Hasta La Gadget!

You have heard the rumor, but Skype made it official: Live Messenger is going away and Skype will now be Microsoft’s only chat application. It makes sense: although Live Messenger used to be a darling among video-chatters, the rise of Skype and other alternatives made it a second-choice for many. With the Skype acquisition, Microsoft has bought not only a great service, but also a huge user base and a powerful portfolio of patents.

With Skype 6.0, every Live Messenger user can now log onto Skype, and find their favorite MSN Messenger contacts there.  Live Messenger will be retired worldwide in the first quarter of 2013 — with the exception of mainland China, according to Microsoft’s Tony Bates.

What do you think of this move? Will you miss Live Messenger, or are you glad that Skype is taking over?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft to end Windows Live Messenger in exchange for Skype [Rumor], Skype hits 280 million plus user mark,

Hearing whispers on the ground that software giant Microsoft is going to close the doors on Windows Live Messenger is not a surprise, especially when the company already owns Skype. It makes financial as well as business sense – you need not have resources allocated to what many people would have deemed as archaic, especially when you also own a far superior product under your wing. The Verge claims that the “Windows Live Messenger service will be retired in the coming months and integrated into Skype.”

Will an announcement be made later this week to all but confirm that Windows Live Messenger is about to be sent into retirement? Well, we guess it is but a matter of time, so those who have had fantastic memories with Windows Live Messenger, perhaps now would be a good time to make a backup of all your conversation archives as well as take as many screenshots as you want before the service closes down for good. Perhaps Windows Live Messenger might be retained, but it will not come with any more updates unless truly necessary (such as a potential security loophole and the like). Are you still using Windows Live Messenger and the likes of ICQ?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft to end Windows Live Messenger in exchange for Skype [Rumor], Skype hits 280 million plus user mark,

Microsoft might kill Windows Live Messenger in favor of Skype. Sources has reportedly told The Verge that Microsoft will be ending its instant messaging client, Windows Live Messenger, in the coming months and will have it integrated into Skype. That is, of course, a possibility. A couple of weeks ago, Skype for Windows 8 was announced, offering a new re-imagined experience that is simpler, faster, and beautiful.

Just a few days after that, Skype 6.0 for Mac and Windows was also released and brought along with it new features including Microsoft and Facebook account integration and the capability to send instant messages to Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail and Outlook.com contacts via Skype. The Skype frenzy went on when Skype for Windows Phone 8 was previewed last week which, according to Mark Gillett, Skype Operations Officer, has been re-built from ground up. Sources added that Microsoft will be making an official announcement soon, possibly this week. For now, let’s take it with a grain of salt.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Skype hits 280 million plus user mark, Skype with Metro-inspired design expected to launch soon,

Ever since Microsoft announced that they would be acquiring Skype back in May, we’ve always been wondering if the company’s other IM clients would take a back seat. According to multiple sources, that looks to be the case, because it’s rumored that Microsoft will be shutting down Windows Live Messenger in order to focus more on Skype.

The Verge has learned “through several sources” that Windows Live Messenger will be retired sometime within the next couple of months, and some of the features will be integrated into Skype. It’s said that Microsoft will announce the shut down of Windows Live Messenger as early as this week, and will start to merge its users over to Skype.

Microsoft has already been slowly moving its efforts over to Skype when it released version 6.0 for OS X and Windows, where users could begin to login to Skype using their Windows Live Messenger accounts. It was ultimately a move that hinted at the retirement of Microsoft’s long-lived IM chat client.

No official word from Microsoft as of yet, but we’ll keep our ear to floor if any updates decide to come through. Frankly, we’re not to surprised by the rumors and we’d be shocked if they weren’t true. Skype is an extremely popular chat client now in the hands of Microsoft, and it certainly makes sense that they would apply more focus to it over their other lesser-known offerings.

[via The Verge]

Microsoft rumored to shut down Windows Live Messenger in favor of Skype is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Skype has unveiled a series of prepaid cards for the UK, offering users without a credit card the ability to top-up their accounts starting from £10. A second £20 card will also be available in UK retailers including Asda, Currys, PC World, Sainsburys and bookseller WHSmith, with both denominations redeemable globally through the Microsoft company’s online portal. While Mexico got there first, we’ve been told that more countries can expect their own currency-specific cards later this year. You’ll be able to use the prepaid credit to pay for Skype subscriptions, including unlimited world calling bundles starting from £8.49 per month — all in time for that incoming Windows Phone 8 app.

Continue reading Skype launches prepaid cards in UK: Available in over 1,400 stores, credit starts from £10

Filed under: Wireless, Internet, Microsoft

Skype launches prepaid cards in UK: Available in over 1,400 stores, credit starts from £10 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Nov 2012 02:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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