Skype integrated with Outlook.com, call and IM from your email

Skype is now available integrated into Outlook.com, meaning you'll be able to access the IM and calling service through Microsoft's inbox.

Integrating Skype and Outlook.com is the latest move by Microsoft as it looks to move the popular calling service into more areas, and in this case mirrors the sort of functionality that Gmail offers with Google Talk.

The service launches first as a preview in the UK before rolling out to the US and Germany in the coming weeks, and the idea is that rather than pinging a set of emails back and forth, it might just be simpler to call that person.

You'll need to download a browser plug-in (IE, Chrome, Firefox) to get the service to work, but this presumably means that you can also access Skype through the browser when on a public or shared computer, without having to download and login to the full Skype app.

You'll need to merge your Microsoft and Skype accounts, which seems to be becoming more of an inevitability, and you'll then get access to Skype through Outlook.

Skype recently came to the BlackBerry Q10 in preview, as it continues to make the service widely accessibly through various routes.

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