Windows Phone: Skype app 'coming soon'
Microsoft鈥檚 acquisition of Skype promised to be a marriage made in an integration heaven 鈥� especially for Windows Phones owners 鈥� but so far it鈥檚 been all talk and no action.
A Skype for Windows Phone application, however, will soon make its debut, Skype vice president of products Rick Osterloh asserted in a recent interview taped at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas.
鈥淲e鈥檙e 鈥� working on a Windows Phone product that will be coming out soon,鈥� he said.
When Microsoft purchased the video-conferencing company for $8.5 billion in June 2011 (the deal closed in October), it talked up an unrivaled Windows Phone Skype offering that would include deep integration between the voice over IP service and its mobile operating system. But the merger still has Windows Phone owners waiting for platform integration, let alone a basic application on par with what鈥檚 already offered on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.
That wait is likely to continue. The first Windows Phone product, according to The Verge, could be released as soon as the Mobile World Congress in February, but it won鈥檛 be the much-ballyhooed operating system-wide offering originally touted by the companies. Windows Phone owners may have to wait for this rich Skype integration until the Apollo software release, which, according to a leaked roadmap, won鈥檛 happen until the fourth quarter of 2012.
鈥淲e understand, from our own sources, that the initial release of Skype will not feature deep Windows Phone integration, and that Microsoft is planning this for 鈥淎pollo鈥� and beyond,鈥� The Verge is reporting. 鈥淢icrosoft鈥檚 first Windows Phone Skype application will largely be seen as an interim release until Windows Phone 鈥楢pollo鈥� is made available.鈥�
But Microsoft and Skype would like you to know that integrations are coming 鈥� eventually. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working with a lot of different Microsoft product groups to create direct integrations,鈥� Osterloh said. 鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e working on Windows Phone, we鈥檒l be working on Windows 8, Xbox, Lync. So a whole range of different Microsoft users will get access to Skype and have a great experience.鈥�
Skype, Osterloh said, now has more than 200 million monthly users.
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