After being forced to ditch its SkyDrive name following a dispute with the telecommunication and TV giant BSkyB, Microsoft has today begun the rebranding process that will see SkyDrive become OneDrive. Existing users won’t notice a great deal other than the new name, but Microsoft is now also offering people who use its service the ability to increase their free storage capacity via referrals a la Dropbox, with the potential to earn an extra 5GB of space.
Starting today, OneDrive users will be able to refer their friends to the service, with each signup meaning that the new user and the person that referred them will get an additional free 500MB of cloud storage to use as they wish. With SkyDrive, sorry OneDrive, already offering a not inconsiderable 7GB of free storage just for signing up, the maximum of 10 referrals could see people racking up a whopping 12GB of online storage capacity without having to pay a penny.
But wait, there’s more!
Keen to get onto everyone’s smartphones, Microsoft is also offering an extra 3GB of space to anyone that enables camera uploads (photos and videos are supported here) on one of its apps. That means existing Windows Phone and iOS fans can claim their free space now, with Android owners having to download Microsoft’s newly updated OneDrive app that will enable the feature for them. All-in, users of OneDrive could potentially get a whopping 15GB of online storage for absolutely nothing. Compared to some of the competition, that’s very impressive indeed.
The newly redesigned Android app closely resembles its iOS brethren, with both now featuring the new OneDrive moniker, with Microsoft keen to ditch the old, now defunct name. Windows and Office 365 users will see the old SkyDrive name live on for a little while longer, but they too will eventually make the switch to the OneDrive branding.
With Dropbox the undoubted king of the hill in the online storage stakes, Microsoft is using its considerable clout in order to try and muscle in on its territory. With so much free storage on offer, it’s likely to do quite well too.
If you’re using iOS, Android, Windows or Windows Phone, or any other platform that boasts OneDrive, it’s best to download the newly updated apps from the respective app stores right away.
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