Juan Carlos Perez| Infoworld
Microsoft has chosen OneDrive as the new name for its SkyDrive cloud storage service, which it had agreed to rebaptize after losing a trademark dispute last year with British broadcast TV and broadband provider BSkyB.
After losing the case in a U.K. court, Microsoft reached an agreement with BSkyB in July that gave it a period of time to choose a new name for SkyDrive.
In its announcement on Monday, Microsoft made no direct mention of the BSkyB dispute, although it did include a link to an article about the companies’ settlement deal.
Instead, Microsoft is trying to position the name change as an opportunity to give SkyDrive a branding upgrade of sorts. The OneDrive name better communicates Microsoft’s goal for OneDrive to be the only cloud storage service users need across all their devices and for all their files, including photos, videos and documents, according to the company.
“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,” wrote Ryan Gavin, general manager of Consumer Apps & Services at Microsoft, in a blog post.
Microsoft has also posted a one-minute video on YouTube promoting the new name.
Current users of SkyDrive and SkyDrive Pro won’t have to do anything as a result of the name change. SkyDrive Pro, which is designed for workplace use and is part of the Office 365 cloud email and collaboration suite, has been renamed OneDrive for Business.
