The History

of

Skype

The History of Skype

Skype is a telecommunications app which specialises in providing voice

calls and video chats from computers, mobile devices and tablets via the

internet. It is an invaluable tool to Tony Freeman and the business

world as a whole. Users can also exchange files and images, send

instant text and video messages and even communicate via conference

calls. Skype runs on Windows, Mac and Linus together with iOS,

Blackberry and Android. Much of Skype's

services are free to their users with Skype credit

subscription required for calls to mobile and

landline numbers.

Skype was created by Estonian Priit Kasesalu,

Jaan Tallinn and Ahti Heinla, Danish Janus

Friis and Niklas Zennstrom of Sweden. The

Estonian trio were behind development of

Kazaa, a music sharing application.

The application allows users to communicate via a microphone and

webcam as well as use instant messaging. Skype-to-Skype calls are free.

Skype was first released in August in 2003. eBay bought Skype in

September 2005 for a reported $2.6 billion. In September 2009, a 65%

stake in Skype was acquired out by Andreessen Horowitz, Silver Lake

and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for an investment of

some $1.9 billion. Skype was sold in its entirety to Microsoft in May of

2011. Microsoft paid some $8.6 billion for the acquisition.

The Microsoft Corporation

The Microsoft Corporation was founded by computer mogul Bill Gates

in collusion with Paul Allen on 4th April 1975. The brand started life as

a manufacturer of BASIC interpreters for Altair 8800 - a microcomputer.

Microsoft rose to dominate the personal computer market in the 1980s,

producing the MS-DOS operating system and then, in 1986, the

unparalleled Windows.

Microsoft is a multinational technology company which is based in

Redmond Washington. Today Microsoft develops, manufactures,

supports, licences and sells personal computers, associated software and

consumer electronics. As well as Windows, the Microsoft Corporation

is responsible for the Microsoft Office suite (including the Excel and

Word programs), Internet Explorer as well as the hugely successful

Xbox game console.

The Microsoft Corporation is noted by Forbes as being the second most

valuable brand in the world, pipped to the post by Apple. It features at

rank #4 in Forbes Global 2000, ranking #74 in terms of sales, #12 in

terms of profits, #155 in terms of assets and #5 in terms of actual market

value. Microsoft rank #221 in the Forbes list of America's Best

Employers. The company employs over 128,000 individuals worldwide

and is reportedly worth in the region of some $340 billion.

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