As far as multi-billion acquisitions go, Microsoft's bid to takeover Skype was, for the most part, nothing but smooth sailing. It took U.S. regulators all of about 2 seconds to approve the $8.5 billion merger, while the European Union took a little longer deciding whether or not to give its stamp of approval, which it did. With all the paperwork in place, Microsoft closed the deal with Skype on Thursday after originally announcing the transaction on May 10, 2011.
It's been nearly five months since Microsoft announced plans to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion, so why hasn't it happened yet? For the simple reason of waiting for regulatory approval. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the merger back in June, and now so have regulators from the European Union who determined the deal "would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area."
The number of Android smartphones and tablets that now support video calling over Skype grew by more than a dozen with the release of Skype 2.5, the latest version of Skype's mobile software that allows users to make free voice and video Skype-to-Skype calls over 3G or Wi-Fi. Skype now supports video calls on 41 Android devices in all.
It’s no secret that the number of minutes the average American spends talking on his or her home phone has been in steep decline in the last few years. The truth is that for most of us, the landline is more neglected than one of Octomom’s children.
The ink hasn’t even dried on Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype, but the Redmond based software giant appears to be working diligently in the background to push the VOIP service to even more platforms. Facebook has scheduled an invitation only even for July 6th , and the rumor mill seems pretty certain
It was 
Microsoft may want to go over its purchase agreement with Skype and see if there's anything in there about the VoIP service being sold "as-is." For the second time in as many weeks, there's a bug in Skype's system that's preventing users from around the globe from signing in. Skype says it has a handle on the problem and that not a ton of people are affected, though we ran into the issue ourselves earlier this morning.
There are a million different ways malware can be delivered to your PC (or so it seems), yet the easiest way to spread foul files is to go phishing. It doesn't require exploiting any vulnerabilities or coding clever workarounds, and instead puts the onus on PC users to educate themselves on safe computing practices, a fundamental skill still largely in short supply. It's also the method Skype scammers are using, only the bait has changed.
Some people just can't seem to shed the notion that Microsoft is crash prone. Skype this morning posted a message on its Twitter account saying that some users may have problems signing into the VoIP service and placing calls. Naturally this opened the floodgates for users to slam Microsoft's recent announcement that it plans to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion.Connect with MaximumPC
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