Rumors have been circulating about this for a while but today Microsoft confirmed that it will be purchasing Skype for 8.5 billion dollars.
Microsoft is hoping that Skype's potential to interact with XBox, Windows Phone, and Microsoft Office and Live products will help make it the de-facto VOIP choice for Microsoft consumers.
This deal has a lot of interesting possibilities - Skype could replace XBox Live's in-game chat; Windows users would have the ability to set up a quick VOIP call with people in their Outlook contacts list; and people could talk cross-platform (Windows users could message/chat with people on XBoxLive and possibly arrange gaming sessions). At the same time it could end up being a huge white elephant. Hopefully the acquisition will be handled smartly and Skype will go on to bigger and better things.
