Facebook quietly dumped Skype

Social media can make a relationship a lot more complicated. Take, for example, Facebook and Microsoft's Skype.

Back in 2011, they were the happiest of couples, telling everybody how they were working together to make video calling in Facebook Messenger a reality.

"[Then-Microsoft CEO] Steve [Ballmer] and I are really aligned on this," Mark Zuckerberg said at the time.

Today, with the launch of video calling in Facebook Messenger for iPhone and Android, there's no longer any doubt: Facebook and Skype have broken up, and Skype seems to be the one who was dumped.

While no announcements have ever been made, we started to suspect Facebook and Skype were no longer quite so close in 2013, after Facebook introduced a voice calling option that used its own technology.

But the real rupture appears to have happened a few months back when Facebook quietly stopped using Skype for video calls made from the desktop, replacing Skype with technology that Facebook developed in-house, Facebook confirmed to Business Insider.

This change was made because Skype-powered video calls required users to install a browser plugin, while the technology that Facebook whipped up works without one - important for call performance, video quality, and for letting Facebook make changes and upgrades to video chat more quickly, according to a person familiar with the matter. 

For users, the change was basically invisible. But for the Facebook and Skype partnership, announced with so much fanfare in 2011, it seems that it was officially the beginning of the end.

The demise of the Skype partnership represents the second major example of Facebook cutting ties with Microsoft recently. In December, Facebookunceremoniously stopped using Microsoft Bing to provide Web search results on its social network. 

Microsoft and Facebook have a long history together - Microsoft in 2007 invested $240 million in what was at the time a promising young social networking company. Now that Facebook is a tech behemoth in its own right, it no longer needs to rely on others for technology such as search and voice calling. And keeping things in-house gives Facebook more control.

For its part, Microsoft declined to comment on the end of its Skype deal with Facebook.

Two weeks ago, in mid-April, Skype community manager Claudius Henrichs made a post to the official Skype forums, saying that "Facebook is making a number of changes to the way they connect their products with partners like Skype."

He gave a laundry list of Facebook integrations that will no longer work in Skype as of the end of April 2015, including the ability to message Facebook friends from within the Skype desktop app.

"We never like it when features have to go away like this," Henrichs wrote. Skype users will be able to use their Facebook account to find friends who have a Skype account, but it's not the same.

Skype's partnership with Facebook may have been a casualty in the social network's mission to never, ever, ever let its user base leave for even a single second.

NOW WATCH: A bunch of teens used Skype to meet and learn from kids from all over the world

5 Ways Google Search Results Will Change By 2016

Search engine results pages (SERPs), much to the irritation of search marketers who count on them, change constantly. Google is constantly making tiny, hardly-noticeable tweaks to the familiar layout of its signature creation, leading to gradual changes in user behavior and disrupting the expectations of optimizers who were counting on previous information.

Up until now, these changes have been relatively minor, even unnoticeable to most users outside the SEO community. Google removed the underlines marking the hyperlinks that made the list. The length of each entry and the numbers of entries per page have both changed over time. Various listing modifications have allowed sub-pages to be viewed in different ways based on the context of the search. But none of these changes has completely disrupted the status quo of the SERP: earn high authority, rank high, and you’ll get the most visibility.

Now, with the onslaught of new technology from wearable devices to far more sophisticated search algorithms, the SERPs are evolving faster than ever and in far more complicated ways. It’s hard to predict exactly how Google will develop these, since it intentionally cloaks its plans, but here are five changes I predict will take place by 2016:

1. The Knowledge Graph Will Take Over. Already, the Google Knowledge Graph has gained a ton of momentum. If you’re not sure what the Knowledge Graph is, perform a search for a movie or a famous politician. The box on the right you see with a run-down of basic information related to your query is the Knowledge Graph. It exists to answer user queries with commonly sought information, to spare users the trouble of hunting through traditional ranks and SERP entries. Right now, this information is housed in a box off to the side, but over the next two years, you can expect this presence to grow. The Knowledge Graph will collect more information on a more diverse range of subjects, appearing for far more types of user queries, and its prominence will likely grow to overtake the top entries. One day soon, I predict that any general query will be met with a massive Knowledge Graph entry, with external links only listed as a footer—meaning there’s little use trying to rank for queries related to general information or topics.
2. Social Results Will Be More Prominent. Now that Google has practically abandoned Google+, it seems more interested in forming close partnerships with other social media platforms. The search giant has had a deal with Facebook for years, scanning the platform for information and posts from major brands. Recently, it has forged an alliance with Twitter, allowing Google to index tweet information and withdraw it at will. In the next two years, I anticipate Google making more of these deals with more social media platforms, and integrating more social results into its SERPs. It seems likely that news-worthy or socially important queries will be met with a brief listing of popular social posts—and I expect to see these above the fold, replacing traditional top rankings with a separate “social” section.
3. Traditional Listings Will Sharply Decline. Partially in response to the rising importance of the Knowledge Graph and social entries, and partially just a user experience change, you can expect to see the number of listings on each of Google’s pages gradually decline. While you could once count on a reliable 10 entries per page, already you can see as few as 4 entries per page, based on the type of query you enter and the type of listings that appear near the top. New functionality will make this range fluctuate even more, though the majority of queries will have fewer entries on page one. That means higher competition and lower visibility for traditional, rank-based SEO strategies.

Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2015/04/27/5-ways-google-search-results-will-change-by-2016/

Microsoft demos Windows 10 apps on HoloLens, and it's stunning

Microsoft’s annual Build event, led by CEO Satya Nadella, waited until the end of Wednesday’s keynote to unveil the most stunning part of its presentation: HoloLens.

The company showed off how Windows 10 apps work seamlessly within what Microsoft calls the Windows Holographic platform. And it was impressive.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft shows off new visual features in Windows 10, new Windows Store options

After Nadella handed the reins over to Microsoft vice president of operating systems, Joe Belfiore, to demo Windows 10, Belfiore then introduced Microsoft technical fellow Alex Kipman, who presented a series of HoloLens users on stage.

First, we got to see how the HoloLens handles an apartment layered in the holographic app panels. The customized room included holographic items, such as a virtual dog (name Fang), a robot and a holographic start menu on which he opened up a Skype call. The user then pinned the Skype call panel to a wall.

On another wall, he had a panel that opened up a video screen playing a movie. Then, by using the command “follow me,” the selected panel followed him as he walked to another part of the apartment.

The demo showed how when you travel to another part of your home wearing HoloLens, you can scale the holographic window that followed you to any size (think cinema display). According to the presenter, the feature works for a number of holographic apps within the system.

Next we were treated to a demonstration of how the HoloLens can aid the work of architectural companies like Trimble, a Microsoft partner that used the system to create holographic building models. The demo video also showed how to designers can collaborate remotely while walking through the same holographic building plans.

After that, the HoloLens was part of what might have been the most impressive demo to date: showing how medical students can study the human anatomy holographically, from organs to bones to fully formed person.

The company also showed off how the hologram can be animated to offer more detail on functions of the human body (such as a beating heart, which was stunningly demonstrated on stage).

Positioning the HoloLens in this context as a learning tool, the presenters highlighted how HoloLens can also be used to assist in learning environments around art, engineering and paleontology studies.

Finally, Microsoft illustrated how the HoloLens can be integrated with real world, mobile technologies when it brought out a robot called B15. The tiny, unassuming robot wheeled out to the center of the stage and then, at the command of its HoloLens-wearing human operator, it was suddenly overlaid a holographic robotic head and arm construct, which hovered over the physical robot.

The robot controller then opened up an array of controls around the robot’s body that manipulated its color in real-time. Then the HoloLens-wearing robot operator switched the robot into “pathfinding mode,” air tapped the stage floor in several places and showed how the robot could interpret the holographic points follow them along a specific path. And, if obstacles come up, the HoloLens wearer can then update the path on the fly, adjusting the real robot’s travel path.

In a separate announcement, 3D interactive software company Sketchfab announced an official pairing with Microsoft HoloLens to help spur the development of 3D content on the platform.

We haven’t had a chance to see if the demonstration videos shown off today are as stunning as they appear on the company’s carefully controlled presentation, but Microsoft announced that several hundred HoloLens devices would be available on site for Build attendees to try, so we’ll know soon.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

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BlackBerry planning to shut down Sweden operations

NEW DELHI: BlackBerry is considering closing its offices in Sweden, a move that would result in the loss of up to 100 jobs, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

"At this time, we are considering the closure of our offices in Sweden. Since this may impact approximately 100 employees, we are now initiating consultations with the employees' trade unions," the spokesperson said in an email.

BlackBerry had about 7,000 people as of September 2014, according to the its website.

The company's Toronto-listed stock closed little changed at C$12.62 on Friday.

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E-commerce companies flood internet with ads

BENGALURU: Thejesh GN, a Bangalore-based technologist, does not have a Facebook app on his phone, often browses on incognito mode and has installed a tool that detects and blocks spy ads and trackers.

All this is to escape from the pervasive ads that have now begun to invade his online presence. But Thejesh knows it's of little use.

Given the proliferation of e-commerce companies in India, the barrage of ads are unlikely to stop. "It's an everyday fight. There is no way to get rid of all these ads," said Thejesh, co-founder of data science community Datameet. Thejesh represents a growing population of internet users who are becoming aware of the risks that come with their online habits -- specifically, having each data point of their everyday lives collected by companies and tech startups.

This includes an individual's IP address, browser type, pages viewed, and the date and time of use. On mobile, the data collected could be more elaborate and accurate -- including a user's location, device type and contact list.

