Microsoft working on web-based Skype for Browsers

[tezza]

Google might be doing everything it can to turn Chrome into a full-fledged Skype competitor, but it looks like Microsoft has been planning to challenge them in the cloud all along. Based on what the Skype team is searching for in a handful of new job ads, Skype will soon offer a cross-platform communication experience to users from the comfort of their web browsers.

Really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Skype for Browsers is in the works. This is, after all, the same Microsoft that released web-based versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, and lets us use them free of charge.

So, what can we expect from a Skype web app? The job postings mention developing a rich user interface using HTML5 and JavaScript, as well as the fact that the app will tap into “backend services” that have been “built from the ground using [the] latest Microsoft technologies.”

As is the case with the Office web apps, it’s a good bet that Skype for Browsers will work nicely with just about any standards-compliant web browser — as long as it supports desktop mode. Skype for Browsers probably won’t be unseating the Skype app on your smartphone for quite some time.

Beyond the brief coding-related notes, there’s nothing else revealed in the numerous ads for developers and QA testers based in Prague and London scattered about the Microsoft Careers site. Most of them are fairly new, however, so we’ll be hearing more about Microsoft’s plans to bring Skype to the web in the coming weeks and months.

http://www.geek.com/articles/news/microsoft-working-on-web-based-skype-for-browsers-20120416/

[DKT27]

Microsoft job listing shows web-based Skype in the works

Newly discovered job listings show that Microsoft's Skype division is working on a project that would add a web-browser based Skype client at some point in the future.

Microsoft's 2011 acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion has been official for several months now. However, Skype has yet to make a lot of impact in terms of integrating itself with Microsoft's products. We have seen a beta version of Skype released for Windows Phone 7.5 in February but we have yet to see Skype integration for other Microsoft products.

Now a new job listing at Microsoft (via WPSauce.com) shows that the Skype division is working on a project that would allow Skype users to connect via a web browser-based client. The listing states:

You will have a chance to integrate existing Skype solutions on to the web with the support of the backend services build from the ground up using latest Microsoft technologies. Result of your work will be used by hundreds millions of thankful users worldwide.

It's currently unknown how Skype will be programming its web-based version but it seems reasonable to assume that it will be HTML5-based, since Microsoft has been promoting the heck out of HTML5 web applications and games on its Internet Explorer web site. A browser version of Skype would allow the Internet phone and video service to be accessed by pretty much any platform with a compatible web browser.

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