Many online apps and services do seem to be interconnected these days – take a look at the apps on your smartphone or tablet, how many of them have access to your Facebook account, and with that, are on a certain leash when it comes to checking out your contacts and connections? Well, Skype 5.0 for Android is now available, where it will allow Skype to go through your smartphone’s address book as it searches out matches between the names on your list and with the corresponding Skype accounts.
All matched names will eventually make their way to your Skype people list, now how about that for a hassle free involvement? In other words, folks who make use of a Microsoft account to connect to Skype will be able to see the full range of their address books, including the ones on Windows 8 or Outlook.com, being combed through meticulously for Skype account owners. This is not surprising considering how Microsoft owns Skype, and it would be nice to see this feature arrive on Skype on Windows Phone and iOS platforms in due time – which has already been slated for respective updates in the near future.
One has the choice not to have the matched names added to your Skype people list automatically though, and your phone number will remain outside of your profile for security and privacy purposes. Alternatively, you also have the choice to keep yourself hidden from others in addition to modifying or deactivating the number associated with the account. [Press Release]