Microsoft Renames SkyDrive: Say Hello To OneDrive

Microsoft has changed the name of its SkyDrive cloud storage platform to OneDrive following a court ruling that SkyDrive infringed BSkyB’s trademark.

The High Court of England and Wales  ruled in August 2013 that the SkyDrive name infringed on a trademark held across the EU registered by British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB), meaning that  Microsoft had to rename SkyDrive within a ‘reasonable period of time’.

In a blog post on the new service’s site, Ryan Gavin, General Manager, Consumer Apps & Services at Microsoft, wrote, “We believe the new OneDrive name conveys the value we can deliver for you and best represents our vision for the future. We are excited about what is to come, and can’t wait to share more.”

One team, one drive

Microsoft has assured existing users of SkyDrive and SkyDrive Pro that they won’t see any change in their service except for the cosmetic alteration, as all their data will be rolled over to OneDrive and OneDrive Business respectively.

New users and interested observers can also sign up on a preview page, where the company says you can, “Expect to be able to experience the new OneDrive soon”, meaning that there may well be new features to come.

Although BSkyB doesn’t presently have a product called SkyDrive, Microsoft’s branding was still judged to be confusing to the average consumer. In the hearing, Sky presented records of 17 customers who had contacted its customer services seeking information about SkyDrive. The broadcaster had previously operated its own cloud storage service called Sky Store & Share, making the matter even more complicated.

Microsoft has recently announced several new upgrades and service for SkyDrive, showing that cloud storage is an important business area for the company, especially as it looks to boost sales of its Surface and Surface 2 tablet devices. The company recently upgraded the amount of storage available to SkyDrive users, who can now pay $100 a year for 200GB of storage on top of the 7GB of free storage it already offers.

Microsoft also announced in November that SkyDrive would be integrated with its Xbox One games console, working with the OneGuide app to share photos and videos between devices.

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