[Updated] Skype connects with Microsoft Account

[Update] Today(24th October 2012) Skype made the following beta features available to all users via a major update which upgrades the build for Skype for Windows to 6.0.0.120 and Skype for Mac to 6.0.0.2946. The upgrade can now be installed via Skype Upgrade or simply by downloading the latest version from their site. Also, Skype is to release the ‘Metro’ or ‘Windows 8’ version of Skype on 26th October.

Skype and Microsoft, the story continues. After Skype app mistakenly getting its way inside the Windows Update Service recently, this new feature brings back some good news of Skype and Microsoft Services integration capabilities.

Well, the integration is pretty straight forward and it’s all about ‘merging’  of your Microsoft Account with your Skype Account. So what you’ll be getting is all your Messenger contacts along with your existing Skype contacts. But mind it, this feature is currently available on Skype Build: 5.11.0.102 beta. So unless you really really want to give this a try, it is always advised to stay for a stable release.

Want to give it a spin? Download Skype beta Build: 5.11.0.102

Here’s what Skype had to say about this new feature:

Today we have released a Beta version of Skype 5.11 for Windows. In this release, we are enabling Skype users to reach even more of their friends and family. We’ve added beta support for:

• Sharing Instant Messages with friends with Messenger You can now sign in with your Microsoft account (formerly Windows Live ID), and see presence as well as send and receive IM messages from your friends who are using Messenger, Xbox, Hotmail or Outlook.com.
• Improved Facebook integration You can now sign in directly with your Facebook account log in, without needing to first create a Skype account.
• Support for 6 new languages We are excited to support our growing community around the world with new localized versions of Skype in Thai, Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian, Catalan and Slovak, bringing the total languages Skype supports to 38.

In addition, we have added new features and minor improvements to improve usability of the Skype for Windows client.

• Sign in with a Microsoft or Facebook account.You can now sign into Skype directly using a Microsoft or Facebook account, without having to first create a Skype account, making it easier to connect with friends on Skype without needing to setup a new Skype account.
• Link Microsoft and Facebook accounts to a Skype account.If you sign in with a Microsoft or Facebook account you will be offered the option to link your Skype account. If you choose the link option then Skype will display a combined list of friends. This is an area we are still working through so please let us know about your experience.
• Updated visual design.We have refreshed and flattened the Skype UI with a simpler and less cluttered look.
• Removal of the online user count.We have removed the online user counter at the bottom of your Skype Contacts list to unclutter the UI and make more space for your friends within the contacts list.
• Display previously created profile pictures.When you change your profile picture, we will now show you all of your previous Skype profile pictures so you don’t have to look through old files if you want to use a previous image.
• Improved telemetry.We are constantly looking for ways to improve the quality of our product. To that end we are adding additional “opt-in” telemetry reports for users who choose this option: “Tools>> Options>>Advanced>>Tick “Help improve Skype…” The reports may contain your Skype ID and or Microsoft Account ID but we will not use it to identify you or contact you.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing about your experiences.
The Skype team

Note: To know about more info and known issues with the beta, please visit here.

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Live Messenger gets Facebook Chat

               

                     Today(18.08.10) The Windows Live team released the beta 2 of the Windows Live Essentials Wave 4. The beta updates the entire Essentials Suite. Among these is a major and a most awaited feature, which is the Integration of  Facebook Chat to Live Messenger.

According to the Windows Live Team, the initial facebook chat from Windows Live will be available for  US, UK, France, Brazil, Germany, and Russia today and the rest of world will be getting it in the coming days. Not sure if its completely true because I’m living in Sri Lanka yet I am already using this feature.

 

 

To enable Facebook Chat Integration, follow the below steps.

• Download and Install Windows Live Essentials beta 2. 
• Go to your Windows Live Profile Page.
• Add or Edit Facebook Service Settings.
• Make Sure You have selected all the checkboxes, click on “Connect with Facebook”

• Allow Permission for Facebook adding.
• Then you will be able to see your facebook friends on your Windows Live Messenger.

 

For more information on the new beta 2 release follow the Windows Live Team Blogs Review.

Offline Installer for Windows Live Essentials 2011 beta

It made quite  a buzz for  most of the Live Essentials beta users  to see that the Essentials Installer was an online one. Unlike previous betas and versions there were no Offline  Installer(not even a torrent). It was really annoying knowing that each time you want to do something and re-install the Essentials suite, you have to go through the entire Online process which for me  took a huge time  as I’m having a 512kbps line over here.

I was about to install the Essentials 2011 beta again after doing a format. To my surprise i saw this tweet by Ed Bott.

Looking for a full offline installer for Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 Beta? I’ve found it: http://bit.ly/bP9oA2

It links to an ZDNet article by Ed Bott on how to get the links for an Offline Installer, which again you should redirect your self to a Windows Live Solution Center Article. The Links on that page aren’t click-able, therefore requires you to manually enter the link on the  Address bar and download. Here are the Links for the Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 beta Offline Installer.

