FILE - This photo shows the icon for Microsoft's Skype app on a smartphone in New York, April 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft is closing down Skype, the video-calling service it bought for $8.5 billion in 2011.
The tech giant said Friday it will retire Skype in May and shift some of its services to Microsoft Teams, its flagship videoconferencing platform. Skype users will be able to use their existing accounts to log into Teams.
Microsoft has for years prioritized Teams over Skype and the decision to fold the brand is part of a broader shift in how people communicate online.
Founded in 2003 by a group of engineers in Tallinn, Estonia, Skype was a pioneer in making telephone calls using the internet instead of landlines. It added video calls after online retailer eBay bought the service in 2005.
By 2011, when Microsoft bought it from eBay, Skype had about 170 million users worldwide, then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in an event announcing the planned merger.
“The Skype brand has become a verb, nearly synonymous with video and voice communications,” Ballmer said.
Skype was still considered high-tech in 2017 when recently inaugurated President Donald Trump’s administration used it to field questions from journalists far from the White House press briefing room.
India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole on Wednesday — a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water, and a technological triumph for the world’s most populous nation.
From moving finances online to the new ways we'll be getting cash, Ray Hatch, the Vice President of Enterprise Solutions Vertical Markets at Comcast Business explains how the banking industry is getting ready for the future.
The head of Russia's space agency said Monday that the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after its engines failed to shut down correctly, and he blamed the country's decades-long pause in lunar exploration for the mishap.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Facebook on Monday of putting profits over people’s safety during the emergencies created by Canada’s record wildfire season.
Jeffrey Yin, chief financial officer of Artsy, and artist Trevor Paglen explained how AI is expanding the tools that can be used to add new depth to the industry.
