Microsoft’s interest in the money-losing but popular service highlights a need to gain new customers for its Windows and Office software.

Skype has 145 million users on average each month and has gained favor among small business users.

Many say that it doesn’t make sense at all as a financial investment… There’s no way Microsoft is going to generate enough revenue and profit from Skype to compensate.

The sale marks a big payday for Skype’s owners, online auction site eBay, Silver Lake, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz. Skype delayed plans for an IPO that was expected to value the company at more than $3 billion. It had been looking at other options, including tie-ups with Facebook and Google. Such a deal was expected to value Skype at $3 billion to $4 billion.

Some technology analysts believe Microsoft overpaid for this purchase, particularly since Skype had operating profits of $264 million last year but a small loss ($7 million) overall and carries long-term debt of $686 million, according to published reports. However, the acquisition brings the software giant several benefits in addition to Skype’s 170 million members. While Microsoft already has several real-time communication vehicles, this purchase gives it a firmer foothold in global telephony and Web-based communications.

Skype allows people to make calls at no charge but has also developed premium services, would give Microsoft a foothold in the potentially lucrative video-conferencing market as businesses shift to lower-cost ways of communicating.

Skype could be combined with Microsoft software such as Outlook to appeal to corporate users, while the voice and video communications could link to Microsoft’s Xbox live gaming. In long run Skype would offer Microsoft another route to develop its mobile presence, an area it has already put more energy and resources into as PC usage comes under threat.

Skype is set to become a new business division within Microsoft with Skype CEO Tony Bates in charge and reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Microsoft shares were down 13 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $25.70 in early Nasdaq trading. The Skype deal is the biggest in the 36-year history of the world’s largest software company.

The $8.5 billion price tag was a surprise. Although the sum would not stretch cash-rich Microsoft, some said it was high for a company whose ownership has changed several times during its relatively short life.

In the age of Internet Bubble 2.0, picking up an unprofitable online company for roughly 10 times sales probably seems downright cheap. But what bout $2.5 billion 18 months ago when a chunk was sold off, then $8.5 billion seems generous and means Microsoft has to prove that the decision holds good for it’s online and mobile strategy.

Skype, which was formed in 2003, was bought by eBay Inc in 2005 for $3.1 billion. Last year it had in $860 million in revenue but posted a net loss of $7 million, according to data in its initial public offering filing. In 2009, eBay sold a majority stake in Skype to the investor group for $1.9 billion in cash and a $125 million note. EBay retained about a third. Microsoft’s Ballmer said his company did not use Wall Street advisers on the deal, approaching the investor group that owns Skype directly.

Mobile e-mail now works on a ‘push’ technology, which means that e-mails are pushed to the handset in real time, thus avoiding the need to repeatedly check for and download e-mails. Mobile e-mail can be synchronised with whatever is on the e-mail system at your workplace. In addition, it includes the calendar, tasks and address book functions that you can access anytime. Given below are a few tips that will show you how to use your mobile mail effectively:

Duplication of e-mail: E-mails are downloaded on to your mobile phone in two ways. The first method is when the e-mail is downloaded from your e-mail account, such as Yahoo!, Gmail or any office e-mail service, onto e-mail clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird. Your e-mails then get deleted from the original reservoir. In the second method, your e-mails are retained on your Web-based e-mail account, like Gmail. The latter allows you to check your e-mails from both your cell phone as well as your laptop. If you delete any e-mail from your cell phone while checking it, do not expect it to show in your inbox when you see the same mails on your laptop. Thus, make sure that you know how your client handles the mobile/computer divide. However, most common e-mail clients like Gmail or Yahoo! do not delete any mails that you download.

Two e-mail accounts: One way to reduce the load of e-mails on your mobile phone is to open a separate account for it. The account used to access mails on the mobile can only be used to check text e-mails while you can check all your newsletter subscriptions, heavy attachment files, etc, from your laptop. This way, you will not only reduce your GPRS bill but also save time.

Keep your cell-phone protected: Since you are now checking your e-mails on the mobile phone, update your device with the latest firmware, which is a set of operations and tools that reside between the hardware that the phone uses and the software that runs on the phone. This enables features, fixes bugs, and attends to the functioning of the phone. You can learn more about it from your mobile phone’s company website, e.g., nokia.com. This step will help keep your mobile phone protected against viruses and hacking.

