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Microsoft tests cloud-based clipboard app that syncs across platforms
This turned out to be quite the week for unannounced Microsoft apps. News of a "light-weight" email solution broke cover a few days ago, and today another pair of productivity apps were tipped. Thanks to @h0x0d on Twitter -- the source of the Flow email news -- we now know Microsoft is testing a cloud-based (thanks to OneDrive) clipboard tool that syncs across devices and platforms. The app is called OneClip, and though it's reportedly in internal beta. While it's available for download in the Windows Store, it'll only work for employees with the proper accounts. This means that you can copy a phone number on the desktop and have it immediately available on your Windows, iOS or Android phone.
Microsoft brings Clutter's inbox organization to Outlook.com
The folks in Redmond are hard at work putting the finishing touches on Windows 10, and in the process Microsoft is retooling individual apps, too. Today, the company announced that key productivity features in the Office 365 Outlook app would be available on Outlook.com as well -- with a key addition being Clutter. If you're in need of a refresher, that's the feature that keeps high priority messages front and center while tucking distractions away for later. Over time, it learns from your habits what's junk and what's important, and just like the full app, you can toggle it on/off it you'd like. Of course, Pins and Flags are here too, as other means of keeping your workload as organized as possible.
Microsoft Office 2016 Public Preview is now available
Office 2016 may still be getting the finish touches in Redmond, but Microsoft is opening up its productivity suite for public preview. If you'll recall, some apps were included in previous releases of the Windows 10 Technical Preview and made available for both IT folks and devs. As of today, though, regular folks can get an early look and offer feedback on all the new stuff -- including those redesigned universal apps. This means that you'll gain access to OneDrive attachments in Outlook, real-time co-authoring and retooled applications that learn how you work to lend a hand. Specifically in Excel, there are updated charts and graphs alongside one-click forecasting and more data analyzing tools. Looking to take it for a spin before the official release this fall? Even if you're not an Office 365 subscriber, you can nab a trial version right here.
Microsoft apps will be bundled on Cyanogen Android devices
Cyanogen has revealed that it will pre-install Microsoft apps on its modded Android OS later this year, including Bing, Skype, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook and Microsoft Office. The news doesn't come as a huge surprise, since it was rumored that Redmond had purchased a minority stake in Cyanogen with the express intention of bundling its software. As part of the deal, Microsoft will also create "native integrations" on Cyanogen OS, presumably to make all its apps play well together. Microsoft has avoided porting its productivity software over to Android and iOS for quite awhile, but finally made the jump earlier this year.
OneDrive link to Xbox Music puts your MP3s in the cloud for free
A few months ago info leaked out that OneDrive was getting ready for music storage, then Microsoft confirmed, and now it's here. Starting today, Xbox Music and OneDrive are connected so any music files (MP3, M4A, or WMA) in your "Music" folder on Microsoft's cloud storage service are immediately playable via the web or Xbox Music apps on Windows 8, Windows Phone 8.1, Xbox 360 and Xbox One -- for free. The initial leak suggested there would be 20GB of storage, but Xbox Music's paying Music Pass subscribers will get an additional 100GB of space.
