March news sponsored by:

At Mobile World Congress last week, we saw more phonemakers jump aboard the Android Go train, as companies aim to make their technology and the software that runs on it more accessible to users. With Google and Facebook already optimising their applications and platforms for lower-end devices, Microsoft has joined the action by debuting a new version of Skype.    

This latest iteration is not designed for flagship phones, but rather ones that sport Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) to 5.0 (Lollipop), with the company noting that significant improvements have been made to the audiovisual aspect and the overall speed of the application. As such, video calling is said to be better on lower-end and older devices, as well as on networks suffering from spotty connectivity. 

According to Engadget, as of February 2018, 42% devices linked to Google Play are utilising either Android 4 or 5, which means this update from Microsoft could give a large number of users access to Skype. As such, this release makes a lot of sense.