D10: Skype CEO Discusses the Microsoft Merger and Integration with Kinect

By David Tobia
June 1, 2012

Skype CEO Tony Bates spoke at D10 yesterday and discussed Skype’s $8.5 billion merger with Microsoft as well as the company’s hopes for the future.
He notes that Skype and Microsoft are working together to integrate Skype into Microsoft’s Kinect software. “I can’t talk about anything in the future,” Bates said, but did acknowledge something is in the works.
Bates also discussed Skype’s integration with Facebook, saying “when we talked to Facebook we share a lot of things, I think, in common about communications and sharing experiences.” He describes Skype’s Facebook integration as “a great match.”
Bates notes that smartphones are the fastest growing segment of Skype users, topping tablets and PCs.
“One thing he said won’t change is that he’ll still have the opportunity to build the service on non-Microsoft products, such as Android and iOS,” reports AllThingsD. “But he was clear about what he wasn’t open to — creating it so users could access Skype with people using different video-calling services.”

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