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Dropbox limits free accounts to three linked devices
If you're used to linking Dropbox to every device you own, you might want to reach for your credit card. Liliputing has noticed that Dropbox quietly started limiting its free Basic tier to a maximum of three linked devices as of March. If that's too confining, you'll have to shell out for a $10 Plus or $20 Professional subscription. You can keep any links you've already established, but you won't get to add any more until you go below that three-device maximum.
Engadget giveaway: Win a DiskStation DS718+ courtesy of Synology!
Cloud data storage services are ubiquitous nowadays, but imagine the savings, security and ownership benefits of hosting your own server. Synology's DS718+ 2-bay unit is a good jump off point if you want to get your own network attached storage (NAS) system going. It has an intuitive interface and it's scalable, letting you increase capacity up to around 100TB using an expansion unit with extra drives. The DS718+ gives you a portal to all your files whether you're around the house or on the go. You can schedule automatic backups of all your devices, access all your original files and even stream high-quality media with support for 4K. If you've got a home security setup, you can avoid even more fees by hosting and managing your own surveillance backups. This week, Synology has provided us with one of its DiskStation DS718+ setups to get one lucky reader started. All you need to do is head to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to five chances at winning this NAS starter system to take control of your own world of data. Good luck! Winner: Congratulations to Scott W. of Memphis, TN!
Nintendo Switch Online lands today, complete with strange cloud saves
Welcome to 2018, Nintendo. After 38 years in the gaming-hardware business and 15 years after the launch of Xbox Live, Nintendo is finally offering an online subscription service in its latest console, the Switch. Nintendo Switch Online goes live on the evening of Tuesday, September 18th, allowing players to access multiplayer, cloud saves and a collection of 20 classic NES games for $20 a year. However, there are a handful of caveats. Nintendo operates outside of the standards established by Xbox and PlayStation, its two main rivals in the console market. Both Xbox and PlayStation have offered online subscription plans for well over 10 years, with Xbox Live launching in 2002 and PlayStation Network in 2006. Nintendo has offered barebones connection options for a handful of games in the past, but Switch Online is its first attempt at a subscription scheme. And, like many of Nintendo's grand plans, it's wrapped in red tape.
Microsoft OneDrive will use AI to make searchable video transcripts
You've probably had that moment where you wanted to track down an important piece of information from a video, but weren't sure when it was said. If so, Microsoft wants to come to your aid -- it's introducing media searching in OneDrive (and SharePoint, for that matter) that uses AI to transcribe audio and video. The feature will show you timestamped quotes alongside the media viewer itself, with a handy search box helping you track down that elusive phrase.
US carrier promo offers free iCloud storage to iPhone upgraders
Apple isn't known for offering virtually any promos to iPhone buyers, let alone iCloud users, but it's making exceptions for both ahead of the 2018 iPhones. Reddit users have discovered a promo that lets subscribers to the four major US carriers get two months of 200GB of iCloud storage for free. The campaign is clearly aimed at iPhone upgraders -- the offer page touts the extra space as helpful for backing up all your files so that you can be ready "when your new iPhone arrives." The deal is only available for a "limited time" to new iCloud subscribers, and you'll be charged for the 200GB tier if you don't cancel before the two-month period is over.
Google Drive's expanded One plans are available to anyone in the US
You no longer have to be a paying Google Drive personal customer to use the expanded One plans. As of today, Google One is available to anyone in the US willing to pay for cloud storage. As before, it's about considerably more than offering more storage for the money. You now have access to a $3 per month 200GB plan and a more accessible $10 per month 2TB plan, but the main allure for many could be family sharing. A total of six people can access the same storage under a single bill. If you'd rather not pay for separate accounts (or just want a shared account), One makes better financial sense.
Some Dropbox users are getting an extra 1TB for free
Dropbox Professional and Business Standard users have more storage to play with starting today, as the company is bumping up the capacity on each plan by 1TB. Professional users now have double the space with 2TB, and Business Standard teams will share 3TB between their members.
Google Drive's new plans bring family sharing and more options
You probably haven't had a huge reason to upgrade from Google Drive's free 15GB service, but Google thinks it can sway you with the right incentives. It's launching a new set of plans, nicknamed Google One, that give you considerably more than extra capacity. There's now a family sharing option similar to services like iCloud, for starters -- up to six family members can share a plan, each with their own private storage areas. Google is promising better support as well, with "one-tap" access to experts for Drive and other services. Previously, you needed a G Suite business account to get that kind of live help.
Dropbox Smart Sync is finally available to all business users
It's been a few years since Dropbox first started talking about Smart Sync, a feature that lets users see everything stored in their Dropbox in the Mac Finder or Windows Explorer, regardless of whether that file is available locally or stored in the cloud. Everything stored in Dropbox shows up in your native file browser, but does so without eating up hundreds of gigabytes of storage -- a feature particularly useful for large teams or businesses with massive file systems. After a few years of development and an early access program, Dropbox is releasing Smart Sync for all its business customers.
