Microsoft officially rebrands SkyDrive as OneDrive, adding new features and launching promotions within the process.
Microsoft on Wednesday officially rebranded its SkyDrive cloud storage platform as OneDrive. To mark the transition, the corporate also introduced a brand new feature that permits videos to be shared like photos, in addition to automatic photo backup for the Android version of the service. Microsoft also announced plenty of new promotions that let users to procure additional cupboard space.
Microsoft agreed to desert the SkyDrive name in July, after a British court ruled that it violated a hallmark owned by the British Sky Broadcasting Group. Microsoft revealed the OneDrive branding in January, setting the stage for Wednesday’s official crossover.
As a product that caters to both businesses and consumers, OneDrive isn’t just a cloud storage play, but in addition a meaningful portion of the company’s “One Microsoft” strategy. It competes with formidable cloud storage services including Google Drive, iCloud, and Dropbox. Despite the cruel field, Microsoft’s offering has become popular, with upward of 250 million users. As a result of the brand new features and a fresh wave of publicity, OneDrive could be poised for more growth.
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The aforementioned promotions certainly can’t hurt Microsoft’s cause. The corporate offers a comparatively generous 7 GB of storage free of charge, but when you employ OneDrive’s photo backup feature on a cellular phone, Microsoft provide you with 3 GB of extra capacity. The corporate also upped its incentives for OneDrive users who refer friends; now you can get 500 MB for every user you attract to the service, as much as a maximum of five GB.
Microsoft is giving 100 GB of free storage for a year to the primary 100,000 users to access their accounts following the name change. The corporate also continues to present 200 GB of OneDrive storage for 2 years with the acquisition of Surface tablets.
Microsoft said the switch shouldn’t impact current OneDrive and OneDrive for Business users. Previously stored files will remain in Microsoft’s cloud, like before — but now users have the additional advantage of built-in video transcoding. The hot feature not just allows videos to be stored within the cloud, but additionally dynamically adjusts their resolution to slot the viewer’s screen when a video is shared. In the event you store a high-definition video and share it with someone using a sub-HD screen, in other words, OneDrive won’t waste bandwidth with the unique file’s superfluous pixels.
In a blog post, Chris Jones, corporate VP of Windows Services, wrote, “When you carry an iPhone or Android phone, or use an iPad, Android tablet, Windows device, or a Mac– OneDrive is offered there, too.” This emphasis on cross-platform service echoes comments Lync & Skype engineering VP Gurdeep Singh Pall made Tuesday at Microsoft’s Lync Conference 2014. He dismissed Microsoft’s reputation for proprietary tactics, noting that 130 million iOS and Android customers use Skype, and said Lync users will soon manage to have IP-enabled conversations with virtually anyone, Microsoft customers and non-customers alike.
If unleashed too aggressively, Microsoft’s ambition to insert its software and services on competing platforms could limit demand for Windows 8 devices, particularly tablets. The corporate has appeared aware of this balancing act; as accessible as OneDrive and Lync are becoming, Office — arguably the crown jewel inside the company’s software portfolio — hasn’t yet been released for iPads and Android tablets. One among new CEO Satya Nadella’s most immediate challenges could be directing when and the way additional cross-platform expansions occur.
Microsoft has partially responded to cross-platform delicacies by trying to make OneDrive an integrated a part of Windows. Apple’s customers can use Microsoft’s cloud — but only Windows bakes OneDrive directly into the file structure, making cloud-stored files as accessible and visual because the locally stored data with which we’re all familiar.
And whether Microsoft knows it must embrace the recognition of competing operating systems, the corporate still couldn’t resist taking a mild jab at Apple’s iPad. In a video released to spotlight OneDrive’s capabilities, a tender child drops what looks as if an iPad right into a fish tank. His mother looks momentarily dismayed, but seconds later, the 2 of them are at the couch, exploring OneDrive on a sparkly new Windows tablet.
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Michael Endler joined InformationWeek as an associate editor in 2012. He previously worked in talent representation within the entertainment industry, as a contract copywriter and photojournalist, and as a teacher. Michael earned a BA in English from Stanford University in 2005 … View Full Bio
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