Microsoft to acquire Internet phone pioneer Skype

Microsoft to acquire Internet phone pioneer Skype - Microsoft on Tuesday for an Internet service to the U.S. dollar in cash to buy a phone company Skype for 8.5 billion U.S. dollars in the United States software giant announced the biggest ever acquisition.

Skype can be enjoyed by millions of people worldwide service is phenomenal, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

"With the future of communications in real time will make people easily, family, friends, clients and colleagues to get in touch with the world."

Skype, Microsoft Works MS Skype's president, reporting directly to Ballmer assumed the name, Tony Bates, CEO of Skype, and Microsoft would be in the new business sector, he says.

Skype for tens of millions of people own a PC or smartphone via the Internet through a low-cost or free to use for making calls. Skype voice and video calls over the Internet by sending a regular telephone network to be ignored.

Skype is the company's image management software, MS Internet, mobile lifestyle when he goes away once the hot market for smartphones can be a way to grow in the Order.

MS's biggest acquisition, for $ 6,300,000,000 Aquantive has yet to purchase 2,007 digital marketing company.

Skype is also Cisco, Google and Facebook will be attracted.

Both MS and Skype deal in Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft and the investment group owned by Silver Lake Board of Directors of the Luxembourg-based Skype was approved.

Bates, Microsoft and Skype software and innovative products to our customers and to attract agreed.

"Together, we all Skype to communicate and introduce new ways for co-operation and plans to expand our global community, can be accelerated," Bates said.

Egon Durban, he was managing director of Silver Lake "pleased that the world of fast communication syeoneulboda dynamic and comprehensive peace, because it is one of the platforms, Microsoft and Skype in the long term."

The company Skype KINECTS motion controller for Xbox games, console window, telephone and a variety of Windows devices, such as the Microsoft products supported. The MS in the non-MS platforms will help Skype client.

Skype was founded in 2003, online auction giant eBay in September 2005 acquisition. This year the event the company is worth 2.75 billion in November 2009 on the sale of an investment group led by Silver Lake said.

Skype has 170 million users by 2010, voice and video communication contains more than 207 billion Bunga.

Skype plans IPO last year and appeared on the path to profitability, but investors said they want to win obviously.

Of an investment group led by Silver Lake, another member, office, Joltid Europlay Capital Advisors Limited include Andreessen and Horowitz eBay.

The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, the companies said they expect to receive years later.

MS pre-market electronic trading in the shares fell $ 25.58 to 0.97 percent.

Microsoft collects locations of Windows phone users

Like Apple and Google, Microsoft collects records of the physical locations of customers who use its mobile operating system. Windows Phone 7, supported by manufacturers including Dell, HTC, LG, Nokia, and Samsung, transmits to Microsoft a miniature data dump including a unique device ID, details about nearby Wi-Fi networks, and the phone's GPS-derived exact latitude and longitude.

A Microsoft representative was not immediately able to answer questions that CNET posed this afternoon, including how long the location histories are stored and how frequently the phone's coordinates are transmitted over the Internet. Windows Phone currently claims about a 6 percent market share but, according to IDC, will capture about 21 percent by 2015 thanks to Microsoft's partnership with Nokia.

Microsoft does say, however, that location histories are not saved directly on the device. That's different from Apple's practice of recording the locations of visible cell towers on iPhone and iPad devices, which can result in more than a year's worth of data being quietly logged. Google's approach, by contrast, records only the last few dozen locations on Android phones.

The privacy practices of mobile software companies have come under extensive scrutiny after a researcher at a conference last week in Santa Clara, Calif., described in detail how the iPhone's location logging works. A CNET report, however, showed that law enforcement and forensics analysts had been aware of and relied on the undocumented feature since at least last year.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) today asked Google and Apple to appear at a Senate hearing scheduled for May 10, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has asked for a meeting. A lawsuit seeking class action status was filed today in Tampa, Fla.

According to a Web page in the "Help and How-To" section of the Windows Phone site, Microsoft has assembled a database with the "location of certain mobile cell towers and Wi-Fi access points" so a mobile device can determine its location more quickly, and with less battery drain, than if only GPS was used. Relying exclusively on GPS would have a negative "impact on mobile phone users by increasing data charges and draining the battery," the company says.

