Microsoft brings Skype to Amazon Fire phone

Summary: Microsoft is making Skype available on Amazon's Fire phone, making good on the company's commitment to provide its productivity tools on all mobile platforms.

Microsoft, the newly self-christened 'productivity and platforms' company, is making good on its charter by continuing to develop versions of its productivity tools to all platforms, not just Windows.

On July 23, Microsoft announced it will offer Skype on the new Amazon Fire phones later this month.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has made its software available on an Amazon platform. Skype already is available for Kindle Fire HD and HDX tablets.

For the Fire phone version, Microsoft 'enhanced' its Skype for Android application to make it more consistent with the Fire phone look and feel, according to today's post on the Skype Garage and Updates blog.

'Through a widget that is visible from Fire's Carousel, users can easily see their chats and notifications at a glance, without having to launch the Skype app and open chats with a one-click action. Finally, the customized Skype 3D icon and notification badge show Skype's use of Fire phone's innovative Dynamic Perspective technology,' the post continued.

During yesterday's Q4 fiscal 2014 earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella restated Microsoft's new and increasingly important cross-platform focus.

'We are clear that our experiences are going to be available on all devices. We have a specific goal for multiple Microsoft applications to be available on every home screen,' Nadella said.

'Mobility for us goes beyond just devices,' Nadella noted. 'While we are certainly focused on building great phones and tablets, we think of mobility more expansively. We think the opportunity ... comes from running our productivity experiences on Windows, iOS and Android device(s).'