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Microsoft to bundle Skype VOIP with Windows 8.1 upgrade

REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Microsoft says Skype, its voiceover-IP service, will be included with its Windows 8.1 operating system update when it's released in October.

"Skype will be front-and-center on Windows 8.1 -- from the very first time you turn on your PC," Skype desktop marketing head Aga Guzik wrote in an official blog post.

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Around 300 million people use Skype on a range of devices, TechRadar reported Thursday.

"Now you don't have to download your favorite app to stay in touch whenever you're apart," Guzik blogged. "With Windows 8.1, simply log in and you're ready to go."

Microsoft, pushing what it call its "one experience" across all Windows devices, says Skype is one of 20 new or upgraded apps that will launch as part of the Windows 8.1 upgrade Oct. 18..

The upgraded OS is expected to have tight integration with Bing, Skype, Internet Explorer, SkyDrive, Outlook.com, Xbox Music, Video and Games.

"We believe that connecting and sharing should be a seamless part of every Windows experience," Ryan Gavin, general manager of Microsoft apps and services, wrote on the Windows Experience blog.

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