To make applications like maps work, of course, it's necessary for a smartphone or tablet to transmit its GPS coordinates to a remote server--and, in exchange, receive nearby restaurant reviews, or driving directions, and so on.

Privacy concerns begin to arise when a unique device ID is transmitted, which allows a company to track a customer's whereabouts over an extended period of time. Randomizing the device ID frequently would alleviate some concerns. (Microsoft says that in the case of Windows Phone 7, location information is transmitted to its servers only if Wi-Fi and location services are turned on. It also points out it offers a global switch to turn off all location-based services.)

"The user is identifiable if you have a series of events" that can be linked together, says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.

Microsoft says its operating system transmits the MAC address of the Wi-Fi access point (but not the name), signal strength, a randomly generated unique device ID retained for an unspecified limited period of time, and, if GPS is turned on, the precise location and direction and speed of travel. That happens when the "application or user makes a request for location information," the company says.

One privacy concern is that location databases can be a gold mine for police or civil litigants: requesting cell phone location information from wireless carriers has become a staple of criminal investigations, often without search warrants being sought. It's not clear how often legal requests for these records have been sent to Microsoft, which said it could not immediately answer that question, or whether its lawyers require a search warrant signed by a judge.

Even though police are tapping into the locations of mobile phones thousands of times a year by contacting AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and other mobile carriers, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and federal privacy laws written a generation ago are ambiguous at best. The Obama Justice Department has claimed that no warrant is required for historical location information, a claim opposed by a coalition of companies including Google and Microsoft but not Apple. (CNET was the first to report on warrantless cell tracking in 2005.)

Apple acknowledged (PDF) to Congress last year that "cell tower and Wi-Fi access point information" is "intermittently" collected and "transmitted to Apple" every 12 hours, but has declined to elaborate. Google has confirmed that it collects location information from Android devices, but downplayed concerns about privacy by saying the information is not "traceable to a specific user." It has yet to respond to questions from last Friday.

Here are the questions, still unanswered, that CNET posed to Microsoft this afternoon:

- When did Microsoft start collecting location data from mobile devices?
- Does Microsoft collect cell tower data?
- How frequently do devices running Windows Phone 7 transmit the data to Microsoft? Every 15 minutes? Hourly? Daily?
- How is that done? Is it an HTTP POST request to a Microsoft.com server, like Google?
- Is the connection encrypted? If so, using what method?
- What information, exactly, is transmitted?
- You say the information collected includes a "randomly generated unique device ID." Is that device ID ever changed? If it is changed, how often does it change?
- What does Microsoft use the database of Wi-Fi access points for? Because you collect "direction and speed" if GPS is available, is it used for traffic data?
- You say the WiFi access points are surveyed when "the user has allowed a particular application to access location services and the application requests location information." If WiFi is turned on, location services have been activated, but no apps are ever run, will location data ever be transmitted to Microsoft?
- You say the randomly generated ID is "retained for a limited period." How long is that? Is the ID then deleted or only partially anonymized?
- Given a street address or pair of GPS coordinates, is Microsoft able to produce the location logs associated with that generated ID, if legally required to do so?
- Given a generated ID, is Microsoft able to produce the complete location logs associated with it, if legally required to do so?
- Given a MAC address of an access point, is Microsoft able to produce the generated IDs and location data associated with it, if legally required to do so?
- How many law enforcement requests or forms of compulsory process have you received for access to any portion of this database?
- If Microsoft knows that a Hotmail user is connecting from a home network IP address every evening, it would be trivial to link that with an Windows phone's device ID that also connects via that IP address. Does Microsoft do that?
- Is any information about current or previously-visited locations stored on a Windows Phone 7 device?
- Is Microsoft planning to change any of its policies regarding location data storage and transmission?

Microsoft and Toyota mate on smart-grid tech

Toyota motorial has agreed to develop and deploy telematic services, including its smart-grid technology for running electric systems more efficiently, on Microsoft's cloud-based Azure technology.

Toyota wants to use the technology to give customers navigation and diagnostic services, much like General Motors' OnStar service. Toyota also envisions scenarios in which drivers would be able to turn on heaters or air conditioning at their home with voice commands from their car. "We'll boost the value of today's vehicles by making them information terminals," Toyota President Akio Toyoda said at a press conference today, which was Webcast.

