American Idol Finalists Perform at Microsoft Store in Atlanta

It's their first performance since Scotty McCreery was crowned this season's American Idol and the unofficial kick off of the Idol's Tour.

Microsoft went all out today as they flew in the top 4: McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Haley Reinhart, and James Durbin to perform at the Grand Opening festivities at the new Microsoft Store at Lenox Mall in Atlanta.

Durbin, Reinhart, and Alaina all sang two songs before McCreery finished off the set with three well sung songs.

Observations:

Durbin has a HUGE voice, booming and fun to listen to. 

Reinhart has a good voice as well and you can tell she loves to sing.

Alaina is still struggling with some of the vocal chord problems she had during finals week.

McCreery is a great performer, he has his act down pat and the crowd loved it.

I'll start out with some pictures of James Durbin.

New Microsoft Store in Atlanta

The 9th Microsoft Store opened on Friday at Lenox Mall in Atlanta.  Good crowds hit the store all day long.

I'm hoping to check out the store today, and possibly go to the American Idols concert they are putting on in honor of the Grand Opening.

Impulse Buy: Microsoft Buys Skype

In its largest acquisition ever and the tech world's most massive deal in years, Microsoft Corp. is buying Internet communications company Skype Global for an amazing $8.5 billion.

Previously, Microsoft's biggest buy was $6 billion for online advertising firm aQuantive in 2007.

Skype's software allows users to talk for free online using messaging, voice and video and can also connect them to a land line or mobile phone for a fee. Users will now be able to connect to Microsoft offerings such as Lync, Outlook and Xbox Live, while Skype will support devices such as Xbox and Kinect, officials said. 

Skype is owned by an investment group led by Silver Lake, which bought the real-time voice and video company from its previous owner, eBay, in 2009 for slightly more than $2 billion. It was founded in 2003 and now has 170 million connected users who chatted for 207 billion minutes last year. 

The company will become a new division of Microsoft and will be led by its current chief executive, Tony Bates. 

Time will tell if this is a good or bad idea.

Microsoft to Kill Off Zune

According to this piece in Engadget, Microsoft plants to end its Zune platform.

It appears Microsoft will not be putting out any new hardware in the line, and will be henceforward focusing on integrating Zune functionality with the Windows Phone 7 platform.  I guess this is a smart move at this point.  The Zune HD is actually a great device, it's a shame Microsoft didn't promote it at all.

I would recommend gettig one as soon as possible.  The sound is great and the HD radio stations come in handy.