While I’m usually hesitant to post what could be a rumor, there are a lot of facts that point this to being true. Computer and Video Games UK has heard that Microsoft is looking to merge their previous communication tools into a Skype future so to say. Which would mean not only the new Xbox but PCs and tablets as well. A person familiar with the matter goes on to states that
You might jump to the conclusion that we’ll see asynchronous voice and video messages in next-gen Xbox Live.
We all heard back in 2011 when Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion dollars, recently last November they have announced that they will replace MSN Messenger with Skype’s messaging tool. So far all the dots are slowly being connected and recently a job ad was sighted asking for a user interface designer for the UK based Skype offices. The ad states that
The team you’ll join is responsible for Skype in the living room (broadly the home), across various devices but with a focus on the large screen and the next generation of Xbox.
The lines are pretty drawn but as usual until an official notice from Microsoft, take this with a grain of salt and we here at Broken Joysticks will keep you posted.