Back in April, I fanned some flames by suggesting that Microsoft needed an iMessage of its own—a free, baked-in messaging app that can serve as a communication hub across the far-flung Windows platforms, drawing in users from the mish-mash of communications services that exist today. Apple has iMessage. Google has Hangouts. Microsoft, I argued, should lean on Skype, which it bought in 2011.
Now it is.
Over the past weeks and months, Microsoft announced that native Skype integration is coming to Windows 8.1, the Outlook.com website, and, yes, even the Xbox One console. Microsoft websites will have Skype! Microsoft consoles will have Skype! Microsoft PCs and tablets will have Skype!
But there's a fly in this cross-device ointment. The one Microsoft platform that both needs native Skype integration the most and provides the best fit for native Skype integration doesn't bake in the service by default: namely, Windows Phone.
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