Samsung Galaxy S6 comes with Microsoft apps out of the box
Those rumors that Samsung would reduce the glut of in-house software on the Galaxy S6 and include some of Microsoft's apps? They're at least partly true. Both the S6 and S6 edge will ship with a "Microsoft Apps" folder that currently includes OneDrive, OneNote and Skype. There's no hint of Office -- at least not yet -- but you will get 115GB of free OneDrive cloud storage for two years. You certainly won't be hurting for photo backup space, then. It's hard to say if the bundle is the direct result of Microsoft and Samsung calling a truce in their Android royalty dispute. Either way, the move is going to give Microsoft's services a lot more exposure. While they've been available on Android for some time, their absence in phone bundles has typically made it easier to lean on equivalents from the likes of Google and Dropbox. Don't miss out on all the latest news, photos and liveblogs from MWC 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Samsung Galaxy S6 reportedly drops bloatware in favor of Microsoft apps
Quite a few smartphone fans will tell you that a Samsung phone's Achilles' heel is its software -- you'll find a ton of (frequently unwanted) apps and features that do little besides chew up space and slow things down. You may get to wave goodbye to that cruft when the Galaxy S6 shows up, however. A SamMobile source claims that Samsung is yanking a lot of its usual pre-installed bloatware, making the GS6 "amazingly fast" compared to a weighed-down phone like the Galaxy Note 4. The titles wouldn't go away forever, but you'd have to download in-house apps if you did want them. Instead, the focus would be on a host of included Microsoft apps: Office, OneDrive, OneNote and Skype would give you some solid productivity out of the box. It's not clear if the Microsoft deal has any connection to a recent truce with Samsung over patent royalties, although it wouldn't be surprising.
Microsoft's OneDrive gets better at showing and sharing your photos
Microsoft has long wanted you to use OneDrive to store your photos, but actually viewing those photos isn't ideal -- you're ultimately using a file browser that just happens to have some photo-related features. That's going to change in the next couple of weeks, though. The folks in Redmond are rolling out a photography-focused update to OneDrive that gives your image library some TLC. You can organize photos into albums with edge-to-edge photo collages and larger single-picture views. It should be much easier to find and share your snapshots, as well. OneDrive now draws on Bing image recognition to give your pics basic tags (like "beach" or "dog"), and PCs running Windows 7 or 8 can automatically sync photos from devices as soon as you plug them in. Only web and iOS users will see the new photo tricks right away, but they'll reach Android and Windows Phone in the days ahead.
Lumia Camera will be the stock camera app on Windows 10 devices
In case you haven't noticed, team Engadget has spent a lot of time today covering Windows 10, Microsoft's next-gen operating system. Over the course of the company's three-hour keynote, we heard quite a bit more about its so-called universal apps, which will run on all manner of Windows devices, whether they be desktops, tablets, phones or even 84-inch pen displays. That said, there were a couple tidbits the company left out of its presentation. For one thing, we only just learned for sure that the Lumia Camera app -- the one included in the recent "Denim" update -- will actually be the default camera app on all Windows 10 devices. That means even if you're using a Windows device made by Samsung or HTC, you'll get the same photography experience as on a proper Lumia, at least as far as software and image editing go (actual image quality is a different story).
Music is coming to Microsoft OneDrive this year
It's official: OneDrive is getting a whole lot more musical. And like we reported last year, it's going to operate a whole lot like Google Play Music. When's the magic start? Sometime later this year, according to Microsoft's Joe Belfiore.
OneDrive for Android gets push notifications for shared items
Good news for those of you who use Microsoft's cloud storage service on Android. Earlier today, the OneDrive app received an update that now lets it send push notifications for shared files and folders to your device, making it easier to keep up with collaborators on the changes being made to documents. In addition to that, this new version also allows you to get custom pin code timeouts within the application, as well as adding thumbnails to OneDrive for Business files. These improvements should help make OneDrive for Android much better on Google's platform, something that's going to be appreciated by people who utilize Redmond's virtual locker regularly.
Microsoft Office will soon tap into your Dropbox
Microsoft would just love it if you used OneDrive for all your document storage needs, but let's face it: loyalties to rival cloud services run deep. That's why, in the spirit of compromise (or acknowledging user demand), the folks in Redmond have inked a curious deal with Dropbox. Over the coming weeks, you'll be able to access your Dropbox files from your Microsoft Office apps, and edit those Office documents from within the Dropbox mobile app. That's just the tip of the iceberg, too, as Dropbox is working on connecting its website to Microsoft's Office Online tools and prepping a Dropbox Windows Phone app for a launch within the next few months. It might seem a little odd for Microsoft to so openly embrace an apparent rival, but the company can't deny the facts. Dropbox currently has over 200 million users dumping their files into accounts all the time, and Microsoft isn't trying to beat them over their heads with word of OneDrive's superiority this time. No, it's meeting people on their cloud-based doorsteps with a terribly useful feature, and it just might win some new fans because of it.
