Software developing giant Microsoft announced that its Outlook.com will now support the popular video calling application Skype. The roll out of the new service will begin from the UK, where the users of Outlook will be able to make video and audio calls and also send Skype instant messages, just by installing the browser plug-in.
The users in the UK will be the first ones to witness the new service, after which it will be rolled out in the US and Germany in the upcoming weeks. Video calling giant Skype said in a blog post that the integration will allow one to select the appropriate medium for messages, through video calls, calls or instant messages from Outlook.com.
Further reports have stated that the software company has already closed its web mail chat tool, so as to strike a 8.5 billion dollar deal with Skype in the year 2011. This has also marked the biggest takeover by the firm. On the other hand, Gmail application Comscore has suggested that Gmail is more popular than the webmail services of Microsoft.
Senior analyst Karin von Abrams has questioned the strategy of Microsoft behind buying Skype, saying that buying the video call service at a huge price does not seem wise, just to make people opt for Outlook.com
