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Tonido brings personal cloud storage to Windows 8 devices (video)
Codelathe's considerable expertise with Tonido's personal cloud storage gets a new venue today: Windows 8. After downloading a pair of apps -- one for your Linux rig, Mac or PC, and one for your mobile gizmo -- you're all set to stream most files from your home machine to your Redmond-running device. What's more, you can download whatever you're streaming so you can still use it if you go offline -- but keep an eye on your data cap if you're planning to pull down that Blu-ray rip of Looper.
Tonido Home Cloud gets Chromecast support, lets you stream from desktop to TV (video)
As the dust around Chromecast's surprise arrival starts to settle, expect to see a lot more apps and services get on board. Today's adoptee? Tonido's home cloud software (of recent giveaway fame). The company's updated its mobile apps, so that you can now stream (correctly formatted) media from your PC or desktop to the HDMI device wherever you (and it) are. So, in theory, you can store all your content at home, and take your Chromecast (and phone, of course) out with you -- and still be able to access your prized movie collection. Now you just have to wait until they're back in stock...
Engadget UK Giveaway: win one of five TonidoPlug personal cloud servers
There's a whole plethora of places to keep your data online, but without getting too political, there's no place like home, right? TonidoPlug is a tiny personal server that lets you access your images, photos and personal files wherever you are, without having to hand them over to someone else to look after. Not only is there software to mount it as a local drive -- à la dropbox -- but it serves as a NAS device on your home network too. With the option to plug in USB drives, or add an internal SATA HDD, you won't need to pay a subscription, either. Best of all, we've got five to give away to some lucky UK readers. Please read the terms and conditions after the break to make sure you qualify. But if you do, be sure to enter -- and good luck!
Tonido can put you in touch with all your files from any iOS device
Tonido is a free iOS app that, when paired to your home computer, gives you access to all your files when you are away from home, and even allows playback of video and audio files. You run an app on your home PC or Mac, create a free account and a portal is created that can be reached through the Tonido iOS apps. Log in while on the road, and all your files and folders are there. You can download the files to your device, email the files to someone else or even get a direct download link. If you have media files, Tonido will optimize them for streaming, even if you are on a 3G network. (Watch those data caps!) The app has a built-in media player, and you can create playlists of audio files and even stream them out via Apple AirPlay. If there are files you use a lot, you can have them appear in a "favorites" menu, and downloaded documents can be viewed in the app or opened natively if you have a proper application for them. You can edit them, then send them back to your remote computer. I found the system worked as advertised. I had complete access to my files, over WiFi, 3G or LTE. I could view JPEG, GIF, PNG and RAW files. Video streaming was hit and miss, and I think it depended largely on my location on the cellular network. Sometimes it worked fine. At other locations it was either slow to start, or didn't start at all; or maybe I just wasn't waiting long enough. All the audio files I tried to play worked quite well. Video files that can be converted for streaming include AVI, MP4, MKV, VOB, WMV and XVID. I did have a problem getting everything started, as I had a very old version of Tonido I looked at last year. When I downloaded the new version, the old one was not deleted, and nothing worked because the apps were in conflict. Deleting the old app fixed the problem. Security is one issue people will worry about with an app like this. The company says "Tonido has been designed to be a secure system from the ground up with precautions including secure SSL-based connections, password always stored locally (unavailable in our servers) and even two-level login authentication (prevents phishing)." Tonido is free for end users, and that makes it an incredible bargain. The company has Enterprise packages for sale, and of course, at some point, Tonido could become a paid service. For now, I find it an incredibly useful app that solves a remote file access problem in an easy, intuitive and no-cost way. Tonido has the potential to be one of those life-changing applications. You're never going to be isolated from your remote files as long as you have some kind of internet access. Using the system couldn't be easier, and i think most people will find uses for Tonido they never expected. The app is universal, and requires iOS 5 or later. It is also optimized for the iPhone 5. %Gallery-176986%
