Skype and Gaga: Highlights from The Born This Way Ball

We've had an exciting past few months accompanying Lady Gaga as the official partner of her world tour: The Born This Way Ball.

From Stockholm to London to Barcelona, we've helped Little Monsters experience the show in incredible new ways: from instantly sharing their looks on our Blue Carpet with Skype Photo Share to leaving messages for Gaga in our video booth.

Along the tour we've invited local fashion bloggers, Gaga fans and even DJ's to join us and share their favorite moments from the experience. As the tour makes its start through the US, we thought we would take a look back at some highlights from the tour so far.

In London, we brought along Little Monster and talented Gaga illustrator Helen Green whose drawings have caught the attention of Gaga in the past.

Helen had the chance to meet Lady Gaga backstage after the show and even became the first Little Monster in the Haus of Gaga! We are incredibly proud of Helen and happy that we could bring these artists together for a wonderful moment.

"Since meeting Lady Gaga at her Twickenham show, I had the amazing opportunity to attend her fragrance launch at Harrods in London. It was such a memorable night to be part of, I met some lovely people from the Haus as well as Gaga herself, and spoke to some Little Monsters at the event too.

The news of me becoming the first fan-member of the Haus of Gaga has made it possible for me to share my work with a much larger audience.

I'm so grateful to know that my work is appreciated, and I'm extremely thankful for Skype Events for giving me such a life-changing experience."

- Helen Green

Moving onto Milan, we asked fashion blogger Nicoletta to be our Skype Reporter, and she created a fantastic video recapping the night with the fans on the blue carpet before the show:

For music lovers like DJ Lindsay Woods, The Born This Way Ball in São Paulo was not just another concert, but as she describes, "one of the best days of my life." Be sure to catch her full recap on her blog.

Now as The Born This Way Ball makes its way through the U.S., we're excited to meet the Little Monsters at the shows from Seattle to Florida. If you're headed to an upcoming show, be sure to check out Skypeball.com for ideas on what to wear, what to expect at the show and don't forget to stop by the Skype blue carpet upon your arrival to get your photo taken.

For more exclusive videos, including our world tour recap videos, check out our playlist on YouTube or take a peek below to see what it's all about:

by Leanne Johnson via The Big Blog

Microsoft messenger soft shutdown starts March 15

Microsoft has been asking its Messenger clients to switch to Skype since last November. (Microsoft)

Microsoft is informing its users that it will start the process of switching off its Windows Live Messenger service on March 15.

The company announced last November it would bedumping its service in early 2013 but gave no firm date. It encouraged Messenger users to download Skype and begin using that service instead. Users of both services are able to merge their accounts and contact list

Skype 6.1 for Windows Desktop with Outlook Integration

Introducing Skype 6.1 for Windows, now with Outlook integration and a visual update to the toolbar. This is an exciting update because the time spent on email by many people is still significant. And if you're like many of us who work at Skype, we spend lots of time toggling between our email and Skype desktop clients. Now it's really convenient to send a Skype instant message, start a free Skype to Skype call, or make a call to any mobile or landline - all within Outlook.

Here are more details:

It's easy to get in touch. We have integrated Skype and Outlook to display contacts' online status, contact information and mood message within the Outlook contact card.

Skype Contact Information within Outlook

Profile for contact in Skype - same contact information and status

Call any phone. When you want to call someone on their mobile or landline from Outlook, Skype will initiate the call for you. You can call anyone as long as you have their contact information in Outlook, but you don't need to be friends on Skype. You can use your existing Skype credit or subscription to reach them.

Stay in touch with your Skype contacts. When you want to contact anyone in your Outlook contact list who is already on Skype, you can instant message, audio or video call them. To do so they need to be in your Skype contacts list to reach them.

IM: Initiating IM from Outlook

Skype opens to initiate or resume a conversation

This feature works with Outlook 2010 or higher and enables you to connect over Skype when email details match.

Besides the Skype integration with Outlook, here's some additional improvements in Skype 6.1 for Windows that you might want to know about.

Add a new contact. We have made adding a contact easier than ever. You can now add someone by searching for them directly out of your contacts list. If they're not in your contact list yet, results will come up so you can add them in 2 clicks.

Search initiated in contact list. You can add a new person directly from the list of available results if they're not yet in your contact list

New profile with more accessible account information. Finally, we have updated the account information area to make it easier to navigate around your account data.

Selecting your profile information now includes account information and options to manage your options.

Click here to download the new version now. Please let us know your feedback on the Skype Support Network, or if you notice an issue or bug, please write about it on our public issue tracker.

by apiero via The Big Blog