Microsoft is slowly prepping OneDrive for music storage
You know all that OneDrive storage Microsoft's been giving away lately? Turns out there could be a new way to put it to use soon: music storage. A tipster to Windows Central points out that going to this link will automatically create a folder for your tunes in Redmond's cloud ecosystem, and when the feature officially hits it'll apparently bring an additional 20GB of free storage with it too. A few graphics indicate that there'll be a web version, as well. We've embedded one from Windows Central after the break. Oh, the service supposedly won't cost anything (much like Google's music locker) and your music will be accessible across a range of devices including Windows 8.1 computers, phones and tablets; browsers and, of course, Xboxes. Not that the Xbox One actually needs any extra media options mind you, but more are always welcome.
Office 365 subscribers are getting unlimited OneDrive storage
Last week's earnings report highlighted how Microsoft is doing quite well, and it has Office 365 to thank for some of its success during the last financial quarter. And now the company is about to make things better for people who subscribe to the productivity suite. Microsoft's going to start giving Office 365 Home, Personal and University customers free unlimited storage with OneDrive, its cloud-based digital locker service -- a very kind gesture, to say the least. First, the company says this will roll out to subscribers of the aforementioned plans starting today, but the plan is to bring it to all Office 365 customers over the coming months. If you're using Home, Personal or University now, however, there's now a site that can help you flip the switch on your new all-you-can-have OneDrive goodness.
Microsoft doubles your free OneDrive storage if you auto-upload pics
Microsoft has been rather generous with free OneDrive storage lately, and that doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. Now Redmond is bumping the previous gratis 15GB up by 100 percent, to 30GB. What's the catch? There isn't much of one, really. All Redmond says you have to do (regardless of if you're a new user or seasoned veteran) is activate auto-upload on your device of choice's camera roll between now and the end of the month -- even on a Windows PC. Seems simple enough. The announcement focuses on the storage woes that've been associated with upgrading to iOS 8, and given the iPhone 6 Plus' fancy video tricks like HD time-lapse capture we'd imagine the off-device storage should come in pretty handy.
OneDrive takes cues from Dropbox to make file-sharing easier
Looking for some OneDrive news? Good, because we've got it. First up, now you can upload files as big as 10GB using the Mac and Windows desktop apps, and all of the mobile applications, according to Microsoft. Redmond says that its also increased the amount of simultaneous uploads and downloads which allows for faster syncing as well. Perhaps the biggest new bit, though, is the ability to get shareable file-links directly from Windows Explorer without the hassle of going to the web client and copying the file-address that way. It sounds a whole lot like what Dropbox has been doing for awhile now, and Microsoft says that this was a top feature request. Last but not least, the outfit says that it's worked to bring dragging and dropping folders directly into the OneDrive website via browser, specifically namedropping Chrome, into the fold too. If there's anything else you want to see in the app, drop Redmond a line -- it seems like those requests don't fall on deaf ears.
Microsoft OneDrive for Android now lets you mix business with pleasure
OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage service formerly known as SkyDrive, just got updated across several platforms. Most significant, perhaps, is its Android app refresh that adds OneDrive for Business integration, so you can easily access both personal and work files without having to switch accounts. You can now also set up a PIN code on the Android app and access OpenDrive files from within other apps. The iOS app, on the other hand, has a new native search box and an AllPhotos view, where you can see all your images arranged chronologically in one window. Finally, the app for Windows Phone 8.1 now has access to the recycle bin, which is extremely useful for people with jittery, delete-happy fingers. If you're on iOS and Windows Phone but would rather get those sweet, new Android features, though, don't worry -- Microsoft's bringing them to your platforms in the coming months.
