20GB Free SkyDrive for Windows Phone

 

If you happen to be proud owner of a Windows Phone device, then Microsoft has a little something to stuff into your digital stocking during this holiday season.
Well, twenty little somethings.
According to emails sent by the company to Windows Phone owners, Microsoft is giving a bonus twenty gigabytes of SkyDrive storage to those who have purchased said devices. Before you go running around screaming like Nintendo 64 Kid, however, know that the free capacity boost comes with a catch or two.
First off, Microsoft's generosity only extends to the end of January next year. If you received an email, but choose to not activate your bonus 20GB for whatever reason, the offer goes away if you don't sign up by January 31 of next year.

Second, the storage isn't going to last forever. According to Microsoft, the 20GB will be applied to the accounts of Windows Phone owners for a total of one year. After that, it's a bit unclear as to what might happen to the data of those who forget to trim their SkyDrive data back down to the standard seven gigabytes of free space. We can only presume that you'll receive an email with instructions instead of, say, an unexpected, random deletion of your files.
We should also note, according to Techspot, that the bonus storage deal currently just appears to be going out to owners of Windows Phone 8 devices. If you're on a Windows Phone 7 device, don't be too surprised if an email doesn't come your way. (Sorry!)

And if you're looking to maximize your storage on Microsoft's Cloud service, Techspot also drummed up a few of the ways that you can score big using other combinations of SkyDrive offers:
"The 20 GB of cloud storage is in addition to the free 7 GB (or 25 GB for early adopters) already offered by the service. If you happen to have an Office 365 subscription, you'll likely find yourself with over 50 GB of storage available in Microsoft's cloud; even more if you claimed the free 200 GB (for two years) that comes with any Surface 2 or Surface Pro 2 purchase," Tim Schiesser writes.
If you find yourself in love with your new space, and want to keep it going past the year-long promotion, then get ready to cough up an annual fee of $25 for 50GB.