quite a bit for data as you normally get unlimited mins / texts or a lot of mins and unlimited texts but then they restrict you to about 1gb of data or less ie 500 or 750 etc and no doubt VoIP will use data
jinnantonnixx Posted May 11, 2011 Posted May 11, 2011 (edited) This is what I would like to see happen... You can already do this, it's just that Skype has the branding and is synonymous with internet telephony. SIP to SIP calls have always been free. For instance, I subscribe to Draytel VOIP service; I have a phone adapter box which connects an ordinary handset to my router. From this, I call dial VOIP (or specifically SIP) numbers for free, and national/international calls for peanuts. I don't have a phone line, I just have cable internet. I can configure my Android phone with my SIP account and hey presto, use my VOIP account on my phone using either WLAN or 3G. Skype has packaged up all these features (and more), and to be fair, made it much more friendly and easy to use. It is propriety though. The previous owners [of SKype] haven't been able to make Skype turn a profit, I wonder what Microsoft has in mind? I suspect it will be a 'loss leader' which will be integrated with Windows/Office/MSN whatever, just as MSN is synonymous with on-line chat. Edited May 11, 2011 by jinnantonnixx
mthomas08 Posted May 11, 2011 Posted May 11, 2011 It's a cheap price to pay for 600-odd million users. Just glad I don't use Skype - another great tool about to be ****ed up by Microshaft. Course it will be fine! What you complaining about? they wont have to release security updates for it monthly because no one will try and hack it, wont have to reboot it every day....
Arthur Posted May 11, 2011 Posted May 11, 2011 Probably still pay quite a bit for data as you normally get unlimited mins / texts or a lot of mins and unlimited texts but then they restrict you to about 1gb of data or less ie 500 or 750 etc and no doubt VoIP will use data That's my point. Calls and text messages are simply data, so why not pay for just data? e.g. call someone's landline and get charged 10MB per hour.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now