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Dropbox for iOS update adds a PDF viewer and file share notifications
Earlier today, Dropbox rolled out version 2.1 of its iOS app with a trio of enhancements in tow. The update, which requires iOS 5.0 or higher introduces a new PDF viewer, file sorting by date modified, and push notifications for when someone shares a folder with you (which were also recently added to the Android client). Whether you're a Dropbox power user or the casual type, this new software bump should definitely come in handy. If you're a stickler for keeping your apps current and you've got 13.8MB to spare, the update's waiting for you at the source link below.
SugarSync 2.0 completed, offers drag-and-drop sharing and a new Android app
SugarSync 2.0 has been in the oven for awhile, having gone into beta last year, but it's now fully baked. The finished version offers the promised extra-simple sharing and syncing, with drag-and-drop transfers to the cloud, contacts and Dropbox-style public links. A virtual drive and cloud search simply things, too. Both desktop and web apps get more of a consistent look, and the Android app has been given its promised overhaul both for the new features as well as to offer uploads and syncing from an SD card. Android, Mac and Windows users can update at their leisure; iOS users will have to wait a few weeks, although both new and old versions can coexist until everyone is on the same page.
Dropbox for Teams adds an admin console for cloud storage overlords
Although Dropbox made a concerted push into pro-grade cloud storage with Dropbox for Teams more than a year ago, it didn't have a truly centralized place for a team's overseers to keep tabs on everyone involved. An update today brings in a console to make sense of it all. Along with providing a much simpler at-a-glance view of goings on across an entire group, the console lets administrators tighten access limits from user to user: they can prevent people from using their personal smartphones and tablets with the corporate account, for example, and can ask certain people to sign in with two-factor authentication if there's more of a risk. The refresh might rain on the parades of those who want to use their Teams accounts for both work and play, but it's good news for companies that would rather not risk malware or other rude surprises.
SkyDrive now hosting over a billion Office files, adds editing without Microsoft login
Microsoft's cloud storage service SkyDrive has hit a significant numerical landmark: over a billion Office documents are now hosted on it. To celebrate, Redmond has made is a little easier to edit files using Office Web Apps -- you no longer need to sign in using a Microsoft account (unless the sharing party wants you to), so if you've got the right link, you can start tweaking with minimal fuss. A billion Office files sounds like a big number, but we'd really like the details of how many users that's spread over. As many as DropBox? Who knows.
Dropbox announces Sync API for Android and iOS
The lives of devs eager to take advantage of storage in the cloud are about to get a whole lot easier thanks to Dropbox's new Sync API. The tool streamlines the process of integrating with the service, offloading most of the heavy lifting onto Dropbox itself. Now, that's not entirely new, since Dropbox has been open to other app makers for sometime. The big sell here are the actual syncing capabilities. Until now, apps have been able to tap into your online well of files, but syncing has always been a dev-implemented process built on top of the existing APIs. The downloading, storing, change tracking and uploading were all the responsibility of the developer. The Sync API does away with the much of the set up work and allows the creation of apps that simply sync across platforms without any hacking or jury-rigging. Apps can simply ask if you want to sync with Dropbox now and the act of creating and maintaining a folder won't necessitate any further user input (though, it still can if the dev so chooses). The API is available today, and the first program to take advantage of the private in-app Dropbox client, Squarespace Note is awaiting approval before landing in the App Store. For more, check out the blog post at the source. Update: As some of you may have noticed the source link was missing. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Bitcasa leaves beta, offers discount on Infinite Drive to celebrate
Bitcasa made some serious waves when it hit the scene in December, offering bottomless cloud storage for $10 per-month or $99 for a full year. The service is now leaving beta, with the promised Mac and iOS apps in tow. And, just as icing on the cake, a Linux client is also on the way (and already available in alpha form). While going gold isn't going to change a lot about Bitcasa in the short term, at least the company knows how to celebrate right -- with steep discounts! Sign up for the service during the month of February and you'll get a full year of Infinite Drive for $60 $69. You can sign up at the source and peruse the PR after the break. We're already busy backing up our My Bloody Valentine bootlegs. Update: As some of you have noticed, the price being advertised on the Bitcasa site is $69 for the year, not $59 as the press release states. We've updated the post to reflect the advertised cost and asked for a clarification.
