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Microsoft Skydrive updates fly out with file jump, Windows 8 photo sync
Microsoft isn't resting on its cloud with SkyDrive -- it's announcing a new update, which rolls out today for Mac and Windows. It teased a new feature for Windows 8 Release Preview -- due early June -- that allows photos to be retrieved from any PC with SkyDrive, whether your cloud storage is maxed out or not. Though we doubt you've topped out your 150,000 file limit, Redmond says it's taking power users into account with a huge bump to 10 million files -- with the same 7GB free / 100GB paid limits. It's also promised more speed and reliability, many small bug fixes, and has dropped the app icon from the OS X Lion dock -- saying it "definitely heard feedback" to do it. Updates will happen automatically, so you might be able to shoot more of those dusty files off to the cloud sooner than you think.
Microsoft SkyDrive impressions: a look at features and functionality
You may remember a certain, somewhat anticipated cloud service finally coming in to land in recent days. That wasn't the only news in nebular computing last week, however: perhaps in anticipation of Google's long-rumored Drive service, Microsoft made some updates to the Windows Phone app for its own offering, SkyDrive. This comes not long after the release of desktop SkyDrive applications for Windows and OSX, all suggesting that Redmond's hoping to cut itself as large a slice of the cloud-storage pie as it can, preferably while others are still taking their seats at the table. We spent some time with the latest quiver of tools from Microsoft, to see how they've progressed.
Google Drive preview: an in-depth look at features and functionality
It's been a long time in the making, but the once-mythical cloud storage service known to all as Google Drive is real, and it made its official debut today -- and even though Goog's taken plenty of time to make it available to the masses, our impatience certainly got the worst of us, and we immediately started digging through the new service. So what does this online storage option entail? Will it make you delete your Dropbox and SkyDrive accounts and jump for joy? Or has Google simply waited too long to start playing the game? Read on to find out our first impressions.
PSA: If you purchased extra Gmail storage, your Google Drive just got bigger
5GB, huh? Not quite enough for you? If you were wise enough to up the capacity of your Gmail inbox + Picasa allotment before today, your Google Drive experience just got a lot more awesome. A trio of editors here at Engadget HQ managed to upgrade their Gmail boxes a couple of years ago, and at the time (read: it's no longer an available option), Google was offering an extra 20GB for use across its properties for a mere $5 per year. Upon loading Google Drive today, we each found a healthy 25GB waiting to be filled, with no expectation of additional payments to Google. Be sure to let us know if you're seeing a similar boost in capaciousness down in comments below, particularly for those who splurged on one of the more current Gmail add-on plans.
Google Drive vs. the competition: pricing plans and perks, compared
Sometimes a table says a thousand words. Now that Google has finally announced its cloud service, Google Drive, we're sure more than a few of you are crunching the numbers in your head in an attempt to figure which is the best deal. Far be it for us to tell you which service to use when we've barely had a chance to poke around Drive, but for now, better if we lay out those gigabytes and dollars in number form, rather than squeeze them into a crowded paragraph, don'tcha think? Follow past the break for a brief breakdown of what you'll get from Google, along with Dropbox, Microsoft SkyDrive and iCloud.
Xtreamer e-TRAYz NAS boasts up to 4TB storage, artistic license with English language
Loving your Xtreamer media player? The company's gearing up for a much larger, more versatile NAS complement that supports up to 4TB of storage across two bays, and anyone who's purchased last year's model by November 1st will get a chance to pre-order this one for €59 (US $84) when the listing opens on that day. It's bring-your-own-disk drives, but otherwise you're getting a Windows 7 / Snow Leopard-compliant server that supports RAID 0 / 1, torrent management, 802.11n (with dongle), and a surveillance webcam for remote snooping that's due out by Christmas of this year. After November 1st the price jumps to €99, and those who don't have the current Xtreamer will have to pick up both as a €198 set. No ship date yet, but we're supposed to be hearing more details, including full specs, in the coming days. [Via Engadget Spanish]
