[calicocat2010]

I agree with the poster that said Maybe they are waiting to see how the market does with BB10. Thor did say they will be launching with most of the Top Apps or something to that degree and so far he's done a Heck of a great job turning the company around. It would be amazing if MS has sworn secrecy with RIM not to reveal anything about Skype on BB10 Until the actual Launch of BB10.

[Joy1980]

No, I wouldn't. Yes, I would have Skype for iOS and Android. Why ? Simple. They are not going to lure most iOS users, nor (for some strange reason) most Android users. However, if RIMM were to die, iOS doesn't do what I need a handheld device to do (iPad rocks though ), and I wouldn't get caught dead using an Android device (or ANY Google services), therefore, by default, MS would "win" me over as a customer.

By developing a Skype app for iOS and Andriod, at least I would have those people using my product.

Do you really believe because there are 80 million BB users there are 80 million potential BBOS 10 users ? How many of those are in third world countries sporting an old Curve. I believe They need to lure people away from Andriod and WinMo, and go after first time smart phone buyers.

I live in Barbados, considered a third world country and we also buy Bolds and Torches as well as Curves. I think that our buying patterns are more important than the guys in the NA and Europe. Why? We buy phones at cost, pre-paid or post paid. So if we think that buying the more expensive Bold is worth the price, we will. In NA & Europe, most people get phones on contract, subsidized. So for all of you people who wonder why or how RIM has survived on selling phones in the third world countries, we buy phones at cost. I pay $35 BDS for BIS with 2G of data. Our exchange rate is US$1 = BDS$2.

[doc-hill]

I think, from the cell providers point of view, that providers wil allow Skype to be free. You all know what happens to service you have to pay extra for!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk

[BBMINI]

To clarify for my own info, is skype available for ios and android? I've never used either of those and had thought it was just available to VZW customers.

As for Microsoft, I suspect they want skype to be the default cross platform IM tool so it would make sense for them to distribute it as widely as possible, similar to what General Motors did with their OnStar technology (ie, gave it away to competitors so it would become the industry standard ).

[Bobert_123]

To clarify for my own info, is skype available for ios and android? I've never used either of those and had thought it was just available to VZW customers.

As for Microsoft, I suspect they want skype to be the default cross platform IM tool so it would make sense for them to distribute it as widely as possible, similar to what General Motors did with their OnStar technology (ie, gave it away to competitors so it would become the industry standard ).

Yes, I own an Iphone 4 and an HTC Sensation and have skype on both...

[adamschuetze]

I think the fact that any of these companies are even considering NOT going fully cross platform (I'm looking directly at you, RIM, with your BlackBerry-only BBM) is total lunacy, and very anti-consumer. SMS is cross platform, but we need to move past SMS to more feature-rich services. Text messaging, voice messaging, video calling, these things should all be ubiquitous and universal. What if I could only place telephone calls to Bell customers? If I wanted to call my Dad on Rogers, I'd have to purchase a second telephone? Or pay extra to "cross to a different network"? Telephone services only works because anybody can call anybody. What if I could only send Gmail to other Gmail customers? The whole thing breaks down if you can't interoperate. The same should go for other messaging paradigms. Offer a great cross-platform experience, make most of the features free for all, and charge per minute for premium services. That's the Skype model, and what made it so wildly successful. If Apple had half a brain, iMessage and Facetime would have been cross platform from day one.

Now that Microsoft has thrown their own hat into the mobile ring, they might be tempted to try to use Skype to funnel customers to WP8, but it won't work. People will simply jettison Skype and find something else. Skype will become irrelevant.

[anon(2101143)]

What about the consideration that, if they don't create one, people will start to realize that there are alternatives out there? and you're opening yourself up to competitors like faceflow, which if I had a bb10 phone, i'd get my friends on Android and iOS to download so i could use with them, and then if its better, or has a lower cost, it can start becoming more popular.

from a business perspective, I can't see why MS would be willing to allow themselves to open up a possibility of new competitors coming in that are willing to go cross platform. They've always been focused on being a service provider for ALL so that they could get away from having to deal with competition...

just my 0.02...

