Categories: Skype

INQ Says Is Working With Spotify on Phones

Posted by: Olga Kharif on October 07

British cell-phone maker INQ is developing phones that make it easy for owners to use Spotify, an online music service that's amassed millions of users in Europe, said INQ...

Skype Pushes Into Consumer Electronics

Posted by: Olga Kharif on June 22

Skype's low-cost calling service may soon find its way onto a consumer electronic device near you. On June 23, Skype unveiled a feature that makes it easier for developers to...

Skype Appoints New Chairman

Posted by: Olga Kharif on January 13

In an effort to get Skype onto more mobile phones, on Jan. 13 Skype appointed a new chairman. Miles Flint, who has served as an advisor to one of Skype investors, Silver Lake, and used to be president of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.

Skype Talks Cooperation With Avaya

Posted by: Olga Kharif on December 18

Now that gearmaker Avaya and Web-calling service Skype share a private-equity owner, the two companies are discussing ways they can better work together. "We are having conversations with [Skype]," Avaya CEO Kevin Kennedy said in an interview today. Kennedy didn’t go into detail, but these talks most likely focus on how the companies can work together, as opposed to some sort of combination of operations.

Skype's Executive Shake-Up Begins

Posted by: Olga Kharif on November 25

On Nov. 24, Skype's chief operating officer, Scott Durchslag, announced he'll be leaving the Web-calling company. Chances are, this announcement is just the first of many executive changes to come now that new owners of Skype.

Skype Lawsuit May Complicate Sale

Posted by: Douglas Macmillan on September 16

Four years ago, Swiss venture capital firm Index Ventures became one of the first backers of Skype. Now, just two weeks after Index and a group of private investors agreed...

EBay Sells Skype, Keeps 35% Stake

Posted by: Douglas Macmillan on September 01

In a deal announced Tuesday morning, eBay has agreed to sell Internet calling service Skype to a group of investors which includes private equity firm Silver Lake, Index Ventures, Canada...

Rewiring Skype

Posted by: Douglas Macmillan on August 07

When eBay bought Internet calling service Skype in 2005, Jeff Bonforte believed the company had made a serious oversight. The entrepreneur, who at the time was president of voice-over-Internet startup...

Skype and MySpace Link Up

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 16

It's such a natural that some blogs had predicted in recent weeks it should happen: eBay's Skype and News Corp.'s MySpace are going to share their DNA, as it...

Skype: A Social Network?

Posted by: Olga Kharif on October 02

Should eBay turn Skype into a social network? One expert I talked to believes the answer is yes -- and that it won't take much to turn Skype into a serious rival to MySpace and Facebook.

For eBay, Is It Skype -- or Jajah?

Posted by: Olga Kharif on October 02

Yesterday, eBay not only announced a major write-off involving Skype, but it also struck a deal with Skype's rival Jajah. eBay users are now allowed to embed Jajah buttons, allowing buyers to contact sellers, into its auction listings. To me, this deal indicates that eBay is no longer committed to Skype.

eBay's $2.6 Billion Bet on Skype Doesn't Pay Off

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 01

eBay mystified me and many other people when it bought Skype, the Internet telephony startup eBay bought in late 2005 for $2.6 billion plus a potential $1.7 billion incentive payout....

Wiretapping for Dollars

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 24

No, it's no joke: A company called Pudding Media is offering people free Internet phone service if they allow advertisers to pitch them ads based on the content of...

Jaxtr vs. Skype vs. Jajah

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 28

Three former Skype investors just funded yet another Web-calling outfit, Jaxtr. Is Jaxtr on to something?

Now, It's Google + eBay

Posted by: Rob Hof on August 28

This is what Ray Noorda invented the word coopetition to describe. I have a feeling an eBay-Google relationship is going to be, let's say, dynamic....

Yet Another Venture for the Skype Guys

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 23

My colleague Steve Rosenbush has the scoop: Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who previously started the file-sharing software Kazaa, apparently are working on yet another venture, this time...

Can Anybody Tell Me Why Vonage Isn't Toast?

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 16

My colleague Olga Kharif raises questions about whether Skype's new plan for free calling to U.S. landlines means growth in the States isn't up to snuff. Well, maybe, but I...

eBay's Skype Sued by StreamCast

Posted by: Rob Hof on March 27

According to VoIP Watch's Andy Abramson, StreamCast Networks has sued Skype, claiming StreamCast owns the FastTrack peer-to-peer technology powering the Internet phone phenom Skype, which eBay bought last year for...

Google and Skype Are Friends?!

Posted by: Olga Kharif on February 06

Google, Skype and two vc firms have just announced they'd invested into FON, a worldwide Wi-Fi network with ambitious plans. What's surprising about this announcement is that Google and Skype (and its owner, eBay) -- who increasingly clash on everything from VoIP to classifieds, are banding together. Could this be indicative of a closer relationship between the two companies?

Skype's Celebrity Encounter

Posted by: Olga Kharif on January 03

Skype, the popular VoIP service, is inviting users to participate in a cool new contest. The winner gets a phone conversations with band Coldplay. I believe this is the first time Skype is using celebrities to promote the service, and it could be indicative of a major marketing push to come from Skype in the coming months.

No Head-Scratching at eBay About Skype's Potential

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 19

If up to $4.1 billion wasn't enough to prove eBay's serious about just-acquired Skype, executive comments Wednesday sure did. And executive moves: eBay Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Dutta soon will...

Why eBay Is Buying Skype

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 12

Here's my quick take, below, an edited version of which will appear in a few hours at businessweek.com. CEO Meg Whitman & Co. gave an impassioned rationale for the deal....

eBay Buys Skype After All

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 12

Well, eBay did it. It's buying Skype for $2.6 billion. Here's the press release and one of the first stories. I'm getting on the conference call shortly, so will have...

Here Comes the eBay Announcement...

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 12

Just got a notice from eBay of an "investor conference call" at 5 a.m. Pacific time, on an announcement to be made two hours earlier. Very unusual practice for eBay....

eBay Buying Skype? I'm Scratching My Head

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 08

Another day, another report about the Internet voice startup Skype maybe getting bought for billions of dollars. But eBay? It sure seems a stretch to me, as it does to...