Microsoft Releases SkyDrive App For iPhone

Microsoft has released mobile apps for its SkyDrive cloud storage service on Windows Phone and iPhone.

iPhone users will be able to access and delete files, create folders and share links and folders directly to the Mail app. Other features include the ability to browse the entire SkyDrive, share folders or files with other users and organise files and folders according to the user’s preferences.

Rivalries put aside

Other app features include the ability to browse the entire SkyDrive, share any folder or file with one or more people, and create new folders. Users can also organise their files and folders according to personal preferences.

Microsoft has developed other apps for Apple’s mobile products, including Bing and OneNote. Despite their bitter rivalry in mobile operating systems and other categories, Microsoft has diligently continued to build software for the various Apple platforms: a wise move, considering the enduring popularity of the latter.

Rumours have circulated that Microsoft is planning on bringing a tablet-friendly version of Office to the iPad sometime in 2012, at least according to unnamed sources cited recently by The Daily. That publication added that a new version of Office for Mac OS X Lion is also in development for release sometime in 2012. Presumably, Microsoft is also prepping a touch-optimised version of Office for its own upcoming Windows 8 tablets.

Both Apple and Microsoft are battling Android for control of the mobile device space, although Microsoft seems to have made more progress in wounding their mutual opponent. Even as Microsoft’s Windows Phone scrambles for traction among smartphone users, the company’s legal team has manoeuvred a growing list of Google Android device manufacturers into paying royalties for their products. Microsoft argues that Android violates many of its patents.

Android royalties or no, Microsoft will need to face down the growing host of Android tablets – and the iPad – with its Windows 8 tablets. The upcoming operating system’s user interface is bifurcated into two separate environments: one filled with colourful tiles linked to applications, supposedly ideal for tablets, alongside a more traditional desktop that should appeal to power PC users. It seems a matter of course that Microsoft will develop apps of its more popular products for its flagship platform.