OneDrive announces a new free tier of 15GB, reduces prices for storage purchase and increases storage included with Office 365 to 1TB.

OneDrive Increases Free Storage and Office 365 Gets 1TB Free

Microsoft announced several updates to OneDrive for Business including storage bump to 1TB per user. It is a serious contender for businesses of any size.

OneDrive for Business Now Offers 1TB per User

Finally, Windows Phone SkyDrive auto upload now supports full-resolution photos and videos worldwide instead of just a few markets.

Windows Phone Full-resolution SkyDrive Auto Uploads Now Available Worldwide!

SkyDrive has several updates, including a new timeline view of photos you have all across your SkyDrive.

Skydrive Updates: Timeline View, Faster Uploads, Thumbnails

After a very long wait, Outlook.com Calendar is finally Metro-ized.

Outlook.com Calendar Finally Gets a Coat of Metro

SkyDrive app on iOS is finally updated, paving the way for Office on iPad maybe?

Skydrive App Update on iOS Finally Live

Outlook.com is now live. There is much to like in the service, but a long way to catch up with GMail on feature set.

Outlook.com is out of Preview, Said to Have 60 Million Users

Much has been discussed among Windows Phone (and Windows 8/RT) circles about lack of podcast features in the phone and lack of a native app on big Windows.

I am a big podcast listener. Not huge, but I do listen to a few podcasts regularly. In fact, so regularly, that I have formed a nice list of things I would want in an ideal podcast app/service. The reason I put app/service is because we are now no longer in a single device world.

• Native apps for my devices: I use Windows Phone, Windows 8/RT and Windows 7. I would like native apps for at least phone and "Windows Store".
• Catalog: Big enough, and fresh enough catalog so that I don't have to add podcasts by URL.
• Easy subscribe settings: Options during subscribe should include auto downloads, number of episodes to keep, episode delete settings, etc.
• Remember played position: For each podcast, for each episode.
• Cloud: Sync settings, subscriptions and played positions to the cloud. Configurable setting for syncing on-device episodes to the cloud as well.
• Refresh/check for new episodes: Check for new episodes when app is opened, automatically. Also, check on a schedule that can be configured and have a default. So if the default is 3am and 3pm every day, I know when I get up and am ready for my commute, there may be some fresh episodes waiting for me. Same, with a 3pm check for the commute home.
• Playback speed adjustment: Must-have for me, at least 1.5x.

• Playback in the cloud: If my subscriptions, settings and on-device episodes are synced to the cloud, I suppose I should be able to play those episodes from the web too. That would take care of machines which don't have native apps, for example Windows 7 or Macs/iPads/iPhone/iPod.
• Discovery: Based on what I have subscribed to, and perhaps extending it to my social networks, suggest other podcasts.
• Live tiles: I don't care much about getting notified of new episodes, so I put this in the bonus territory. Live tile notifications of new episodes.
• Usage notifications: Notify (via live tile or otherwise) me about space used being above a certain threshold, or unplayed episodes going above a certain threshold.

• Visual niceties: Like the tape player in the iOS app. Don't care about it since I always lock the phone screen anyway.
• Social sharing: I don't share either while listening or otherwise, so I don't care about that feature.

None of the Windows Phone 3rd party apps do auto-download yet. There are some in the process of getting released with promised functionality but none generally available yet.

The native Windows Phone feature does not have a manual check for new episodes, and there is no clear understanding when exactly it checks for new episodes. Besides, there is no corresponding app on Windows 8, and of course, there is no playback speed adjustment.

Let me know if you find any compatible apps :-)

My peeves with Windows Phone 8 after using a Nokia Lumia 920 for three weeks.

Windows Phone Sucks

Microsoft has replaced the wireless sync in Zune desktop and Windows Phone 7 with the cloud in Windows Phone 8. The “devices and services” strategy coming along nicely for Microsoft.

Windows Phone 8 Sync: Really Taking You to the Cloud

Twitter is now showing pictures posted on SkyDrive inline, much like other photo services such as Twitpic, YFrog, etc.

Skydrive Pictures Now Showing Inline on Twitter

Here is a tip to avoid large data download when installing SkyDrive desktop application on a new PC (or simply, a new install).

Tip: Skip Skydrive Initial Sync when Installing It on a New PC

Microsoft is shifting from being a software company to a devices and services company. Welcome to the Modern Microsoft.

Devices, Services and the Modern Microsoft

The SkyDrive team has an interesting proposition for you: write about SkyDrive, get perks. Do you qualify?

SkyDrive Ambassador Program: Write About SkyDrive, Get Benefits

Microsoft announces major upgrades to SkyDrive coming with Windows 8, making personal cloud and device cloud a reality.

A Truckload of Wholesome Updates Confirmed Coming to SkyDrive