Languages	Code	Link
English	EN	http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/en/wlsetup-all.exe
Spanish	ES	http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/es/wlsetup-all.exe
French	FR	http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/fr/wlsetup-all.exe
Japanese	JA	http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/ja/wlsetup-all.exe
Dutch	NL	http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/nl/wlsetup-all.exe
Portuguese (Brazil)	PT-BR	http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/pt-br/wlsetup-all.exe
Chinese (Simplified)	ZH-ZN	http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/zh-cn/wlsetup-all.exe

Credit for Ed Bott for the news

No More Tweets on your Windows Live Profile ?

Its been a while since Windows Live offered many Services that you can integrate with your Windows Live Profile. Among the services were facebook, twitter*, myspace, wordpress, blogger and many more. Basically what this does is you can connect your Live Profile with the ability to aggregate updates from third-party services.

If you are already using these services and moreover if you have added twitter to the Service list,you might have noticed that twitter feeds are missing and you cant edit or change twitters Windows Live Settings. For those of you who didn’t had twitter were not even able to add it to the profile.

Yesterday Microsoft claimed that the issue was due to a Change of Policy by Twitter and the Live Team is working on with Twitter to solve the matter. So missing tweets, not able to add twitter ? there’s nothing to worry and nothing we can do about it. Lets hope that the Windows Live team will quickly be able to get the work done with Twitter.

Below is the mail that the existing users of Twitter on Windows Live will get these days.

Dear Windows Live Customer, Thank you for connecting your social networks and other services with Windows Live. We are contacting you because you have added your Twitter feed to Windows Live and we want to notify you of an upcoming change. Beginning June 30, 2010 your tweets will no longer be automatically imported from Twitter and shared out to your Windows Live Messenger friends due to policy changes made by Twitter. We are working hard with Twitter to make this service available again and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. We remain focused on making Hotmail, Messenger, and your PC with Windows great companions to social networks and other services. This change has no impact on your ability to connect Windows Live with our other 75+ other social networks and other service partners, which include Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Flickr, and more. Sincerely, The Windows Live Team

Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 beta is here – Download Now.

Click Image To Download.

The waiting is over(almost) for all who have been interested in the New Wave 4, Yesterday(23rd June) the guys from the Windows Live Team Blog confirmed that the Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 beta will be made publicly available to be downloaded on the 24th June.  Though they have not given a time frame on when the download link will go up so its time for F5s and eyes on the blogs. Though the download page is still not up at the time of writing this post, Please check with the image above for downloading as I will update it with the link(s) as soon as its available.

Official WL beta build is : 15.4.2850.0607

Lastest WL Post-Public beta build is : 15.4.2850.0624.

If you want to know what this New Windows Live Essentials is all  about, you might want to take a look at this Intro.

Windows Live Essentials will include Messenger , Mail , Photo Gallery , Movie Maker , Writer , Sync and Family Safety. The new Wave  requires Windows Vista or Windows 7. Sorry XP users, here’s another reason that you might want to upgrade to Windows 7. It’s available in English, French, Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, or Spanish. For those who are interested in trying out the new beta, they must make sure that there might be bugs and errors still hidden. So make sure you are ready for them and if you do encounter any trouble or bugs please do give the Windows Live team a feedback so they can work on it.

If you want an in depth guide go check here, where you will find plenty of more facts on each app and service that comes along.

Update #1: Finally after much awaiting the download links are live. Click on the image on top of the post to download.

Update #2: The setup will install the Entire Essentials Suite. Below you can find the Installers from Language and Installation Method specified.

English: Auto – Manual

French: Auto – Manual

Spanish: Auto – Manual

Dutch: Auto – Manual

Portuguese: Auto – Manual

Japanese: Auto – Manual

Chinese (Simplified): Auto – Manual

Auto : Downloads and Installs the entire Essentials suite. No prompt for choices.
Manual : User can select what to install from the list.

links courtesy LiveSide

Windows Live Essentials beta official download page…

Keep yourself Updated with the FIFA 2010 Schedule using Windows Live Calendar

FIFA World Cup 2010 is just around the corner and and I’m one of the die hard fans who doesnt want to miss a single minute of the  matches. Special thanks for BBC for taking the trouble to make a calendar that can be used with Windows Live and many other apps as well. The Calendar is in .ics format which enables multi-app usage. However, here I will show how to use the calendar with the Windows Live Calendar. This is a great way for the soccer fans who are not sure about the times and  for the people who are on the go as you will get a Reminder before each match. Theres nothing much you need to do. Just go through the following steps and your Windows Live Calendar will be fully updated with the match fixtures with a brief info on the broadcasts by BBC for the UK fans and you will be notified 15 minutes(can be changed) just before the match.

• Download the World Cup fixtures v1.0 and save the .ics file to your Desktop.
• Go to the Windows Live Calendar webpage.
• Sign In with your Windows Live ID.
• Click on Subscribe, which is located just above the Calendar.
• Select Import from an ICS file and Browse for the .ics file which you downloaded previously.
• Select Import into a new calendar.
• Click Import calendar.
• Click Done.

Now you will see that the Calendar is already updated with the Match Fixtures according to your Time Zone*.  You can even use the Windows Live Mail Desktop Applications Calendar Option too. Each Event will give you a brief summary on the

• Match Name (Teams and Group)
• Venue
• Time
• A Description on BBC s Coverage.
• and you can set a custom time for a reminder.

Official FIFA 2010 Match Schedule