[shupor]

Absolutely will. There is also a paid component to Skype via call credits; why limit your market?

[Tre Lawrence]

What about the consideration that, if they don't create one, people will start to realize that there are alternatives out there? and you're opening yourself up to competitors like faceflow, which if I had a bb10 phone, i'd get my friends on Android and iOS to download so i could use with them, and then if its better, or has a lower cost, it can start becoming more popular.

from a business perspective, I can't see why MS would be willing to allow themselves to open up a possibility of new competitors coming in that are willing to go cross platform. They've always been focused on being a service provider for ALL so that they could get away from having to deal with competition...

just my 0.02...

That was my earlier point. They almost have to make a client for the big boys, or they squeezed out. The question is whether BB10 will accumulate enough space to force MS to do the same.for it.

[Plazmic Flame]

Microsoft not making a Skype app for BlackBerry is silly. People aren't going to switch platforms just for Skype. Yes, it's great to have, works on multiple mobile platforms and PCs but I wouldn't switch a platform for it. I'm an avid user of it too since I have family in Japan, Italy, USA and Philippines.

If they don't make one, I don't think their mindset is to get users to switch to Windows Phone either. If you were looking to use Skype, you would most likely know that it's on iOS or Android and would be more likely to jump to one of those platforms instead of Windows Phone.

Personally, no single app is going to stop me from getting on the BlackBerry 10 train.

[Tre Lawrence]

Microsoft not making a Skype app for BlackBerry is silly. People aren't going to switch platforms just for Skype. Yes, it's great to have, works on multiple mobile platforms and PCs but I wouldn't switch a platform for it. I'm an avid user of it too since I have family in Japan, Italy, USA and Philippines.

If they don't make one, I don't think their mindset is to get users to switch to Windows Phone either. If you were looking to use Skype, you would most likely know that it's on iOS or Android and would be more likely to jump to one of those platforms instead of Windows Phone.

Personally, no single app is going to stop me from getting on the BlackBerry 10 train.

That's the rub... would having it make more people willing to come over to BB10? I say yes. I don't know that it will make or break the platform, but few would say having it would not help.

[budyen]

Not having Skype available on a Blackberry device is a deal breaker for many people. I have family all over and sometimes need to make long distance calls for work and it is a pain to have to log into my PC to make these calls rather than be able to do them when I'm not at my desk or on the train to work. If Skype were available, I'm pretty sure that just that would have made a huge difference in RIM's situation. I'm on the verge of purchasing an Android or Apple device (phone or tablet) so that I can do that - which means carrying 2 devices because I need the BB for work. Not good.

[neteng1000]

Not having Skype available on a Blackberry device is a deal breaker for many people. I have family all over and sometimes need to make long distance calls for work and it is a pain to have to log into my PC to make these calls rather than be able to do them when I'm not at my desk or on the train to work. If Skype were available, I'm pretty sure that just that would have made a huge difference in RIM's situation. I'm on the verge of purchasing an Android or Apple device (phone or tablet) so that I can do that - which means carrying 2 devices because I need the BB for work. Not good.

Get a BB and tell your family to use FaceFlow when speaking with you. It will be avail for all platforms. Problem solved right?

[gtpointer]

I'm a bit suspicious of MS being able to hold back Skype, as part of the EU Competition Commission's approval for the acquisition was it being available on rival mobile operating systems. The article I read mentions Andriod and iOS as examples of these, and BB10 wasn't really on the horizon then so it wouldn't have been mentioned, but you'd think the principle would apply. It would be a perfect example of an anti-competitive practice if MS could kill a rival's product by not supplying it with a Skype app. I'm sure MS is aware of this, and so is probably just trying to drag things out as much as it legally can - maybe hoping announcing it soon after launch will be enough to not be anti-competitive but still enough to sink BB10. Who knows...