Where does all this data go? Some are sold to brands via ad networks, and others are used by companies to streamline the ads shown to specific users.

In India there are no rules or guidelines explicitly regulating online behavioural advertising, and thus it is not clear what practices different companies and internet service providers (ISPs) undertake, what information is collected, how the information is used, how long the information is stored for, and what access law enforcement has to this information, the Center for Internet and Society said in a report titled 'Consumer Privacy'.

Siddharth Shankar, a student of statistics from Patna University, who is also learning ethical hacking, is of the view that few people care about privacy in India. "Their simple reply: What will they do with our data?" said Shankar, who takes steps similar to Thejesh to protect his privacy online. More people seem to be waking up to the fact that privacy is important and that ads are intrusive. Of the 50 million users who block ads using AdBlock Plus, about 1.2 million are from India. AdBlock Plus, a mobile and browser tool, recently won a case against two publishers in Germany who wanted it to stop blocking ads on their websites. Most digital products, including apps and content, are free.

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Net neutrality: Telcos warn of six-fold hike in data tariffs

NEW DELHI: Mobile operators on Friday said that they may have to increase data tariffs by up to six times to remain viable if the proposed regulations did not offer a level-playing field with net-based services such as Skype and WhatsApp.

Although they "supported" net neutrality and launched a campaign to link the unconnected to the internet, they said that high data rates would become unaffordable for a large number of people, denying them access to the Internet.

Click here to send an e-mail to Trai in favour of net neutrality

Pitching for same regulation for all communication services, COAI, the GSM industry group, said operators are required to ensure a level of service quality, share revenue with the government and intercept communication for preventing any terrorist act, but these rules are not applicable on Internet-based messaging and calling applications.

"If same rules are not to apply, then the only way this industry can be viable is data rate will be 6x from where they are there today. After that, you can do what you want. But if you take data rate to 5x or 6x, a lot of people in India will never be able to access the Internet," COAI vice-chairman and Bharti Airtel India MD Gopal Vittal said. Vittal said telecom operators want same set of rules to apply on same kinds of services.

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Global customers warn Indian IT companies

CHENNAI: The world's largest buyers of technology such as Cargill, Target Corp and Lowe's have advice for India's biggest software firms: Adapt new technology and transform fast or become irrelevant.

At an exclusive session with ET, the technology heads of several global companies said Indian IT firms need to overhaul their businesses and strengthen in areas such as digital, analytics and cloud, particularly as many of the clients are building their own capabilities in advanced computing.

"If you see, areas such as digitization are largely not being outsourced right now," said Arindam Sen, senior vice president at Schneider Electric India.

Companies globally are channeling efforts into developing in-house expertise in areas such as analytics and cloud computing to stay ahead of their competition, also because large IT firms haven't been nimble enough to build capabilities in emerging technology more efficiently.

"Over a period of time, over 8-10 years, GICs (global in-house centres of companies) have built leadership maturity, credibility within the organization and high level of business value... it is this that has changed the game," said Nitin Seth, country head at Fidelity Worldwide Investment.

American retailer Target, for example, outsourced projects to large Indian software firms such as TCS and Infosys for nearly a decade. Now, the 113-year-old firm is building more technology capability at its captive centre in India than ever before.

Last year, the Minneapolis-based company launched a corporate accelerator program to tap into India's emerging startup ecosystem for talent and technology solutions that it hopes will help it survive the battle against new-age competitors such as Walmart and Amazon.

"For Indian tech vendors, rather than coming to us and saying this is what we can do, they should come to us and say these are your business problems and we have these solutions for you. Also, Indian IT firms should not view captives as threats, but should view them more as partners," said Narayan Ram, managing director of Lowe's India, the domestic arm of the American home improvement chain.

"The big question is are vendors ready to change and evolve? The answer to that question will determine what happens next," said Navneet Kapoor, managing director of Target India. "I think we are facing the highest levels of disruption in our history. If we don't change and adapt, we won't be around a few years from now."

Traditional Indian software services firms are struggling to make the transition towards newer business models that are very different from the classic 'pyramid model', where revenue growth was directly linked to manpower addition. Whereas over the years, companies' in-house technology centres have evolved to more than just vendor-management centres.

"What we tell our people in Bengaluru is 'don't think like we think' — because that's why we've brought them in, because we're looking to make improvements and changes that you've never thought of before," said Kathy Fortmann, business unit president of US agricultural conglomerate Cargill.

Fred Giron, vice president and research director at Forrester Research, said companies want IT firms to function more like consultants and advisers.

"Customers now are looking for trusted advisers to tell them what they need to do — and that requires a completely different mindset from a service provider point of view," said Giron.

"Moving away from this order-taker mentality and moving to a trusted adviser role is what Indian IT firms need to do now."


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