Microsoft killing Windows Live Messenger, will replace it with Skype

Microsoft is reportedly putting Windows Live Messenger to rest, and replacing the messaging client with Skype.

We got a first glimpse of Microsoft’s plans for their $8.5 billion purchase of Skype late last month when Microsoft enabled Facebook, Hotmail, and Windows Live logins through Skype. Now The Verge has caught wind from his sources that Microsoft may be taking this a step further by replacing Windows Live Messenger with Skype altogether.

The announcement that Windows Live Messenger will be put to rest after thirteen years since its founding, first introduced as MSN Messenger in 1999, may come as early as this week. The report adds that Windows Live Messenger’s backend is slowly being integrated into Skype, which means that the only change for existing Windows Live users is that they’ll have to login through Skype’s client.

Skype has already been married into Windows 8 as a default native app to the Microsoft operating system, and Microsoft is free to do with Skype as it wishes — so the decision makes sense. The news of Windows Live Messenger’s retirement however isn’t official just yet and users have yet to be notified of Microsoft’s intentions, so as for the answer to how tightly integrated Skype will be with Microsoft’s products, we’ll have to update you once we hear back from a spokesperson.

Windows Live Messenger has been in use by 300 million users per month in 2010, although we suspect that number has dwindled due to new competition Google Talk and Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, and of course the many mobile messaging apps on the market today. Skype’s CEO, Tony Bates revealed the latest figures show it had 250 million monthly users in May of this year.

Skype has been subject to a number of face lifts as of late. We’ve been content with the majority of the updates, but there have been just a couple of caveats. For instance all of the cross-platform integration means the Skype contact list is consequently flooded with friends, so users are either left to clean up with lists, deal with it, or forego using the new login integrations altogether. 

But the pros outweigh the cons. Messaging Facebook and Live Messenger friends on the Skype client is admittedly a far better experience. Skype acts as a prompt to video call friends you otherwise might not using Facebook. 

Pushing Windows Live Messenger clearly wasn’t in the forefront of Microsoft’s mind with the service since it’s Skype acquisition. With a robust messaging and video calling service like Skype, Microsoft has room to offer more comprehensive monetization strategies, like its conversation ads rolled out in June, as it doubles up Skype’s user base with existing Messenger users.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/say-good-bye-to-windows-live-messenger-and-hello-to-skype-messenger/

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AT&T announces pricing and availability of Sony Xperia TL

AT&T announced pricing and availability of the Sony Xperia TL. The LTE smartphone will be available for purchase next week, on November 2 for $99.99 with a two-year contract.

As its name mildly suggests, the Sony Xperia TL is almost identical to the globally available Xperia T, which we recently reviewed. The only major difference between both devices is the presence of LTE connectivity.

Traditionally, the availability announcement of the Sony Xperia TL is accompanied by a promo video from AT&T. See it below.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/at_t_announces_pricing_and_availability_of_sony_xperia_tl_-news-4998.php

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See which tech companies are profitable with ‘How Do They Make Money?’

How Do They Make Money shows you which popular tech companies are profitable and how they earn it.

Because of huge acquisitions like Facebook’s billion dollar purchase of Instagram, it’s easy to assume all tech companies are making a ton of cash. And so it may bewilder you to find out many popular web-based services are not turning a profit. There are also many online services that are earning money — some we did not expect at all — but we’ll get to that later.

If tech industry funding is something that interests you, How Do They Make Money can answer quite a few questions for you. The site lists a large number of different companies like Facebook, Tumblr, Pandora, and Netflix. When you click on one, a window pops up containing funding information. On the left-hand side it shows whether a web service is profitable or not and the information on the right gives examples of how it is funded. These money-making methods include things like advertising, subscribers, and selling data, among others. If one long list seems overwhelming, How Do They Make Money lets you filter choices by service or revenue type.

For instance, Dropbox is listed as “profitable” by offering paid subscriptions and freemium content. Instagram is apparently not profitable, but the following clarification is included: “Before selling to Facebook they were not making money.”

Spotify is not profitable either, despite offering advertising and paid subscriptions as part of its service. Competitor, Rdio, is also listed as not profitable. It’s extremely odd considering Instapaper is allegedly profitable through advertising and subscriptions. If an offline reading application, which has many free alternatives, can turn a profit then why can’t a music streaming service? 

One drawback to the site — and it’s a pretty big one — is that it doesn’t provide sources for the financial information listed. Actual earning numbers are omitted as well, only giving a thumbs up or down to indicate profitability but never listing how much money is brought in. This makes it difficult to take anything on the site without a considerable amount of salt. Unfortunately, if you’re after cold, hard facts and solid numbers then you’ll need to look elsewhere.

But despite the lack of transparency with its data, How Do They Make Money is still worth checking out. It certainly made us look at the free services we use in a different light. It’s unbelievable so much hard work and dedication can go into a product that may never make a dime. 

Did any companies on the list surprise you? Maybe we were shocked by the same ones!

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/which-tech-companies-profit-how-do-they-make-money/

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Google snaps up Instagram-rival Snapseed to boost Google+

Google+ now has its own Instagram-like plaything

Google has picked-up its own photo-sharing app to rival Facebook's purchase of Instagram, by acquiring the German photography software company Nik.

Nik developed the Snapseed application for iOS devices, which was the iPad App of the Year in 2011 and grabbed nine million users in its first year.

The application costs $4.99 from the App Store and it is thought that an Android version of the software is in the works too. You'd imagine that process may be sped up a little now.

The app garnered huge popularity thanks largely to its multi-touch enabled editing capabilities, but Nik also boasts a range of photography software which is now also under Google's control.

Joining Google+

The Snapseed team will relocate to the Mountain View HQ to join the Google+ team, so Google's intentions are pretty clear on this one.

"We want to help our users create photos they absolutely love, and in our experience Nik does this better than anyone," said Google+ boss Vic Guntora.

In a statement on the Nik website, the company said: "We are pleased to announce that Google has acquired Nik Software. For nearly 17 years, we've been guided by our motto, "photography first", as we worked to build world class digital image editing tools.

"We've always aspired to share our passion for photography with everyone, and with Google's support we hope to be able to help many millions more people create awesome pictures."

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/google-snaps-up-instagram-rival-snapseed-to-boost-google-1098010

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