Growing Skype, FaceTime and Google help families connect at holiday time

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)'s Skype is now averaging some 300 million video call minutes a day, up about 900 percent from just four years ago. And, other services, like Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) chat and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s Facetime, are seeing strong growth as well. Much of that growth has come from families and friends using the service to keep in touch during holidays, to catch up on Sunday mornings, when 30 million users are logged into their Skype accounts in the U.S. alone, or to just keep a piece of home nearby. Article