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Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

UK service providers must notify customers when they connect to a different network

New rules from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom will protect customers when they use their mobile phone on a foreign network. In addition, customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming, perhaps because they're near an international border.
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Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
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Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
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UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
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Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
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Opinion Articles

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Are Microsoft and Skype on their way to world domination?

Mark Bridge writes:

The TV in the bedroom switches on. “It’s 6.45am. Good morning, Mark. Here are your news headlines for Tuesday 14th June 2016.”

The announcer sounds remarkably like Holly Aird, which is hardly surprising because the actor has licensed her voice to the Skype software in my television.

“Holly, video call, please. James”.

It’s not a particularly new TV, so I make sure I’m in front of the Kinect bar when I speak. The main television downstairs has the familiar three-sensor Microsoft layout built in, but the bedroom TV is plugged into a Kinect 2. My avatar appears on-screen; its torso is mirroring my movements and my appearance, except that it’s clean-shaven and wearing a suit.

“Morning, James"!”

James is apparently not in the office. The blurred background I see on my TV suggests his iPhone X is concentrating on James’s face rather than the whole picture. He’s clearly not yet upgraded to the premium bandwidth service offered by the recently merged Apple/Orange partnership...


Okay, okay. Entirely fictional. I’m no Cory Doctorow. And I’m no futurist. But the merger of Microsoft and Skype has got me thinking. This isn’t - as Tomi Ahonen recently pointed out - about the merged company taking on mobile network operators by incorporating a voice-over-IP service with Windows Phone 7. Anyway, before too long everything’ll be VoIP on 4G. I’d say it’s more about the merged company taking on all communications. World domination.

After all, the Microsoft that many of us grew up with appeared to be ubiquitous. Adding Skype to the Microsoft family isn’t simply a commercial decision - it’s a marketing decision. It may even be Microsoft’s new loss-leader.

Incorporating Skype with Microsoft Outlook might be an internal political battle - but it’s possible. Skype’s already created an Outlook toolbar. Putting Skype technology in Lync is even more likely. How about Skype on Xbox?  Then there’s Skype on Mac, Skype on Linux, Skype on Android, Skype on iPhone, Skype on Symbian, Skype on TV...

Yes, the deal could still go wrong. Yes, the current focus on Skype could help a competitor gain traction. But if I were Google, I’d be a bit worried. And that’s probably a good indicator this wasn’t the poor deal many people think.

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Categories: Operating systems, Applications, OpinionNumber of views: 11871

Tags: microsoft voip skype

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