Google Drive will help you figure out who needs access to a file
One of the tricky things about coordinating an email chain is always making sure everyone has access to the right files, but Google said it's making that easier in Drive. The next time you go to share a document or other file through email or a calendar invite its built-in access checker will be updated to show the names and email addresses of anyone you're including who doesn't already have permission to view it. Apparently it also "will anticipate who needs access to a file and intelligently default to sharing with those recipients only."
August's smart doorbells now include 24 hours of video recording
Video doorbells are great for spotting visitors, but their live footage only goes so far. What if you don't pay extra for cloud storage and miss an important guest, or (perish the thought) a burglar? With August, at least, that shouldn't be an issue -- it's giving 24 hours of free cloud video to Doorbell Cam and Doorbell Cam Pro owners. This won't help much if you go on a vacation or need to keep footage for evidence's sake, but it could help you catch a lazy courier or give police a snapshot to work with.
Classified US Army and NSA data was stored on an unprotected server
Earlier this month, researchers at UpGuard reported that US military intelligence gathering data had been stored on a misconfigured Amazon Web Services S3 server that wasn't password protected and was publicly viewable. While the data in that leak appeared to consist entirely of collected public internet posts and news commentary, not private information, the team at UpGuard today reports another US government data leak, this time containing clearly classified information.
Some Google Docs users are being locked out of their files (updated)
A number of Google Docs users have reported being locked out of their documents today for, according to the message that pops up when they try to access the affected document, violating Google's terms of service. Users that have tweeted about the issue have said their locked-out pieces were about a range of topics including wildfire crimes, post-socialist eastern Europe and a response to reviewers of an academic journal submission.
Accenture left four servers of sensitive data completely unprotected
UpGuard has yet again uncovered a trove of corporate data left unprotected, this time from major consulting and management firm Accenture. The data -- contained on four cloud-based storage servers -- were discovered by UpGuard Director of Cyber Risk Research Chris Vickery in mid-September and weren't protected by a password. Anyone with the servers' web addresses could download the stored information, which included decryption keys, passwords and customer info. And Accenture's client list includes a number of large companies. On its website, Accenture says its clients "span the full range of industries around the world and include 94 of the Fortune Global 100 and more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500."
US Customs can search phones but not data stored in the cloud
If you're entering or exiting the US anytime soon, take note: border officials can search your devices with or without probable cause, but they can't touch anything stored solely in the cloud. Acting US Customs and Border Protection commissioner Kevin McALeenan has revealed the limit of the division's power in a response to Senator Ron Wyden's letter to Homeland Security.
Dropbox collects privacy settings into a security checkup page
Giving apps and services direct access to your Dropbox account is easier than locally downloading files and re-uploading them. But can you name every one you've linked up? Today, Dropbox has reorganized the most important user security settings in one place, letting you manually check which third-party apps, devices and web browsers have access to your account or reset your password on the same page.
Box’s desktop app is fine for you, but better for businesses
When you think of cloud storage services, your mind probably drifts over Dropbox or Google Drive. You might not remember Box as well -- it was one of the earliest cloud providers out there and it's thriving today. Now, it's catching up with some of its biggest rivals in a notable way: it finally has a desktop app so you manage your entire Box archive sans web browser.
You can now transfer your old Pokémon to 'Sun' and 'Moon'
In a move sure to please long-time Pokémon fans, players can now transfer old Pocket Monsters to the latest games in the series, Pokémon Sun and Moon. Updating Pokémon Bank (Nintendo's subscription-based Pokémon cloud-storage service) gamers are now able to easily send their favourite 'mon from X and Y straight to Sun and Moon. For the uninitiated, this service offers a cloud storage box that can store up to 3000 different Pokémon online. You can even transfer 'mon to different generations of Pokémon games -- all for just $4.99 a year. In a bid to lure in fans of the original games, this update also allows one-way Pokédex transfers from 3DS versions of Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow via the included Poké Transporter app. With gamers previously unable to move monsters from their Game Boy games into the DS era, this means that fans of the original 150 can finally get to see their untouched old-school teams in 3D. As the series battles have changed dramatically over the years, once transferred, older Pokémon will gain new hidden stats that help keep them competitive. For players who still have previous generations of Pokédexes to relocate, Nintendo has provided the handy transfer guide below.
Dropbox pushes further into education by partnering with Blackboard
Dropbox is continuing to make the education market a priority as it looks for new customers. About six months after introducing its first product aimed specifically at schools, the company is announcing a new partnership with Blackboard Learn, one of the most widely-used "virtual learning" applications out there. If you haven't used Blackboard Learn before, it's a tool that makes it easier for students to collaborate and for professors to build an online home for their coursework.
Google's Pixel phones arrive with full-res photo and video storage
In addition to unveiling its new Pixel phones at its big keynote today, Google revealed that its new handsets will come with unlimited cloud storage for full-resolution pictures and videos. That's a big deal if you plan to take advantage of the devices' 4K shooting capabilities and shoot stills at full 12.3-megapixel resolution. It's worth noting that the company already offers something similar with Google Photos, but the current arrangement still doesn't necessarily guarantee images will be saved at their fullest resolution.
