Skype

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Get Ready to Teach Your Parents a New App, Gen Xers

Skype, the video-calling app from Microsoft, is shuttered for good

(Newser) - We were warned this day was imminent, and now it's here: Microsoft's Skype is no more. NPR reports that the mostly free phone- and video-calling app that's been around for more than two decades went offline permanently on Monday, with the company encouraging users to head over...

The End Is Near for Skype
Microsoft Pulling
the Plug on Skype
Feb 28, 2025 10:37 AM CST

Microsoft Pulling the Plug on Skype

The app, an 'integral part of shaping modern communications,' to disappear May 5

(Newser) - Almost a quarter-century after "kickstarting the market for making calls over the internet," Skype is dropping like one of its early video calls, per TechCrunch . The phone and video service, started in 2003, will end May 5, according to a Friday statement from Microsoft, which bought Skype for...

No Way the Met Pulled This Off. No Way.

The Metropolitan Opera makes beautiful music as it battles a $60M shortfall

(Newser) - Javier Camarena was at his home in Zurich singing an aria from Bellini's Il Pirata when the screen for the video feed split, and he was joined by Metropolitan Opera music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Montreal and general manager Peter Gelb in New York, the AP reports....

Working From Home During Virus? Beware of 'Zoombombs'
Working From Home During
Virus? Beware of 'Zoombombs'
THE RUNDOWN
Apr 1, 2020 12:27 PM CDT

Working From Home During Virus? Beware of 'Zoombombs'

FBI warns that hackers are 'hijacking' videoconferencing app

(Newser) - As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, people stuck at home have taken to using videoconferencing apps to hold work meetings and chat with family and friends. One such app that's become ubiquitous: Zoom, founded by Cisco engineer Eric Yuan. But be careful before you log in for that virtual...

Doctors Toss the 'No Screen Time Before Age 2' Rule

Pediatric group revises recommendations for kids to stress balance, not strict limits

(Newser) - Child experts are now acknowledging that electronic devices and online media are here to stay, and probably impossible to keep away from your kids—and new recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics reflect this sea change, USA Today reports. A press release notes that, per a trio of documents...

Murder Conviction Reversed Thanks to Skype

Court says defendant missed out on right to confront witness

(Newser) - Technology is great, except when you're trying to get someone convicted for murder and you have your DNA expert testify via Skype, which denies the defendant his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses in court, which in turn gets the defendant (who was convicted and sentenced to life in...

Assad Backers Hack Microsoft Twitter... Again

Syrian Electronic Army tweets through 2 company accounts

(Newser) - Ten days ago, Syrian regime supporters the Syrian Electronic Army broke into Microsoft's Skype social media accounts; today, the group tweeted through both the Microsoft News and Xbox Support accounts, ZDNet and the Next Web report. "Don't use Microsoft emails(hotmail,outlook),They are monitoring your accounts and...

Teen Kills Himself Over 'Skype Blackmail': Mom

Perpetrators allegedly threatened to reveal chats to his family

(Newser) - Police are looking into the death of a Scottish teenager who appears to have killed himself after being blackmailed online, the Guardian reports. Daniel Perry, 17, chatted with someone on Skype who he thought was an American girl. His mother said police have learned that blackmailers threatened to show his...

NSA Is Watching Skype, Too
 NSA Is Watching Skype, Too 
Jul 12, 2013 9:00 AM CDT

NSA Is Watching Skype, Too

Guardian report says Microsoft helped feds spy

(Newser) - Microsoft has no problem handing over your emails—or even your Skype calls—to the NSA, according to new documents from Edward Snowden, per the Guardian . In fact, the software company is working closely with the NSA to help it get around Microsoft's encryption. While Microsoft is arguing it'...

NSA Accesses Servers of Internet Firms: Reports

Guardian, Washington Post have scoop: Feds tapping in via secret 'PRISM' program

(Newser) - Charges that we live in a surveillance state are about to get much louder. The Guardian and the Washington Post are separately reporting about a previously unknown program known as PRISM that gives the federal government access to the servers of all the big Internet companies, including Facebook, Google, Yahoo,...

