Ballmer excited over gaining Skype's 170 million users

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said during a press conference yesterday regarding the firm's purchase of Skype, that the company will continue to offer the service on non-Microsoft products.

According to the CEO, products and services Skype users are accustomed to will "grow and be enhanced," and the company continues to support Skype for "non-Microsoft devices."

Skype has over 170 million users, and 600,000 new customers register for the product each day, something Microsoft will now have a hand in - especially on competing devices like iPhone and Android, and let's not for get PSP even though MS does not do handheld gaming outside of its Windows phone.

"The number of users is accelerating, which is really exciting to me," said Ballmer, via ARN. "We'll move beyond emails and text to rich communications experiences in the future. Talking to friends and colleagues around the world will be as seamless as talking to them across kitchen table or the conference room.

"This is a big day for Microsoft and a big day for Skype. By bringing together the best of Microsoft and the best of Skype, we will empower people around the world with new technologies that should bring them closer together."

The announcement of the deal yesterday stated that Microsoft purchased the chat service a cool $8.5 billion, and in the future it will support Xbox 360, Kinect and Xbox Live.

Thanks, Game Politics.