Skype Embarks on Microsoft Adventure

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The purchase of Skype could tilt Microsoft furthermore toward cloud and speech-based innovation, dragging communications farther away from the keyboard.

"Microsoft's acquisition of Skype heralds a shift in the IT ecosystem away from a desktop interface, using mice, keyboards and displays, to a mobile one focused on speech and personal context, using microphones, accelerometers and location sensors," Carl Howe, director of anywhere consumer innovation at the Yankee Group, told the E-Commerce Times.

While Skype is used primarily for person-to-person communication, Microsoft is likely to bring the computer into the conversation.

Part of traditional Microsoft offerings

"Skype makes person-to-person speech a part of traditional Microsoft offerings. It's a small step from there to incorporating person-to-computer speech like Apple is offering with its Siri interface for the iPhone," said Howe.

Skype could be the tool that helps Microsoft move to a more cloud-based communications research. Skype may be robust enough, and entrenched enough, to become a central part of Microsoft communications.

"When Microsoft moved into VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and Unified Communications, they were banking on the fact that the decision-making for UC would move from the network to the desktop manager," Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst with ZK Technology, told the E-Commerce Times. "I don't think that's happened but. Nevertheless, I do think we'll see UC and voice shift to the cloud over time."

Great possibility for Microsoft

"This is a great possibility for Microsoft, or any high-tech powerhouse, to screw up another perfectly good company," Jim McGregor, chief research strategist at In-Stat, told the E-Commerce Times.