The service, a centerpiece of Toyota's green initiative, will provide energy management technology for Toyota's electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2012. Drivers will be able to choose to charge those cars when energy consumption is lowest and prices are cheapest. "We must find a planet-friendly way of using energy," Toyoda said. Toyota hopes to roll out a more advanced platform to handle a wider variety of applications globally by 2015.



The fresh technology will be tested as part of the Toyota Smart Center pilot program, currently running in Japan. The trial gives consumers detailed information about energy consumption in their cars and homes so they can manage their use more efficiently. Toyota has said it believes such smart-grid systems can help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 75 percent.

The deal calls for the two companies to invest a total of $12 million in Toyota Media Service, a Toyota subsidiary that will provide digital information services to Toyota's car customers.

The deal gives Microsoft a marquee customer for its Azure technology, which provides companies the ability to offer applications as a Web-delivered service. And it's not just Toyota that will take advantage of the technology. The car maker intends to open up the service to other developers who could create services of value to drivers. "Getting the platform right opens a lot of opportunities," Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said.

For Microsoft, the deal moves the company further into the automotive business. The software giant has already partnered with Ford for its Sync in-car connectivity system that lets drivers access their phone and music device with voice commands. It also helps Microsoft expand its drive into smart-grid technology. Just Monday at the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference, Microsoft's Chief Environmental Strategist Rob Bernard told CNET that since consumers and utilities have not taken up its Hohm energy-monitoring application as hoped, the company is increasing focus on electric-vehicle charging.


Neither Ballmer nor Toyoda offered up much detail for the kinds of scenarios that might be available. There was some broad discussion about energy-monitoring applications, and some speculation about GPS services that could reroute drivers based on traffic. But whatever is ultimately offered, Toyoda acknowledged that consumers will foot the bill. "To a certain extent, we will have to ask customers to shoulder the expense," Toyoda said.

Toyoda expects the new technology to work in concert with the Entune service, which Toyota unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. That service allows drivers to use voice commands to buy movie tickets, make restaurant reservations, and listen to music. With the technology created by the Microsoft partnership, Toyoda said, "we will be able to offer much broader applications for Entune."

Microsoft Kinect to PC apps

Software developers will be able to tap into the Kinect gaming system thanks to an application builder that Microsoft plans to release this spring, the company announced Monday.

With this new development kit, Microsoft is hoping its innovative, controller-free camera system will woo more developers to Windows. Many developers have shifted their focus from desktops toward mobile platforms like Apple's iOS and Google's Android.

Unlike current Kinect games, which can be played only on an Xbox 360 game console, these apps would run on Windows computers connected to the device.

Enterprising app makers hoping to get in early on some kind of Kinect app gold rush will have to wait, however.

This first version, slated to release by late June, is being offered only to volunteers willing to give their programs away for free. Microsoft has a name for this target audience: "enthusiasts and academic researchers."

Microsoft says it plans to release a version later for people who want to sell their apps but declined to provide a time frame. Company spokespeople also declined to make executives available for interviews.

Developers have been attracted to the Kinect technology because unlike normal webcams, Microsoft's gadget has a depth sensor, making it more useful as a controller.

Shortly after the Kinect's debut in November, developers quickly hacked the device to create unusual demonstrations of its power. Developers have created body-controlled versions of "Super Mario Bros.," a realistic "Star Wars" light saber simulator and an app that turns your digital reflection into a ghost.

Consumers have taken to Kinect as well. Microsoft sold 8 million units in its first two months on the market, which coincided with the crucial holiday shopping season.

At first, Microsoft was hot and cold about the swelling community of Kinect hackers. At the same time some spokespeople were discouraging tampering, executives were expressing excitement about bringing Kinect to computers.

With an official development kit, engineers will be able to build standardized apps that can be distributed and run more easily than unofficial ones. Currently, someone would have to hook up a Kinect unit to a PC and run code to unlock the device before being able to play hacked games.

Microsoft's research arm held an event Monday to discuss recent initiatives including Kinect development, a company spokesman said.

These apps will apply to Kinect units running on Windows PCs and won't work on Xbox 360 systems, the spokesman said. Console makers, including Microsoft, work out royalty deals with game developers that want to build on their platforms.

But Microsoft has used its popular camera-powered device to bridge gaps between the company's various platforms. CEO Steve Ballmer's "one more thing" during a recent presentation described an initiative to make Kinect and Windows Phone devices interoperable.