Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. are upgrading their cloud services with new features and more storage space for users.

Microsoft added new features to its SkyDrive service including a new remote PC access service, more storage space for paying users and SkyDrive access for iOS and Windows Phone smartphones. Not all of the new features are upgrades as new users will see their storage access whittled down from 25 Gb of free storage space to just 7 Gb. Current users who have accounts with 25 Gb of storage space can claim a free upgrade to maintain that amount but new users will have to make do with just 7 Gb of storage space. Users who have too much files can get another 20 Gb of storage space for $10 annual fee. For those who want more space 50 Gb of storage will cost $25 per year while 100 Gb will cost $50 per year.

Microsoft launched SkyDrive for Windows desktop which allows users to store files to the cloud. Microsoft has been developing the SkyDrive for its next generation Windows 8 operating system. Among the upgrades Microsoft announced on Monday adds more features including access to SkyDrive from Windows Explorer on Windows 8, 7 and Windows Vista. Microsoft also updated the SkyDrive apps on Windows Phone and iOS devices. The software giant also released a new preview client for OS X Lion. Users running Google's Android OS will have to wait as support for Android is still missing.

"As we set upon the path to bring SkyDrive closer to Windows, we had a few goals that drove our plan," Mike Torres and Omar Shahine, group program managers for SkyDrive, wrote in an official blog. "First, we wanted you to be able to 'get up and running' as quickly as possible, with very few steps. Secondly, we wanted to 'be quiet' on the system and make sure that all processing was entirely in the background, with your needs and your apps as the first priority. And third, we really wanted it all to 'just work' as you'd expect it to, staying up-to-date automatically, and humming along without confusing dialogs or pop-ups."

Microsoft isn't the only company launching cloud services. Google is reportedly launching Google Drive with 5 Gb of free online storage. Reuters reported that Google's cloud-storage will launch soon with up to 100 Gb of storage available for paying users. According to a source, an announcement may come as soon as Tuesday. Google's cloud service will allow users to share files and will implement a "sophisticated image search technology" for quick access. Google has started to increase the amount of free storage for its Google Docs service from 1 Gb to 5 Gb today. While this may not be related to the rumored Google Drive it does provide strong evidence that Google Drive is on the way.