After some speculation, it seems eBay is going to pick up Skype for a few billion. Why, you ask? So millions of weird ashtray collectors can call each other immediately when they see a rare, near mint snoopy acrylic for sale in Illinois. It will also allow these selfsame weird ashtray collectors to stalk each other, thereby turning eBay into the world's largest flea market/speed dating site. Expect a massive rise in the number of reflected images of some fat guy's junk in the headstock of a 1969 Les Paul.

eBay has agreed to buy Skype, the fast-growing provider of voice calls over the internet, for $2.6bn, with the price rising to as much as $4.1bn if the company hits certain performance targets over the next three years.

Ebay to pay up to $4.1bn for Skype [Marketwatch via DesignTechnica]

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