<s>
Skype	B-Protocol
Qik	I-Protocol
was	O
a	O
video	O
messaging	O
service	O
by	O
Skype	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
the	O
company	O
,	O
Skype	B-Application
Technologies	O
,	O
who	O
acquired	O
Qik	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
service	O
,	O
offered	O
for	O
Android	B-Application
,	O
iOS	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Phone	I-Protocol
devices	O
,	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
exchange	O
video	O
messages	O
between	O
individuals	O
or	O
within	O
a	O
group	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Previously	O
,	O
the	O
Qik	B-Protocol
service	O
offered	O
a	O
mobile-based	O
live	O
video-sharing	O
website	O
and	O
two-way	O
video	O
conferencing	O
application	O
that	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
stream	O
live	O
video	O
from	O
their	O
cell	O
phones	O
to	O
the	O
internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Qik	B-Protocol
enabled	O
users	O
to	O
record	O
and	O
upload	O
video	O
directly	O
from	O
supported	O
cell	O
phones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Qik	B-Protocol
,	O
a	O
Silicon	O
Valley	O
startup	O
,	O
launched	O
its	O
alpha	O
version	O
in	O
December	O
2007	O
and	O
went	O
into	O
public	O
beta	O
in	O
July	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Qik	B-Protocol
was	O
compatible	O
with	O
approximately	O
140+	O
cell	O
phones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Qik	B-Protocol
videos	O
can	O
be	O
shared	O
on	O
numerous	O
services	O
including	O
Ovi	O
Share	O
,	O
Facebook	B-Application
via	O
Facebook	B-Application
Connect	O
,	O
Twitter	B-Application
,	O
Livestream	O
,	O
12secondstv	O
,	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
,	O
Blogger	B-Application
,	O
Seesmic	O
,	O
Tumblr	B-Application
,	O
WordPress	B-Application
,	O
Digg	B-Application
,	O
StumbleUpon	O
,	O
Del.icio.us,	O
MySpace	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Technorati	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
videos	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
shared	O
directly	O
on	O
the	O
Qik	B-Protocol
website	O
or	O
embedded	O
on	O
a	O
webpage	O
for	O
live	O
or	O
pre-recorded	O
videos	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
announced	O
on	O
January	O
6	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
at	O
CES	O
,	O
that	O
Skype	B-Application
had	O
acquired	O
Qik	B-Protocol
for	O
a	O
sum	O
of	O
$150	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
February	O
22	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
their	O
plans	O
to	O
retire	O
the	O
Skype	B-Protocol
Qik	I-Protocol
app	O
on	O
March	O
24	O
citing	O
low	O
usage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
features	O
from	O
the	O
app	O
have	O
been	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
Skype	B-Application
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Qik	B-Protocol
was	O
founded	O
by	O
Ramu	O
Sunkara	O
,	O
Bhaskar	O
Roy	O
and	O
Nikolay	O
Abkairov	O
in	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2008	O
,	O
Qik	B-Protocol
received	O
$3million	O
in	O
Series	O
B	O
funding	O
from	O
Marc	O
Benioff	O
(	O
Salesforce.com	B-Application
)	O
,	O
Arjun	O
Gupta	O
(	O
Telesoft	O
Partners	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
George	O
Garrick	O
(	O
Jingle	O
Networks	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2008	O
,	O
a	O
month	O
after	O
its	O
beta	O
release	O
,	O
Qik	B-Protocol
received	O
an	O
undisclosed	O
amount	O
of	O
investments	O
from	O
Netscape	B-Protocol
veterans	O
Marc	O
Andreessen	O
and	O
Ben	O
Horowitz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
agreed	O
to	O
serve	O
as	O
board	O
advisers	O
on	O
Qik	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
mid-2009	O
,	O
Qik	B-Protocol
received	O
another	O
round	O
of	O
funding	O
under	O
$5.5	O
million	O
from	O
Peter	O
Loukianoff	O
at	O
Almaz	O
Capital	O
and	O
Quest	O
Venture	O
Partners	O
,	O
and	O
some	O
private	O
investors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2011	O
,	O
Skype	B-Application
acquired	O
Qik	B-Protocol
for	O
$150	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
19	O
,	O
2014	O
,	O
Skype	B-Application
and	O
Qik	B-Protocol
users	O
received	O
emails	O
announcing	O
the	O
original	O
Qik	B-Protocol
service	O
was	O
being	O
retired	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Qik	B-Protocol
service	O
was	O
subsequently	O
shut	O
down	O
on	O
April	O
30	O
,	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
Skype	B-Protocol
Qik	I-Protocol
service	O
was	O
launched	O
on	O
October	O
14	O
,	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
9	O
years	O
of	O
service	O
,	O
on	O
February	O
23	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
decided	O
to	O
shut	O
down	O
Qik	B-Protocol
,	O
therefore	O
users	O
will	O
no	O
longer	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
send	O
or	O
receive	O
any	O
messages	O
via	O
the	O
video	O
chat	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
has	O
also	O
stated	O
that	O
many	O
features	O
of	O
Qik	B-Protocol
are	O
available	O
via	O
the	O
Skype	B-Application
app	O
.	O
</s>
