Skype gets "always-on" feature for Windows Phone 8

This week Microsoft has announced that they're bringing on a whole new Skype app for their Windows Phone 8 app. This update allows Skype to be on always, or "always-on", as it were, not draining the battery as a normal app would. This is allowed quite simply because Microsoft owns the bulk of Skype, thus letting them work as close as possible with the developers running the show – integration as never before.

This update allows Skype to work just as intuitively as your phone. You can video chat here with a tap – just as you've been able to chat with your phone or your text messaging in the past. With Skype on always, it's as if the Windows Phone 8 universe is as tied up with this giant chat beast as it is with SMS.

This is a giant deal for Microsoft who also made a big deal of their Skype integration on Windows 8 – with this boost from Microsoft, Skype is ready to stay a giant name in the video chat business. As it were though, should one or the other fail, Skype may well fall with it. With cross-over deal happening, both Skype and Microsoft are ready to harvest the power of brand trust – one must be excellent if they work with the other.

Stick around and see how both brands expand and how Skype will truly be integrated with the Windows Phone 8 world in the very near future!