Microsoft, Dropbox team up; new Office-centric features, apps on tap

Microsoft and cloud storage vendor Dropbox are partnering to allow users to access Dropbox directly from Office apps and edit Office files from the Dropbox app.

Dropbox spelled out the terms of the collaboration in a November 4 post on the company's blog, noting that "Dropbox is home to over 35 billion Office documents, spreadsheets and presentations."

The new capabilities will roll out out for all Dropbox users on iOS and Android "in the next few weeks," according to the blog post. (Update: Microsoft's blog post says this will happen in conjunction with "the next updates" to Office for iOS and Android.)

Dropbox for Business users also will get access to this functionality. According to another Dropbox blog post, "Dropbox for Business customers with Office 365 licenses will soon be able to take advantage of these new features." (Update: Microsoft's blog post says "soon" means "first half of 2015.")

Next year, Dropbox will be adding integration between the Dropbox website and Office Online. And "in the coming months," there will be a new Dropbox app for Windows Phone and Windows tablet users, according to the blog post.

Here are the features joint users of the two companies will be getting:

• Edit Office files from the Dropbox mobile app and sync changes across devices. Create a file at home and finish it on the go — any edits will automatically save to Dropbox.
• Access Dropbox files from the Office app and save new files to Dropbox. Users will be able to sync docs without leaving the Office app.
• Share Dropbox links from Office. Users will be able to share documents by sending a Dropbox link.