On January 27, Microsoft announced that its cloud storage service SkyDrive will become OneDrive at some point in the future. SkyDrive will be renamed OneDrive, while SkyDrive Pro will become OneDrive for Business.
Microsoft has already set up OneDrive.com and invited anyone who would like to know more to sign up for email updates.
“We know that increasingly you will have many devices in your life, but you really want only one place for your most important stuff…One place that is seamlessly connected across all the devices you use,” explains Ryan Gavin, General Manager, Consumer Apps & Services at Microsoft in a blog post.
Current users of either SkyDrive or SkyDrive Pro will see no changes for now other than the name change, Gavin said. “The service will continue to operate as you expect and all of your content will be available on OneDrive and OneDrive for Business respectively as the new name is rolled out across the portfolio,” he said.
While Gavin also alludes to a legal reason for changing the name of a long-established product, the implication seems to be that the name change comes with added features or functionality.
The company has been coy however about what those added benefits will be, though some have commented on the blog to say they hope it might be about 500GB storage, unlimited storage, or tiered storage plans. At present, the typical cloud storage service already allows seamless connection to whatever is stored, across all devices used.
The move follows a trademark infringement battle with British Sky Broadcasting Group in the European Union brought by Sky against Microsoft in the English High Court.