Microsoft Introduces OneDrive: How To Earn Free Cloud Storage From SkyDrive Rebranding

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) officially rebranded its free cloud storage service on Wednesday following a late January announcement that SkyDrive would become OneDrive.

The change is due in part to Microsoft losing a trademark dispute over the “Sky” name with the British Sky Broadcasting Group. The rebranding also fits with Microsoft’s new corporate mission of being “One Microsoft.”

Microsoft said that existing SkyDrive customers won’t have to make any changes. All files previous sported with SkyDrive are accessible in OneDrive. Mobile users can find free updates for their SkyDrive apps in the Apple App Store, Google Play Store and Windows Phone App Store.

Microsoft also announced that new customers can enjoy seven free gigabytes of free cloud storage when they sign up for OneDrive.

SkyDrive customers can earn an additional five gigabytes of storage for free when they recommend friends to sign up for OneDrive.

In addition to the rebranding, Microsoft added automatic camera backup to the Android version of the OneDrive app. If users sign up for the camera backup feature, they are rewarded with an additional three gigabytes of cloud storage.

The professional version of SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro, has also been rebranded to OneDrive for Business, but Microsoft is keeping details about pricing and features a secret until the SharePoint Conference next month.

OneDrive will also be available to Xbox One users, allowing gamers to record, edit and share their videogame footage with their friends on Xbox Live, Facebook and YouTube. Xbox Live is also offering exclusive Xbox achievement for using OneDrive. +

It’s also rumored that Microsoft is planning to rebrand its line of Microsoft Office Web apps. For now, OneDrive will be the new default save location for Offce Web apps.

To celebrate the rebranding, Microsoft will give 100,000 users a free 100 GB of free cloud OneDrive storage via its Twitter account.