CloudFella manages cloud accounts but is hampered by crashes
CloudFella for iOS manages your files in four of the major cloud services: Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, and Evernote. CloudFella gives you access to all of your files across these services, provides searching, statistics, local storage, and a duplicate files finder. Unfortunately, it is marred by a cumbersome interface and frequent crashes. CloudFella requires iOS 7 or later, and costs US$1.99. It's a universal app, but is optimized for iPhone 5. Getting started is simple. After tapping on the big cloud (the only way to reach the "Link Cloud Services" screen) you tap on each service and authorize CloudFella to access your files. Once linked you need to download the information about your files by swiping right on each service. The item you swipe your finger across does not actually move as it does in other apps, but just begins downloading the data. If you swipe to the left by accident (as I did my first time through) you unlink the account and have to start over. There is no warning or confirmation. It just happens. Downloading the files info went smoothly for three of my four accounts. Downloading files info from Dropbox led to a cascade of error dialog boxes. After clearing twenty of these dialogs, I force-quit the app and re-launched it. Dropbox showed up in my statistics on the dashboard even though the "Link Cloud Services" screen still showed it as not downloaded. Subsequent attempts to download the files info for Dropbox resulted in crashes. When I unlinked Dropbox, it still showed up in the dashboard. The dashboard shows you some statistics about your cloud accounts. Unfortunately, the main pie chart cannot handle the number of files I have and displays a graph with largely illegible numbers that are either cut off the left edge of the screen or jumbled together. Other charts display file sizes, last modified dates, and the number of files and directories. CloudFella has a search function that can search all four services at the same time. This, for me, is incredibly useful as I am a heavy user of both Dropbox and Evernote and being able to search both at the same time would be helpful to me. Unfortunately, searching did not always work. When you perform a search you have to click cancel to begin a new search, which is non-standard and initially confusing until you get used to it. More concerning is the fact that some of my search queries did not return files I know exist. CloudFella lets you download files for local storage and fast access. With the first PDF file I tried, it indicated that it was downloading the file. After a few minutes of this, I force quit the app again (I could not tap on anything else) and re-launched it. The file appeared in the vault anyway and I was able to open it and scroll through it. Finally, CloudFella offers a duplicates feature that is supposed to find duplicate files across all four services. There is little I can say about it because the app crashed every time I tried to use it. CloudFella has the potential to be a useful tool for anyone who manages more than one large cloud account but its non-standard approach to many basic functions and instability get in the way of its usefulness. Once the interface and bugs are cleaned up, it will be worth its US$1.99 price tag.
Microsoft OneDrive arrives on Amazon's Kindle Fire and Fire phone
Folks who fancy Amazon's Kindle Fire and/or newfangled Fire phone just got another option for go-to cloud access. Microsoft has released a OneDrive app outfitting both of the aforementioned devices with easy access to stored files from the slate or handset. Of course, we'd surmise most OneDrive users have hitched their wagons to Redmond's own fleet of OSes. At any rate, apps now exist not only for the web retailer's gadgets, but for PC and Mac with mobile options on Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10. Bases covered. Microsoft's OneNote also sorts those trusty reminders and to-do lists across the Fire fleet, too. Ready to employ this version? Head over to Amazon's Appstore to do just that.
Microsoft's new encryption makes it tougher to spy on your email
Microsoft said last year that it was tightening security to fend off the NSA and others who would scoop up your data, and today it fulfilled that promise with moves that should improve real-world security. The company now encrypts both incoming and outgoing Outlook.com email when it's in transit. So long as the other end also supports this encryption (Gmail and other big names do), snoops can't easily intercept messages in mid-flight. Microsoft is also implementing Perfect Forward Secrecy in both Outlook.com and OneDrive, which gives each connection a unique security key -- even if people do crack a code, they won't have a complete picture of your email or cloud storage.
