Microsoft announced it was acquiring Skype for $8.5B, and I think it's amazing to see the flurry of judgments from everyone. Media says both good and bad things about it, and the bad things point out it's a bad deal. I even heard a Microsoft rep mention to a group of people using the word "speculating" about what it meant and how Microsoft would use it. The funny thing is, if you watched the press announcement, or read the official press release, it seems pretty clear on how Microsoft tends to use Skype within its offerings.

First and foremost, Skype is based on a free model, provided you are contacting someone who also uses Skype. That said, Microsoft plans to include it in it's other free offerings, like Hotmail and Live by allowing us to take advantage of phone calls with email. In the corporate world, we have the ability to message, video call and work on documents together, but in Hotmail/Live world, we only have the ability to share documents. This will be a good breakthrough at some point in time when Microsoft can offer others to work together by phone and video.

Xbox will also be a way to use Skype. We can currently watch videos through Netflix. We can chat and video call with others if they have a Kinect device. But what if we can use Skype where we get the technology of Xbox as a base to dial others who may not have Kinect? According to Microsoft, it's in the works.

Windows 7 Phone may soon get an app to use Skype thanks to this acquisition. And since the Windows 7 phone allows us to view our Work information on our phone, at some point we can call others through Skype and discuss documents. 

Speaking of work, we may soon see that we can call others on Skype directly through Outlook in the near future. And we can also use Skype as a phone communication for connecting through Microsoft's latest product for business called Lync, which uses instant messaging capabilities and web conferencing in one.

I personally think it's a great move forward for Microsoft and I look forward to seeing how this evolves in the coming months!