App.net gives users 10GB of cloud storage, its File API to set social data free
We thought App.net had eyes only for Twitter when the project was funded and garnered its first 20,000 customers. Today, a post on the company blog reveals that its sights are set much higher than mere messaging. Rather than provide just an ad-free alternative to Twitter, it turns out App.net plans to become a social app platform through its new File API and cloud storage services. The API gives devs the tools needed to build any and all social applications they can dream up -- from photo sharing apps to collaboration tools. Additionally, App.net is giving annual and dev accounts a 10GB cloud locker. That storage can, in turn, be leveraged for simple file sharing by users and as a repository for social data that can be accessed by apps built with the API. So, photos, messages and other info from an App.net account can be fully controlled by users and can be accessed by any social app they choose. This is a stark contrast to Facebook or Google+, where access to such data is controlled by those companies. Of course, the new platform's only as good as its apps, so interested devs should head on down to the source, grab the API, and get started building the next-gen social network.
Kim Dotcom's Mega cloud storage launches for early adopters
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has been promising what's almost a sort of renaissance through his Mega cloud storage service. Now that it's open to the first wave of users, we have an inkling of what that strategy shift entails. Mega is currently just a simple-to-use parking place for data with a relatively large 50GB of storage in a free tier. However, it may grow quickly: there's promises of Google Docs-style editing, instant messaging and mobile access, among other plans. Eventual paid plans will offer considerably more storage of between 500GB for €10 per month ($13) to 4TB for €30 ($40), albeit with a bandwidth cap of twice the storage at any given level. As such, Mega is mostly a bundle of potential -- but it may stand out from the pack if ambition matches reality.
Dropbox update for Android brings fast, public photo album sharing
Dropbox is rapidly bulking up its Android app's photo sharing strength after lavishing some early attention on iOS. A newly posted refresh for the Google-friendly version lets photographers mass-select whole albums' worth of images quickly to share with anyone, whether they're Dropbox users or not. Android users who've been eager for parity just need to swing by the Google Play source link to get their fill.
Hyper debuts iUSBport mini, 2 and HD cloud storage and streaming devices (hands-on)
When the original iUSBport made its debut at CES last year it was called the CloudFTP. Since then, it changed its name and today it gained some new relatives -- the iUSBport mini, 2 and HD. For those who aren't familiar with the technology, it's battery-powered file server that connects USB storage devices and streams their content over WiFi, and it can serve as an external battery for those devices, too. The iUSBport2 looks much the same as the CloudFTP, but streams data at a 50 percent faster rate (30mbps) and can connect to up to 12 devices at a time or send out five simultaneous streams of 1080p video. It also packs two USB ports, a microSDXC slot, and a larger 3300mAH battery than its predecessor. Plus, it charges via micro-USB and has a small LCD display. Its cousin, the larger iUSBport HD, has the same capabilities and LCD status screen as the 2, but it's larger chassis comes with a 2.5-inch HDD with up to 2TB of storage. It also has an SDXC card slot, one USB 3.0 port, and a 5,200mAH rechargeable cell. Lastly, there's the iUSBport mini, which looks like an overgrown flash drive. It has single USB port -- for connecting powered external HDDs -- and microSD slot, and can connect up to eight devices or stream three 720p videos simultaneously. All three iUSBports will be available in Q1 of this year, with the HD starting at $160, the 2 costing $150 and the mini running $70.
