It's been several months since Microsoft first unveiled its Outlook.com Web-based e-mail service, and many have been waiting patiently for the company to deliver on its promise of integrated Skype video calling from within the service. Despite multiple updates since its launch, however, Outlook.com has remained decidedly Skype-less. Fortunately, that's set to change this week.
In fact, U.K. residents should be able to start making Web-based Skype calls today, while the U.S. and Germany should see this feature roll out in the coming weeks, and worldwide support is expected by summer.
This integration is made possible through a browser plug-in that bridges the gap between Outlook.com and Skype. Users can get this plug-in by pairing their Outlook.com and Skype accounts, enabling voice and video calling, as well as instant messaging. The plug-in supports the latest versions of most major browsers, namely Chrome, Firefox and, of course, Internet Explorer.
Despite its lateness, this functionality is still considered a preview version by Microsoft, which says it will update the feature based on feedback.
At this point, some may wonder why Microsoft has even bothered as WebRTC is becoming increasingly available to Web users everywhere. The standard boasts a number of advantages over Outlook.com's Skype integration, such as the fact that it doesn't need plug-ins to provide real-time, Web-based video, audio and text-based communications, and that users don't need two separate logins to access these functions.
Indeed, Chrome has supported WebRTC for months now, while full support in Firefox is in the near future.
That said, Microsoft does have a lot to lose if WebRTC catches on, so this may be the company's way of protecting Skype from WebRTC's influence, at least for a little while. It's more likely, though, that the company is using Outlook.com integration as a testing ground for when it releases its browser-based version of Skype leveraging WebRTC.
Either way, Microsoft will no doubt have to play it very smart in the coming months while WebRTC picks up more steam, or else Skype may become nothing more than a piece of trivia in a few years.Edited by
Rory J. Thompson
