A person who is familiar with this matter has said that Microsoft will be "consolidating all their communications technology" to be focused around the Skype platform. This means that Skype, which we are almost all familiar with, will now become the standard chat service on the next generation Xbox platform, as well as on the PC and tables.
This person also said, "You might jump to the conclusion that we'll see asynchronous voice and video messages in next-gen Xbox Live."
Microsoft made it's largest acquisition in it's forty year history in 2011 when it purchased Skype for $8.5 billion. Skype's former Chief Executive Tony Bates is now heading up the new Skype division within Microsoft.
In November 2011, Microsoft announced plans to close its instant message chat service MSN, which we now know is closing down for good on March 15, 2013, will be replaced by Skype's messaging tool.
Microsoft has recent posted a job advertisement which they were seeking a user interface designer for their "next generation Xbox".
"The team you'll join is responsible for Skype in the living room (broadly the home), across various devices but with the focus on the large screen and the next generation Xbox," said the job advertisement.
