Today Microsoft updated its SkyDrive application for iOS to
include automatic camera backup. Users of SkyDrive can now opt to have every
photo that they shoot on their iPhone saved and stored in Microsoft’s cloud.
SkyDrive provides a decent, if still inscrutably numbered 7
gigabytes of free storage – why not 8 or 8.1 remains outside of my
comprehension – which you could quickly fill with photos. Still, Microsoft has
integrated SkyDrive deeply across its products, meaning that if you exist at
all in the world of Windows (Xbox One, Windows 8.1 and so forth), having your
iOS photos quickly stored has real use: They are now accessible across your
entire line of screens.
I met with Microsoft to discuss the updated iOS application,
and was told that the company doesn’t want to discriminate on what you have in
your pocket, provided that you are a SkyDrive user. In short, there is a large
overlap between Windows users and iPhone users, and as such Microsoft wants to
ensure that its cross-platform products are as strong as possible.
SkyDrive faces competition from a host of companies, including
Google, Box, Dropbox, and others. There is a race afoot at the moment to store
the world’s files in the cloud. Previously, in the age of local storage, who
sold the operating system sold the file storage system – your PC was your own
little private, on-prem cloud, if you will. Now with files migrating to huge
pools of linked, public storage, the person who holds the files has the best
chance to enable their editing and management.
Those are high-margin activities. Just ask Office.
Continuing that theme, and I forget if this is new, but you can now create and
edit plain text files inside of SkyDrive.com. Hint hint, Box.
Also out in the update is better OneNote integration, and
improved Office file editing capabilities.
The marginal cost of cloud storage is falling to near zero
at the moment. Microsoft’s own Outlook.com offers essentially unlimited
storage, and Yahoo’s Flickr will land you with a full terabyte to store your
photos. SkyDrive will need to catch up, especially given how deeply it is integrated
into Windows 8.1.
For now, you can grab the updated iOS application here. If
you are on Android, hush and be patient.
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