Report: Skype to replace Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger

skypess

Microsoft will be phasing out its Windows Live Messenger instant-messaging and video calling software in the coming months and replacing it with Skype, according to a report this morning by Tom Warren in The Verge, citing unnamed sources. No official word yet from Microsoft on this (we’re checking) but it’s not a huge surprise, given… Read More…

Microsoft Hotmail soars on iPhone and Android, now available on Kindle Fire

hotmail

Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail has surpassed 12 million active users on Apple iOS devices — a dramatic climb resulting from the simplified process for setting up the Microsoft webmail service in Apple’s iOS5. Hotmail has also seen a sharp increase in Android usage, now topping 3 million active users, since releasing an app for the… Read More…

iCloud: Apple’s 2011 video a lot like Microsoft’s 2008 vision

livemeshsync

Foresight often isn’t enough in the technology industry, without good timing and execution. Apple will be testing this theory once again with the upcoming release of its iCloud synchronization service, along with the new iOS 5 operating system. As an alert GeekWire reader points out, the promotional video that Apple released for iCloud yesterday, above,… Read More…

Windows 8 and Windows Live ID: Microsoft’s privacy policy

win8startsmall

Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system will come with the optional ability to sign in using a Windows Live ID, allowing users to easily synchronize their settings, applications and other preferences across any machine they sign into. We’ve known this for a while, but Microsoft today dove deep into the details, explaining how the system… Read More…

Storage Wars: Microsoft SkyDrive bulking up as rivals ante up

skydrive

Microsoft will offer unlimited space for photos and Office documents as part of an upcoming revamp of its Windows Live SkyDrive cloud-based storage service, according to a report by LiveSide.net over the weekend. In addition, the site reports today that Microsoft will introduce premium plans for other types of files, including music and video, letting people… Read More…

Microsoft updates SkyDrive, trying to stand out in a cloud

skydrivesmall

Microsoft plans to roll out a series of updates to its free Windows Live SkyDrive service later today, trying to give the cloud service a stronger identity as a standalone product for storing files — not just a behind-the-scenes tool for Office Web Apps, Hotmail, Windows Phone and other Microsoft products. The company says the changes have… Read More…

Stats: Hotmail still on top worldwide; Gmail gets bigger

hotmail

While researching this morning’s story about the latest interactive features from Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail, I realized it had been a while since I checked the market-share statistics for the major webmail services. I didn’t receive them in time for the earlier post, but now that they’ve arrived, the latest numbers show some interesting trends… Read More…

Hotmail gets interactive with Netflix, Posterous, LivingSocial

posterous

Microsoft’s Hotmail team today will show how more companies plan to use its “Active Views” technology — interactive email messages that can be updated in the recipient’s inbox, even after they’re sent. Blogging platform Posterous plans to use the technology to let its users see and respond to comments about a post from within an email,… Read More…