Skype For Outlook Now Available Worldwide; Adds HD Video Calling Support

Skype for Outlook, an integration of Skype’s messaging features into Microsoft’s webmail platform, is made available worldwide, Skype announced yesterday. Users must first download a web browser plugin which is available for IE, Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers. After that, existing Skype users can link their accounts to Outlook and a new user can use his/her Microsoft account to sign in. Once this web browser plugin is installed, users can place Skype video and audio calls right from their email inbox. Microsoft adds that it would include support for HD video calling for PC users and would work only for users with compatible HD displays, webcams, messaging clients and broadband internet. This integration offers Microsoft a sapid platform to compete with Google’s Gmail + Hangouts features. Microsoft’s combination of the two services could lead to a wider footprint for both Outlook and Skype, the former of which has over 400 million users.