Endured a decade Skype 2.6 million years of talks

It is noted this Thursday the 10th anniversary of Skype . The service IP communications comes with the first decade of life with 300 million active users .

In this decade , the service that was born in Estonia endured the equivalent of 2.6 million years of talks , spread over 1.4 trillion minutes of voice and video. Only in the second quarter of this year , the platform allowed for 162 billion minutes of talk time , a growth of 41 % yoy .

The development reflects the growing integration of the service in Microsoft offerings , that about two years ago bought the technology, but is also a symptom of the increasing substitution of traditional communication channels for voice and video communications made ​​through the PC . An alternative that has completely changed the market by transforming communications that these traditional channels are paid for free communications .

In the original version , launched in Estonia by one of the two founders - Niklas Zennstroem Swedish , Danish Janus Friis - Skype only allowed voice communications between PCs In recent years the features have multiplied and video joined voice. The PC also ceased to be the quintessential environment to use the technology , which is now also accessible via other media , such as mobile phone or tablet .

Prospects of evolution follow the same line and the goal is to continue to take the service to the greatest number of media and contexts , ensures Microsoft . Integration on the march Skype on Outlook.com is one of the most significant steps in this direction was Microsoft , as had been the disappearance of the Messenger in favor of technology .

But the software giant promises other steps also crucial to further trivialize the use of technology . The integration in Xbox One , or the new Windows 8.1 are examples cited by the company that paid 8.5 billion dollars for the platform.

Before coming to Microsoft , Skype passed through the hands of eBay , which acquired the service in 2005 , and the fund Silver Lake , who sold it about two years at Microsoft . By the way , the value of technology - which has always continued to grow in number of users - was never in doubt , but the way to maximize was not always clear to companies that held . Microsoft may have found the key .

It is also worth noting that the mark the first decade of life , Skype offers customers 30 minutes of free access to the Skype WiFi , which can be claimed by September 1 and taken during the next 30 days .