Samsung expands its Dropbox integration to include PCs, Smart Cameras
Samsung has been enraptured with Dropbox and its cloud storage since last year, and we're quickly learning that it's a long-term love affair. The Korean firm is expanding its integration with Dropbox to not just include another smartphone, the Galaxy Grand, but also its 2013-era PCs (now that Windows 8 has support) and Smart Cameras. Details of when the integration comes, and exactly how it works, aren't forthcoming just yet. It's safe to presume, however, that a large part of Samsung's technology this year will put online sharing front and center.
Acer updating its AcerCloud service with full Android and iOS support
Until now, Acer's online storage service AcerCloud has been a one-way affair: you could upload files from your PC and access them on an Android device, but you couldn't back up anything stored on your phone or tablet. Well, fortunately for all of you who like to mix and match operating systems, that's about to change. The company just announced it's updating the service to support Android and iOS, in addition to Windows. Now, you'll be able to share files from your mobile device and have that count toward the cloud storage that comes with your Acer PC. Additionally, a new "Remote Files" feature lets you access your Windows machine from your Android or iOS device, and download anything stored there. Rounding out the list of enhancements, a feature called PicStream lets you push your photos across different devices, while AcerCloud Docs does the same thing for Office documents. According to Acer, the updated service will go live sometime this month, and will come installed on all of Acer's consumer PCs starting in Q2. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Xbox Live outage temporarily disconnecting cloud storage for some users (update: restored, free month of XBL)
Microsoft added a cloud storage feature to the Xbox 360 in its fall 2011 dashboard update, but today an outage has taken it offline for the last several hours and counting. As noted by Joystiq, trying to access your cloud saves is resulting in a 0x807b0198 error for many, although other parts of XBL like streaming video services and multiplayer gaming profiles are unaffected. For the moment, we were able to copy/move some of our saves from the cloud cache on our hard drive (Settings --> storage --> cloud storage) to the normal hard drive section, and access them from there. Your mileage may vary, but otherwise you'll just need to keep an eye out the XBL dashboard status page to see when things are back to normal. There's no word yet on when it will be fully restored, but a message there says engineers are working on a fix. We're not missing the old "gamertag recovery" feature the cloud system replaced and upgraded, but any significant outage is certainly enough to make us think about keeping our saves backed up on a memory card in a safe place -- just in case. Update: We noticed our cloud saves were back online early Sunday although the status page indicated work was continuing, and now (3AM ET~ Monday) Major Nelson and Xbox Support have tweeted that the issues are resolved. Additionally, General Manager of Xbox Live Alex Garden said in a post on MN's blog that the reason it took so long to restore was to ensure the integrity of all game saves. The small silver lining for those affected? A free month of Xbox Live Gold will be automatically added to their subscriptions.
Dropbox beta lets Android photographers share, organize photos in bulk
If you hadn't noticed, Dropbox is on a major photography kick lately, and it's not stopping just because the holidays are nearly in full swing. Its new Android beta helps users deal with their photos by the bushel, either sharing or scrapping multiple photos at once as well as organize them into photos. Anyone less than photographically inclined will still see a few interface tweaks that partly mirror the earlier iOS updates, as well as a new option to receive betas as soon as they're posted. There's inherent risks to using unfinished code, so take that into account before getting involved; it's still hard to resist when Dropbox has been handing out free storage to Android device buyers like candy.
Dropbox continues media buying spree with photo aggregator Snapjoy
Dropbox is further framing up its media ambitions with the acquisition of photo service Snapjoy, coming hot on the heels of its Audiogalaxy purchase and photo-centric Dropbox 2.0 iOS launch. Snapjoy lets you archive and view all your photos from one place, whether they're stocked on your camera, smartphone, PC or sites like Flickr and Instagram. The terms of the purchase weren't disclosed, but the two companies know each other well, having each scored seed money, advice and connections from the co-called Y Combinator venture capital program. In a blog post, Snapjoy said it's stopped accepting any new signups as part of the deal, though it assured current users that they "can continue to use Snapjoy to share and enjoy photos just as you do now." It added that the sale will bring its service to more than 100 million Dropbox users at some point, and it looks to give its new owner options in the photo space. That might see Dropbox butting heads with the likes of Flickr, Picasa and new partner Facebook -- who recently launched its own Photo Sync service.
