Tag Archives | Skype competition

Microsoft Acquires Skype: EU Approval Confirmed

Earlier this week I reported an update on the status of the EU Commission approval, indicating that it appeared there would be no conditions placed on Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype. Today the final ruling came out with details behind the EU decision. In their decision it is interesting to note they split out the consumer [...]

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HookFlash: Elevating the Business Video Calling Experience?

In previous posts I have mentioned how the iPad is an ideal form factor for a “Desktop phone” experience, whether using CounterPath’s Bria, as a business phone extension, or Skype for iPad, targeted largely to the consumer and small business market. This is especially true for video calling where the 10” screen combined with the [...]

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Skype Usage Infographic: Insightful July 2011 Statistics

Yesterday on the Skype Big Blog Skype’s Jennifer Caulkin published an infographic, A day in the life of Skype, with some illuminating usage information: 65 million people sign into Skype daily (certainly a confirmation that the order of magnitude of Hudson Barton’s “real user” count is in the ball park) 30 million SkypeOut minutes per [...]

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Skype & Microsoft Logos

Microsoft Acquires Skype– Commentary on a Skype Infographic

Yesterday Phil Wolff at Skype Journal brought our attention to an “infographic” from the financial due diligence-minded Credit Score Blog for Focus.com. It attempts to provide a history of Skype both from the technology and financial performance perspectives. But, in addition to Phil’s Quibbles, I have found some others. Click on the graphic to see [...]

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Skype for iPhone 2.0: The Commentary and The Reality

Since its release late Saturday, Skype for iPhone 2.0, with its support of calling over 3G carriers and superwideband audio using Skype’s SILK codec, has set the blogosphere awash with two genres of commentary: those who seem to think the end of free Skype calling is approaching as an Armageddon and those who recognize the [...]

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GIPS, Google and All That Co-opetition Jazz!

Ok so I’m the last to write about Google’s announcement this morning on its acquisition of Global IP Solutions, a major provider of IP-based communications infrastructure with not only its voice and video codecs but also voice and video engines that mean simply “supply me with an Internet connection, a microphone and a set of [...]

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The Skype Spinout Version 2.0

The Skype Spinout Version 2.0

So it’s finally resolved. The Skype spinout from eBay will involve Skype’s founders as investors and board members while contributing a cash investment. Skype finally owns the core intellectual property required for Skype to operate at its current cost levels. eBay gets the cash they were looking for but 5% less of the new Skype. [...]

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Skype for Business: Building a Case Study Repository

In a recent post, I provided some examples where Skype is being used by small businesses to build relationships with a worldwide supplier and customer base. In the same post I provided a couple of examples where current economic conditions are helping to stealth Skype into enterprises in the medium to large business category. Skype [...]

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Google Voice, Grand Central Reborn as a Voice Service, But….

Yesterday’s announcement of Grand Central’s rebirth as Google Voice drew a lot of attention from both the mainstream media and blogger world. In following the IP-based communications world over the past three years, I have come to believe that the only potential real time conversation service provider challenger to Skype could come from Google. It [...]

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A Partnership Is Worth Zilch When….

… your partner fails to provide an obvious path to download and install your software. In early July last year I wrote about the launch of Dell Video Chat, based on a newly announced agreement between Dell and SightSpeed to use SightSpeed’s video services. The bottom line was that Dell Video Chat would become available [...]

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