Clear the cache: After you have checked your e-mails on your mobile phone, try and clear your Web browsing history as often as once a week. This way, if your phone falls into the wrong hands, no body will come to know about your personal details. You can clear out the browsing history just as you do on your laptop/computer by going to your browser’s Properties, then Tools options, where you can select ‘Clear Recent History’.

Avoid saving passwords: Though it may seem convenient to save passwords of personalor official e-mail accounts on the phone, one should avoid it. What if your phone gets stolen or you drop it somewhere; your entire data is easily accessible to others. Anirudh Gambhir, who runs a small business in Ludhiana, says, “I once forgot my cell phone in the train while commuting and came to know about it only after I reached my destination. My biggest fear was that I had saved all my passwords to my e-mail accounts on my phone. Anyone who got access to my phone would have access to all my e-mails.So I immediately went to the office and changed all my passwords.”

Lock it up: Lock your phone with a password. Some phones have a default pin code that also restores factory settings. For example, Nokia uses 12345. However, to avoid any problems, always change this number.

Train your staff: If you have made enterprise applications like an ERP system available on your employees’ mobiles, always train your staff on how to use mobile e-mail, browsing and any other apps. Else they may not only add to unnecessary expenses but may also end up placing confidential business data at risk.

Special thanks to Nidhi.

Social networking sites combine two factors that make for an ideal target for online criminal activity: a massive number of users and a high level of trust. Cyber-criminals exploit such trusted environments to steal confidential information for financial gain. Cybercriminals also use messages or vulnerabilities in third party applications to get you to personal information. Some threats that spread through third-party applications include tracking cookies, viruses and rogue applications. Since these links appear to be posted by a trusted source, these attacks are very successful. People are not who they say they are on social networking sites.

The Human Impact, over half of Indians have lied about person al details online and one in three have faked identities online. With an online identity stolen every three seconds, cybercriminals can easily create fake accounts for familiar faces.

There are plenty of web­sites offering cheat tools for “social games.” Often, the only thing these end up doing is stealing your passwords and other private information. Some allow access to all the information in your account and even post updates on your friends’ walls without your knowledge!

Furthermore, since users reveal significant private information on these sites, cybercriminals can lever age social engineering techniques to further deceive users. For example, the highly prevalent Koobface worm abuses social networking websites and employs search engine optimization techniques to lure victims to malicious sites. Another recent attack involved a fake survey seeking users’ opinions on a social networking site in exchange for gifts. Upon completion of the survey however, the user was redirected to a page that sought personal information in order to receive the gift.

Alternatively, cybercriminals can also use spoofed social networking pages with links to a false down load that requires users to enter confidential information.

Here are some tips to stay safe while networking

• Avoid giving out too many personal details.
• Make sure you read, understand and set your account and privacy settings.
• Make sure the URL belongs to the social net­working brand.
• Type the domain name of the website directly into your browser’s address bar rather than following any link.
• Invest in comprehensive, up-to-date and paid security software which includes tools that identify unsafe links on social networking sites. These tools are even available for free online -they scan your news feed to help you easily see which links are safe and which are risky.
• Watch what you post. Since a digital imprint lasts forever, remember that what you say on your site about yourself or others -may become public and can often be nearly impossible to remove.

Sources: Norton cyber criminal’s report: The Human Impact,  inputs provided by my mate Gaurav Kanwal (CSM, India for consumer products and solutions, Symantec)

No web browser, No Blue ray playback, USBs close to each other, external power brick, can’t use standard notebook hard drive and surprisingly not bundling with an HDMI cable.

iPad – A 7″ inch iPad is most strongly rumored product that is expected to launch later this year.

iPhone 5 –Apple has faced a lot of negative publicity with the issue surrounding the antenna reception problems on the iPhone 4. The company is believed to be working on releasing the next generation of the iPhone (possibly iPhone 5).

The winner, (with maximum votes) will be gifted a XBOX gaming console and his/her work will be displayed on the all new MSN India homepage this Independence Day!

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