End of an online era as Microsoft closes Skype
Skype, the once-popular video call service, has ended operations after more than 20 years.
Owner Microsoft had announced the move in February, encouraging Skype users to migrate to its communications app Teams.
"As we say goodbye to Skype, we want to thank our incredible community. Over the years, you've connected with family, friends, and colleagues across the world," the Skype team said in a post on the service's official X page on Monday.
"This isn't the end - it's a new beginning. Join us on Microsoft Teams Free and continue making great memories."
The service stops being available from Tuesday.
Skype was founded in Luxembourg in 2003 by Niklas Zennström of Sweden and Janus Friis of Denmark.
The service ushered in an era of online communication as it allowed a mass audience to make free voice and video calls over the internet for the first time.
It was particularly popular for international communication as it allowed users to avoid high telephone costs that had been inescapable until then.
At its peak, Skype had several hundred million users a month worldwide.
According to the Similarweb statistics service, the number of users has since fallen to about 30 million a month.
Skype users could not only call other Skype users, but also make calls to landline and mobile numbers.
A Skype credit or subscription was required for this feature.
Microsoft bought Skype in 2011 for $US8.5 billion and integrated it into its ecosystem, including Windows and Office.
Despite this integration, Skype has lost ground to competitors such as Zoom and WhatsApp.
But Microsoft Teams, which launched in 2017, has now established itself as one of the leading providers in the collaboration software market and plays a central role in corporate communications.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Tech giants warn Labor they need more than just sun, wind and batteries
Microsoft, Google and Amazon are urging the Albanese government to speed up the delivery of energy-storage projects that can guarantee around-the-clock power for data centres, after the Coalition's decisive election defeat shut the door on nuclear reactors. A boom in the number of data centres – buildings filled with racks of servers that store and transmit data for everyday online tasks – looms as one of the next tests for Australia's shift from coal to renewable energy because they require huge amounts of power to run and keep cool, meaning extra strain on the grid. As artificial intelligence applications become more widely used by the public and organisations, power usage to keep the data centres running continues to increase. Microsoft, Google and Amazon are among a group of industrial power users and clean energy developers stepping up their calls for the federal government's ambitious target of an 82 per cent renewable grid to be accompanied by another target: one aimed at fast-tracking projects with the capacity to store surplus power from the growing number of solar panels and wind turbines to cover the gaps when it's not sunny or windy. In a letter to Energy Minister Chris Bowen, the international group, known as the Long Duration Energy Storage Council, warns that a renewable grid is 'only as strong as its ability to deliver power when and where it's needed'. 'By embedding storage into the heart of the grid, Australia can move from variable renewable supply to 24/7 renewable energy on which communities and industries can rely across days, weeks and seasons,' said the letter, seen by this masthead. Microsoft and other technology companies in the United States are increasingly turning to nuclear power to help secure the 24/7 electricity they need to ensure reliable supply for their new data centres while maintaining their net zero emissions targets. Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta, last week signed a 20-year deal to secure nuclear power to help meet surging demand for AI, and a United Nations report out last Thursday said electricity consumption by data centres increased by 12 per cent each year from 2017 to 2023, four times faster than global electricity growth.
