Skype
Telecommunications software service/application / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Skype (/skaɪp/) is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, debit-based calls to landline and mobile telephones (over traditional telephone networks), and other features. It is available on various desktop, mobile, and video game console platforms.
Original author(s) | Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn | ||||||||||||
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Developer(s) | Skype Technologies (Microsoft) | ||||||||||||
Initial release | 29 August 2003; 20 years ago (2003-08-29) | ||||||||||||
Stable release(s) [±] | |||||||||||||
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Operating system | Windows, Windows Phone, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, iPadOS, WatchOS, Wear OS, HoloLens, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | ||||||||||||
Available in | 108 languages[4] | ||||||||||||
Type | Videoconferencing, VoIP and Instant messaging | ||||||||||||
License | Proprietary software | ||||||||||||
Website | skype.com |
Skype was created by Niklas Zennström, Janus Friis, and four Estonian developers, and first released in August 2003. In September 2005, eBay acquired it for $2.6 billion.[5] In September 2009,[6] Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought 65% of Skype for $1.9 billion from eBay, valuing the business at $2.92 billion. In May 2011, Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion and used it to replace their Windows Live Messenger. As of 2011, most of the development team and 44% of all the division's employees were in Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia.[7][8][9]
Skype originally featured a hybrid peer-to-peer and client–server system.[10] It became entirely powered by Microsoft-operated supernodes in May 2012;[11] in 2017, it changed from a peer-to-peer service to a centralized Azure-based service. As of February 2023, it was used by 36 million people each day.[12]