2. The History of Skype
Skype is a telecommunications app which specialises in providing voice
calls and video chats from computers, mobile devices and tablets via the
internet. It is an invaluable tool to Tony Freeman and the business
world as a whole. Users can also exchange files and images, send
instant text and video messages and even communicate via conference
calls. Skype runs on Windows, Mac and Linus together with iOS,
Blackberry and Android. Much of Skype's
services are free to their users with Skype credit
subscription required for calls to mobile and
landline numbers.
Skype was created by Estonian Priit Kasesalu,
Jaan Tallinn and Ahti Heinla, Danish Janus
Friis and Niklas Zennstrom of Sweden. The
Estonian trio were behind development of
Kazaa, a music sharing application.
The application allows users to communicate via a microphone and
webcam as well as use instant messaging. Skype-to-Skype calls are free.
Skype was first released in August in 2003. eBay bought Skype in
September 2005 for a reported $2.6 billion. In September 2009, a 65%
stake in Skype was acquired out by Andreessen Horowitz, Silver Lake
and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for an investment of
some $1.9 billion. Skype was sold in its entirety to Microsoft in May of
2011. Microsoft paid some $8.6 billion for the acquisition.
3. The Microsoft Corporation
The Microsoft Corporation was founded by computer mogul Bill Gates
in collusion with Paul Allen on 4th April 1975. The brand started life as
a manufacturer of BASIC interpreters for Altair 8800 - a microcomputer.
Microsoft rose to dominate the personal computer market in the 1980s,
producing the MS-DOS operating system and then, in 1986, the
unparalleled Windows.
Microsoft is a multinational technology company which is based in
Redmond Washington. Today Microsoft develops, manufactures,
supports, licences and sells personal computers, associated software and
consumer electronics. As well as Windows, the Microsoft Corporation
is responsible for the Microsoft Office suite (including the Excel and
Word programs), Internet Explorer as well as the hugely successful
Xbox game console.
4. The Microsoft Corporation is noted by Forbes as being the second most
valuable brand in the world, pipped to the post by Apple. It features at
rank #4 in Forbes Global 2000, ranking #74 in terms of sales, #12 in
terms of profits, #155 in terms of assets and #5 in terms of actual market
value. Microsoft rank #221 in the Forbes list of America's Best
Employers. The company employs over 128,000 individuals worldwide
and is reportedly worth in the region of some $340 billion.
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