GigaOM Pro

The big news of the week (perhaps the year) so far in technology is Microsoft’s announced acquisition of Skype.  Here Om takes a look at how Microsoft could tie together one of its key consumer technologies – Kinect – with Skype video calling to make a unique video call offering on Xbox.  I’m a bit skeptical about the value of Kinect video calling,  but do think the camera-follow features of Kinect are a potential differentiator for Kinect-Skype video chat calling.  No doubt, with Skype, the video call market is Microsoft’s to lose at this point, particularly if they leverage existing Skype relationships with TV OEMs.