UPDATED 12:54 EDT / JUNE 22 2011

Microsoft Reworks SkyDrive for HTML 5: A Stab at iCloud, Google?

The personal cloud has driven major tectonic movements within the technology world, and has caused giant organizations to traverse the IPO path. This kind of influence has prompted key players to beef up their products and services to prepare for mounting demands in the future, and possibly rigid competition. One of the firsts to respond to this idea is Microsoft, as they partially overhaul SkyDrive—a collaborative platform built using HTML 5 for the modern web. Essentially, SkyDrive is a cloud storage that allows you to store photos, upload files, gives you power to access these anywhere, anytime. You also get to choose and give permission to people you want to share your documents with.

In his recent blog post SkyDrive Group Program Manager Omar Shahine provided details on what triggered them to update their personal cloud service. He wrote, “a key part to delivering on our goals is having a great web experience that works across platforms. While over 100 million people have tried SkyDrive on the web, we know that there’s a lot more we can do to improve the experience. So starting today, we are launching a new version of the SkyDrive website. We took advantage of modern browsers and HTML5 to make SkyDrive faster, easier to navigate, and more beautiful for viewing photos. The new SkyDrive will be rolling out soon, so check back if you don’t see it right away.”

Experts see a scuffle that looks like this: Apple iCloud versus the Titans. The itans being Google, Amazon Cloud Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft SkyDrive. iCloud also faces a colossal threat that goes by the name Spotify. Their technology has gone beyond just storing music and videos. Now, they are making multiple device or channel access possible. With personal cloud demands lording over Apple and Microsoft grounds, there is a bigger reality that they will be positioning business to win. Recently, the personal cloud also got boost from Sony with the launch of Music Unlimited and Facebook’s iPhone photo sharing app.

What used to be just the regular program that hooks up with all other Microsoft apps has now received a makeover from its creator. It has been there for four years, but it is only now that this storage system begins to receive serious attention. This is a testament that the company, as early as now, could be foreseeing contest with the overhyped entree of iCloud in the market. With the advantage of HTML5 techniques and hardware acceleration, SkyDrive is no pushover.


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