Skype Makes It Easier for Police to Monitor Your Chats

Critics worry about privacy, but company says it's being responsible

(Newser) - Skype's "eavesdropping-proof" online messaging and video chats have long been used by those who don't want the authorities knowing what they're up to. But that's beginning to change, as technical modifications to Skype's programming now allow chats to be monitored, a development welcomed by...

Microsoft Buying Yammer for $1.2B
 Microsoft Buying
Yammer for $1.2B
Jun 25, 2012 3:44 PM CDT

Microsoft Buying Yammer for $1.2B

Facebook-like startup offers social networking for the business world

(Newser) - Microsoft is paying $1.2 billion to buy Yammer, an Internet startup that has built a social network similar to Facebook for the business world. The deal announced today comes nearly two weeks after word of Microsoft's negotiations with Yammer first leaked out in published reports. Yammer provides ways...

No Bullet in Case of Soldier Who Died Skyping Wife

No bullet wound in Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark's death: US Army

(Newser) - The sad and strange tale of the US Army captain who died while Skyping with his wife gets even more mysterious: Army investigators say they found no bullet wound or any evidence of foul play in Bruce Kevin Clark’s death, but wife Susan Orellana-Clark has suggested her husband may...

Army Nurse in Afghanistan Dies While Skyping With Wife

Cpt. Bruce Clark worked at Afghanistan medical center

(Newser) - An Army nurse in Afghanistan died Monday in the middle of a Skype conversation with his wife, the El Paso Times reports. The cause of Cpt. Bruce Clark's death has not been disclosed by the Army; an investigation is underway. "Bruce's wife tragically witnessed her husband's...

Skype Buys GroupMe for More Than $50M
 Skype Buys GroupMe for $50M+ 
Aug 22, 2011 8:58 AM CDT

Skype Buys GroupMe for $50M+

Group-texting firm will stay in New York

(Newser) - Skype has purchased group text-messaging firm GroupMe in a deal worth somewhere between $50 million and $100 million. The startup will remain independent but will likely play a major role in Skype’s mobile and social arenas. It’s a big success for the year-old firm, writes Ben Popper for...

Facebook Brings Video Chat Into Mainstream

But lots of tech writers pointing out that Google got there first

(Newser) - Some quick reactions to Facebook's announcement about incorporating video calling from Skype into the site:
  • Andrew Tarantola, Gizmodo : "By integrating video calling directly into the Facebook experience they're able to drop this technology directly into the mainstream. You thought getting Friend Requests from your parents was a
...

Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook Adding Video Chat to Site Via Skype
Facebook Adding
Video Chat Via Skype
now 750M users
Jul 6, 2011 12:46 PM CDT

Facebook Adding Video Chat Via Skype

Mark Zuckerberg confirms rumors, says site now has 750M users

(Newser) - Tech bloggers had this one right: Facebook is indeed adding video calling to the site in a deal with Skype. Mark Zuckerberg confirmed today at a news conference, and the Facebook blog has details, reports the Digits blog at the Wall Street Journal. The feature, which comes a week after...

Facebook Looks to Add Skype Video

Deal would reportedly help further integrate Microsoft and Facebook

(Newser) - Facebook's "awesome" new product , set to be announced Wednesday, looks like it's going to be Skype video chats that work in your browser, reports TechCrunch . Details are still hazy—will it just work on its own or will users need to download software?—however, "it’s...

Microsoft to Buy Skype for $8B

 Microsoft Buys Skype for $8.5B 
May 10, 2011 7:12 AM CDT

Microsoft Buys Skype for $8.5B

It is the largest buy in Microsoft history

(Newser) - It's official: Microsoft will buy popular online telephone service Skype for $8.5 billion in cash, reports the Wall Street Journal . The deal is the largest in Microsoft history, besting the company's 2007 acquisition of online ad service aQuantive for $6 billion. Though Microsoft produces the world's...

Facebook Considering Buying Skype
Facebook Considering Buying Skype
May 5, 2011 9:43 AM CDT

Facebook Considering Buying Skype

Meanwhile, Google holds talks with Skype for joint venture

(Newser) - Skype is suddenly the prettiest girl in school now that it’s pushed back its IPO. Google is in talks for a joint venture with the online calling company, and Facebook is considering buying it outright, sources tell Reuters . Skype is expected to rake in about $1 billion if it...

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