4:15 AM Beta program brings the VoIP app to Windows Phone, but Microsoft likely has more up its sleeve – if the operators will stand for it

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

February 27, 2012

2 Min Read
Microsoft Fills Hole in Skype

4:15 AM -- BARCELONA -- Mobile World Congress 2012 -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is finally putting one of its most valuable assets to work with the release of a Skype beta for Windows Phone. The full release is due out in April. (See Windows Phone's Missing Piece: Skype.)

The app lets users make free audio and videos calls to Skype contacts over 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi, cheap calls to landlines and mobiles and do group chat.

I'm interested to see how the beta phase goes for Microsoft. The app is already available on other operating systems, like Android and Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), but Microsoft has the opportunity to differentiate its offering, seeing as it now owns the voice-over-IP service.

It is starting to do this by integrating it with its Metro user interface as seen in the following video:



So what else might the Beta phase bring to Skype on Windows Phone? I imagine we'll see tighter integration between the app and the OS, putting all the Skype-enabled calling options front and center. Video calling, too, could gain a lot of traction provided the network holds up. (See Microsoft Plans a WP7 Skype Soiree.)

As I've said before, Microsoft will have to tread carefully as to not upset its operator partners with its competing voice service, especially since it's not restricted to Wi-Fi. But, I expect we'll hear a lot more from Skype on Windows Phone.

Microsoft will need to differentiate to really make Skype a selling point for Windows Phone. After all, you don't spend US$8.5 billion on a company to launch an app that just mimics what other smartphone vendors can already do.

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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