Microsoft Releases Upgraded SkyDrive App

Updated 25 May, 2013, 6:56 pm IST

Tuesday April 24 06:30 pm

Transcript by Newsy http //www.youtube.com/user/NewsyTech?feature=guide BY JOHN O'CONNOR ANCHOR JIM FLINK Windows users can now "fetch" their files from anywhere on the planet, thanks to Microsoft's latest upgrades to SkyDrive, the company's cloud file storage system. Microsoft launched several new apps to make SkyDrive accessible on multiple platforms, and the updated windows program is now available through a preview launched Monday. Gizmodo has the new features. "On SkyDrive for Windows, everything syncs automatically. So if you make a change to a document on your phone, it will instantly appear on your PC. Additionally, Microsoft has added some new fetching options, meaning you can access your files from a remote PC running the newest version of the SkyDrive preview." PCWorld reports, with its new storage options, SkyDrive will be more competitive against previously established cloud storage products such as Dropbox. "The cheapest option available from Dropbox for those who exceed the 2GB is a 50GB plan for $10 per month. Microsoft will offer paid plans starting at 20GB for only $10 per year. The 50GB (Microsoft) SkyDrive plan is only $25 per year--nearly 80 percent less than the same storage capacity with Dropbox." SkyDrive's reign atop the cloud storage world might be short lived, however, as Google plans to release its version known as Google Drive sometime later this week. Liveside has the details. "While most of the news about Google Drive has been leaked previously (5gb of free storage, more for a price, Windows/Mac/Android/iOS, etc.), it looks by all accounts that Google Drive is right around the corner, and so are comparisons to not only Dropbox, but SkyDrive as well." But Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky explains there are distinct advantages available only to SkyDrive users. "The benefits of SkyDrive integration with Windows are clear you can now drag-and-drop to and from SkyDrive with files up to 2GB, access all of your files offline, and have the full power of Windows Explorer available to manage your SkyDrive files and folders." The SkyDrive app preview for windows and other platforms is available now for download online.