LogMeIn prices Cubby cloud storage in Basic and Pro tiers
LogMeIn's launch of its Cubby cloud storage service has been a protracted one (we've heard about its beta since April), but we're close enough to an early 2013 launch that we now have pricing. A Basic tier is free, and delivers 5GB of space as well as the usual syncing and sharing across desktop, Android, iOS and web apps. The higher-end Cubby Pro service focuses on teamwork: paying $84 per year ($48 for beta users) ups the capacity to 100GB, pools together multiple users' storage capacity, adds direct device-to-device syncing and toughens up the encryption controls. As such, Cubby Pro is potentially a better value for those who don't need Bitcasa's Infinite Drive -- when it's available, that is.
Bitcasa brings limitless cloud storage to Android and Windows 8 today, iOS in January
Bitcasa has offered truly unlimited cloud storage for awhile, but only desktop users have had access to more than an HTML5 page. Now that there's native Infinite Drive apps for Android, Windows 8 and Windows RT, that dream of having access to everything, everywhere just got more tangible. The new apps stream media in a native player and offer two-way file access, no matter the size or quantity -- if your life's work is in the cloud, your Surface can see it. Android users can also link their camera app to Bitcasa to guarantee an instant photo backup, and any file is shareable with those who haven't signed up. We're promised both an iOS version and a finished Mac app in early January. The $10 monthly subscription is relatively cheap when there's no ceiling to what the service can hold; just try not to stream a 1080p movie from that capped mobile connection if you're not a fan of overage fees.
Dropbox 2.0 launches for iOS with new Photos tab and a streamlined UI
Most of us would call the Dropbox mobile app very utilitarian, built for browsing files and not much else. It's becoming more of a media viewer in its own right with its just-arrived Dropbox 2.0 for iOS users. The cloud storage service gains a dedicated Photos tab that takes advantage of all those automatic uploads from the past few months: the panel organizes photos by the time taken and offers an unintrusive full-screen mode for reliving memories. Hitting the major milestone has also given Dropbox an incentive to rework the interface as a whole, simplifying uploads to specific folders alongside removing the visual clutter. The developer hasn't yet given Android the same treatment, although the company's tendency to keep its major apps on an equal footing suggests it won't be too long before everyone gets a clearer view of their images in the cloud.
Microsoft dropping Windows Live Mesh on February 13th, steers us toward SkyDrive
We can't say that many of us used Windows Live Mesh, and Microsoft would presently agree when fewer than 25,000 people actively rely on its file and desktop sharing. Accordingly, it's marching the service out the door: Live Mesh users have until February 13th to sync for the last time and explore any substitutes. Microsoft is quick to point to SkyDrive and Remote Desktop Connection as the replacements, both of which should cover the same territory with a modern flair. We'd tend to agree, although anyone who's less than completely invested in the Windows ecosystem may want to peek over the fence at equivalents like Dropbox or Google Drive.
Audiogalaxy acquired by Dropbox, announces end of streaming service
One of Engadget's must-have Android apps of 2010 is about to make its exit -- soon Audiogalaxy will be no more. The music streaming app's team announced that it has been acquired by Dropbox and will be sunsetting the service during the transition. Rather than streaming music from an anonymous server in the cloud, Audiogalaxy piped music (including playlists and album art) to your smartphone from your own home PC -- all this after returning from the ashes of its previous iteration as the best music file sharing service ever. Sound nifty? It is, but don't rush off to Google Play -- Audiogalaxy is no longer accepting new users. The details of the hire / acquisition haven't been laid bare, but the Audiogalaxy blog promises that service will continue for at least a few more weeks, with mixes getting the axe at the end of the year and personal streaming surviving for an undetermined period. Dropbox hasn't announced anything either, but if it finds its way into the cloud-based music space, we won't be too surprised.
