Microsoft is set to discontinue Skype in May, shifting users to Microsoft Teams’ free tier. Acquired for $8.5 billion in 2011, Skype struggled to compete with Zoom and Google Meet. Microsoft now prioritizes Teams for communication.
Telefonica offers IoT, blockchain and AI technology to support start-ups in Spain, Germany and the UK Telefonica has launched its ‘Activation Programme’, a new initiative designed to help start-ups and SMEs in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom to accelerate their business via IoT, blockchain and AI technologies. The global telecom giant said it will provide selected start-ups with access to its proprietary technology platforms free of charge for a period of six months. Irene Gomez, director of Connected Open Innovation at Telefonica, said, “Collaboration is more important than ever, which is why at Connected Open Innovation we want to help start-ups scale by giving them access to our technology platforms through the use of APIs, which are free, agile and simple.” Read more at https://tinyurl.com/y7n5f9cp T-Mobile customers can send RCS messages to Android users worldwide T-Mobile US, one of the largest providers of wireless voice and data communications services…
Microsoft has announced that the latest version of Skype for desktops and laptops now offers the option of blurring the background during video calls. This feature works to distinguish and isolate the subject from the surrounding background, and places the focus on the person as the most important component of the scene. This will provide a distraction-free space, and help eliminate any embarrassing moments during video conferencing. This option was first introduced in another Microsoft messaging application, Teams. Last September the company announced their support for the background blur in this collaboration app, introducing new features for the workplace chat platform and Office 365. The blur feature has put Artificial Intelligence (AI) to use, as this advanced technology has been trained to recognize the human form. It is not just the speaker’s face that is in focus, but also their hair, hands and arms, thus creating a smooth…
Negotiations started recently between Microsoft and Apple on one side, and UAE Telecoms controllers on the other, in order to check if the ban on Skype and FaceTime could be lifted. As Hamad Al Mansoori, head of the TRA (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority), the “discussions are still ongoing”. According to arabic news Al Ittihad, those talks are a part of the two companies plan to extend their business in that part of the world. The goal of the UAE is to keep good relations with Microsoft and Apple, as the first is launching a data center in the UAE in order to cover the entire region. Etisalat and Emirates Integrated Communications have applications that offer similar features, called Botim and C’Me. Al Mansoori says that the number of people using those services are increasing. The main difference is that those apps are paid-for video applications. The telecoms in the UAE are…