The Age
7 hours ago
- The Age
Tech giants warn Labor they need more than just sun, wind and batteries
Microsoft, Google and Amazon are urging the Albanese government to speed up the delivery of energy-storage projects that can guarantee around-the-clock power for data centres, after the Coalition's decisive election defeat shut the door on nuclear reactors. A boom in the number of data centres – buildings filled with racks of servers that store and transmit data for everyday online tasks – looms as one of the next tests for Australia's shift from coal to renewable energy because they require huge amounts of power to run and keep cool, meaning extra strain on the grid. As artificial intelligence applications become more widely used by the public and organisations, power usage to keep the data centres running continues to increase. Microsoft, Google and Amazon are among a group of industrial power users and clean energy developers stepping up their calls for the federal government's ambitious target of an 82 per cent renewable grid to be accompanied by another target: one aimed at fast-tracking projects with the capacity to store surplus power from the growing number of solar panels and wind turbines to cover the gaps when it's not sunny or windy. In a letter to Energy Minister Chris Bowen, the international group, known as the Long Duration Energy Storage Council, warns that a renewable grid is 'only as strong as its ability to deliver power when and where it's needed'. 'By embedding storage into the heart of the grid, Australia can move from variable renewable supply to 24/7 renewable energy on which communities and industries can rely across days, weeks and seasons,' said the letter, seen by this masthead. Microsoft and other technology companies in the United States are increasingly turning to nuclear power to help secure the 24/7 electricity they need to ensure reliable supply for their new data centres while maintaining their net zero emissions targets. Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta, last week signed a 20-year deal to secure nuclear power to help meet surging demand for AI, and a United Nations report out last Thursday said electricity consumption by data centres increased by 12 per cent each year from 2017 to 2023, four times faster than global electricity growth.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- News.com.au
Top 10 at 11: ASX surges at open with all sectors in the green
Morning, and welcome to Stockhead's Top 10 (at 11… ish), highlighting the movers and shakers on the ASX in early-doors trading. With the market opening at 10am sharp eastern time, the data is taken at 10:15, once trading kicks off in earnest. In brief, this is what the markets have been up to this morning. US markets approach all-time highs It was another day of gains in the US overnight, with all three major indices posting solid advances. The Nasdaq lifted 0.8%, recovering its year-to-date losses caused by the tariff war, while the S&P500 is about 3% off its all-time highs after gaining 0.6%. The vast majority of the S&P500 and Nasdaq's strength is coming from tech and communications stocks, which have been moving from strength to strength as AI demands increase. While the gains have not been even across the board, several tech stocks stand out in what was a fairly bearish market until last month. Netflix Inc is up 35% for the last six months, Microsoft 7.37% and Meta 8.67%. Asustek Computer (better known as Asus) added 6.16% while Broadcom Inc has surged more than 50% in the same period. The same pattern holds largely true for the Australian market as well. The Telecomm sector has gained more than 13% for the year so far, the largest percentage increase for that period of any ASX sector. Telstra (ASX:TLS) has added more than 21% to its share price in the year to date, entertainment company EVT (ASX:EVT) has surged 42%, Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB) is up 17% and internet provider TPG (ASX:TPG) has gained 16%. ASX continues to build momentum The ASX has surged 0.66% in the first hour of trade, closing in an all-time highs that now sit just over 1% away. Every sector is flashing green, with particular strength in Energy, which has rocketed more than 2% higher on the back of rising oil prices. Crude hit a 2-week high overnight, rising 1.5% to US$65.63 a barrel of Brent. Resources stocks are also making moves, driving the ASX 200 Resources index almost 1% higher, while the Banks and Tech sectors bring up the rear, adding 0.65% and 0.48% to their indices respectively. The ASX is unlikely to set a new all-time high today… but we're well within shouting distance of it this week. WINNERS Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap JAY Jayride Group 0.002 100% 627513 $1,427,889 MOM Moab Minerals Ltd 0.002 100% 1000000 $1,733,666 BM8 Battery Age Minerals 0.067 37% 1573826 $5,972,699 EEL Enrg Elements Ltd 0.002 33% 500000 $4,880,668 NAE New Age Exploration 0.004 33% 241447 $7,978,197 SFG Seafarms Group Ltd 0.002 33% 290025 $7,254,899 EPM Eclipse Metals 0.02 33% 32168721 $42,987,285 ADN Andromeda Metals Ltd 0.0145 32% 36818467 $41,946,774 MIO Macarthur Minerals 0.018 20% 138888 $2,994,983 ARV Artemis Resources 0.006 20% 1847664 $12,642,647 In the news... Andromeda Metals (ASX:ADN) has secured a $75m debt facility with Merrick Capital after an extensive due diligence period, obtaining both an endorsement of its Great White project's economics and a large chunk of the change needed to develop the project. ADN plans to use kaolin from the Great White project to produce 4N high purity alumina, a valuable critical mineral used in lithium-ion batteries and semiconductors among other high-tech applications. LAGGARDS Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap BRX Belararoxlimited 0.061 -27% 1077443 $13,253,417 BP8 Bph Global Ltd 0.0015 -25% 20000 $2,101,969 PRM Prominence Energy 0.003 -25% 4125 $1,556,706 TAS Tasman Resources Ltd 0.02 -20% 8700 $4,603,565 TEG Triangle Energy Ltd 0.002 -20% 843 $5,223,085 TMX Terrain Minerals 0.002 -20% 1712757 $5,621,392 GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.0025 -17% 180000 $8,461,275 PIL Peppermint Inv Ltd 0.0025 -17% 174011 $6,828,269 PRX Prodigy Gold NL 0.0025 -17% 6392507 $9,525,167 5EA 5Eadvanced 0.52 -15% 10490 $9,136,299
