skype - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Facebook and Skype deepen integration

  Facebook and Skype have broadened the scope of their technical integration to make it possible for two people to do a video chat - one using the Skype interface and the other using the Facebook interface.

• Going VoIP-only: Do you still need cellular voice service?

  These days, smartphones with speedy Web connectivity are easy to find, so consumers should be able to get by with just a roomy data plan, dumping voice service in favor of VoIP. But is that practical? To see how feasible cutting voice service is, I decided to go VoIP-only for a week, on the new T-Mobile/Walmart prepaid plan that offers 5GB of 4G data on T-Mobile's HSPA+ 14.4 network for a measly $30 per month.

• Yahoo sale buzz mounts as Google said to be possibly interested

  Yahoo's improving stock price following a CEO shakeup makes the Internet portal ripe for a sale, and speculation is flying about industry titans that may bid for the company.

• Researchers ID Skype users who also use BitTorrent

  Entertainment companies seeking to trace people who are illegally file sharing may be interested in new research that could identify filesharers through their Skype accounts. A research team has figured out how to link online Skype users to their activity on peer-to-peer networks, a correlation that could represent a major threat to users' privacy.

• 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.

• What completed Skype-Microsoft deal could mean for consumers

  Microsoft announced today that it has mostly wrapped up its acquisition of the Internet communications company Skype. The $8.5 billion deal has received approval from the major regulators, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Union, although a few holdouts remain--Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Taiwan--which are expected to fall into line shortly.

• Microsoft has closed Skype acquisition

  Microsoft said Friday that it has closed its US$8.5 billion acquisition of Skype, the Internet telephony provider in Luxembourg, and the company will function as a new business division within Microsoft.

• 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.

• Italian firm takes on Skype deal in a David-Goliath battle

  A complaint by a small Italian firm to the European Commission could derail Microsoft's acquisition of Skype.

• Samsung, Motorola tablets get Skype video

  Skype has released version 2.5 of its application for Android, which allows Android-based tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Motorola Xoom to use its video calling feature, it said in <a href="http://blogs.skype.com/en/2011/09/skype_25_for_android_adds_more.html">a blog post on Wednesday.</a>

• Skype iPhone, iPod Touch app has security hole

  Skype is working to fix a security hole in its iOS app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that allows a hacker to steal a person's entire address book. The vulnerability, located in the app's chat message window, can be exploited with JavaScript code. It was pointed out by security researcher Phil Purviance of AppSec.

• Skype buys GroupMe to take on Google+ huddles

  Skype announced that it is acquiring GroupMe for an undisclosed sum. Acquiring the young mobile group messaging service expands Skype's arsenal of communication tools and gives Skype (and by extension Microsoft once the purchase of Skype is complete) tools to compete with the Huddle feature of the Google+ mobile app.

• 4 reasons to use GroupMe for work

  Skype, which Microsoft bought in May, said Monday it will buy the group messaging service GroupMe. GroupMe, created last year at the Techcrunch Disrupt Hackathon, went for a rumored $85 million, according to AllthingsD. For now, GroupMe will remain a standalone application, according to the company, but expect changes.

• 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.

• India wants special monitoring access for Twitter, Facebook

  India's communications ministry has been asked by the home ministry to monitor social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook amid fears that the services are being used by terrorists to plan attacks.