Similarly, Skype already has TV-compatible webcams and software, but it's hardly been a high-profile feature.

But gamers have largely been unimpressed, opting for other consoles like the PlayStation for multiplayer games that require real-time communication. The Xbox 360 already has a chat function.

It seems like a no-brainer that Microsoft would integrate Skype's advanced chat technologies with that, as well as with its Xbox LIVE service. That's the number of Xbox Kinect systems sold since the motion-sensing game system was released last year. Roughly 10 million Microsoft users already have cameras attached to their devices. 'I guess we can look forward to Skype 2011 in a few years,' said another commenter, taking aim at Microsoft's image as a slow-moving old-Web company.īut there are some avenues Microsoft could take with Skype that some folks might not immediately recognize.īased in part on comments that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made Tuesday, here are five of the leading scenarios of what the computing giant might do with Skype: 'The 1st details MS will announce about their plans for Skype will be integration with Kin phones, Connectix webcams, & WebTV,' one follower of New York Times tech writer David Pogue wrote after he announced the deal. Tuesday on Twitter, some folks were quick to take potshots at the deal. (That despite the company's mini-resurgence on the gaming front and its well-received Bing search engine.) None of which is to say that the immediate reaction on the Web was all that exciting.įor all its global reach, staid veteran Microsoft just doesn't get people jazzed up like, say, Apple or Google. The millions who don't use Skype but have Microsoft computers, phones and video game systems will no doubt see some changes, too. Instead, many of the video and chat Web tool's 660 million users are wondering less about the economic impact of the $8.5 billion deal and more on what the purchase will mean for their user experience. (CNN) - Tuesday's announcement that Microsoft is buying Skype is obviously huge business news, but millions of consumers aren't focused on that.

Skype ceo parody