Microsoft embeds Skype directly into Outlook.com inbox [video]

Here’s a good way for Microsoft to attract new users to its Outlook web mail platform that doesn’t involve convincing people that Gmail is too scary to use. Microsoft’s Skype blog announced this week that it has started rolling out a preview version of Outlook that will give users the ability to make Skype calls directly from their web browsers. The video demonstration that Microsoft has posted of Skype in Outlook shows that the integration is very smooth — when you click over someone’s email profile, you can now see voice and video calling icons that you can click to connect with someone over Skype. The preview version of Outlook is launching in the United Kingdom this week and will roll out in the United States over the next couple of weeks. Microsoft’s full video of Skype in Outlook is posted below.