Social-storage service Dropio on Thursday announced a partnership with Yahoo Mail to deliver a default application for the e-mail program's users. Dubbed Attach Large Files, Dropio's application will allow Yahoo Mail users to send attachments up to 100 MB in size.
When Yahoo Mail users log on to their accounts, they will now see Dropio's Attach Large Files listing included in the Applications drop-down box, which also features apps from Evite, Flickr, and PayPal, among others. When they click on Dropio's application, they can immediately start sending large files through their e-mail accounts.
The Dropio application isn't available through Yahoo Mail's e-mail composition form. Only when the user clicks on the "Attach Large Files" option will they be brought to a page allowing them to select files from their computer. Once they choose all those files, they can then upload them and compose an e-mail message. The message contains a note at the bottom saying the attachment technology is "powered by Dropio."
Dropio has made its way to Yahoo Mail.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)The recipients will then view the e-mail's contents on a unique Dropio page. There, they can leave a comment or download the files to their computer.
Incorporating the Dropio technology marks an improvement for Yahoo. Currently, users of Google's Yahoo Mail rival, Gmail, can attach up to 25MB to their messages. By effectively quadrupling that figure through Dropio's app, Yahoo Mail has another compelling feature to communicate to users.
Dropio was quick to point out that the app it created for Yahoo was based on its open application-programming interface. It hopes that the Yahoo Mail feature will be used as a proof of concept for other developers to find unique ways to use its API.
Dropio's Attach Large Files application is available now for free in the Yahoo Mail Applications listing.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
After more than a month of waiting, Apple has finally brought its MobileMe iDisk application to iPod and iPhone users. Originally announced during Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference in early July, the free iDisk app offers users of Apple's MobileMe service a way to access files they, or their MobileMe contacts have stored on Apple's servers.
Some of the nicer features include being able to view and send any native file types. This includes music, so if you've got a bunch of tracks stored on iDisk, you can stream them from the app. Movies work as well, although they have to be formatted to play on an iPod or iPhone.
Apple says that some files over 20MB won't load, although I successfully managed to get a 198MB MPEG4 movie file to stream in. Things that require downloading, however, such as documents and photos, are capped at 30MB--even when you're on a Wi-Fi connection. The application must first download those types of files to your device before you can even see what they are. This process is made faster by a cache you can adjust to allow for more local storage, all the way up to 200MB. Not included in that cache are audio and video files, which are simply streamed, meaning that you'll need to be on a solid connection for the entire listen or watch.
As nice as the local cache is, it's a long ways off from offering users the chance to manage files locally as some other iPhone storage apps have done. You cannot download anything back to your device from the app, save for photos, which can only be saved using the iPhone's screenshot feature--not the superior copy and paste. There are also no previews before or after you've downloaded something to view locally, which means you better have named your files properly.
I applaud Apple's efforts for giving users a first party way to access their files, it's just too bad it offers so much less than third parties have provided. Besides local file downloading, I would love to see omissions like copy and paste, and quick visual previews offered. It would also be fantastic to let users copy a file from the app into a mail message without having to use the built-in e-mailer, which wraps each file in MobileMe branding.
MobileMe iDisk for the iPhone weighs in at 2.2MB and requires users to have an active subscription to MobileMe, along with an iPod Touch or iPhone running OS 3.0.
The good:
• Lets you quickly access files you have stored on your iDisk in a native application.
• Streams in audio and video, letting you bypass file size restrictions.
• You can view files in portrait and landscape modes.
• Your log-in is saved between sessions, so you don't need to re-enter your user name and password.
•You can view files your friends have stored online if you know their MobileMe user names.
The bad:
• Certain files are capped at 30MB--even over Wi-Fi.
• There are no visual previews of what photos, videos, and docs contain.
• No way to save files for offline viewing. There's a local cache, but as soon as a newer file needs some space, old files are removed.
•Copy and paste doesn't work.
One of the knocks against Google's online applications is that your personal data is stored unencrypted on the company's servers. For the many users of Google apps who are unconcerned about somebody snooping around their files, this won't matter. But those servers are no place to store sensitive personal or business information.
You can store your financial and other confidential information online for free by using a service such as Mozy or IDrive that encrypts the data on their servers, usually in a way that prevents the service's own employees from decrypting it. I looked at three services that include encrypted online storage along with other security services.
SpiderOak gives you up to 2GB of secure online storage for free but requires that you download a big client program, though you can access your data via a browser. The free storage offered by CryptoHeaven and SwissDisk top out at 50MB, but both of these services have more to offer, and SwissDisk doesn't even require a client download.
Free encrypted storage with room to spare
Secure online storage is only one of the features of the SpiderOak service, but the site's 2GB of encrypted-file capacity is difficult to ignore. You can also sync and share folders between multiple Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs. The service is designed primarily for backup but also lets you access your online files from any Internet-connected system.
SpiderOak claims to provide fault-tolerant servers to guard against data loss and also keeps old versions of your files to assist in recovery. The service uses a combination of 2048-byte RSA and 256-bit AES encryption. It also encrypts the keys you use to access the data so the company itself can't access your data.
The SpiderOak client program lets you view and access your online files.
(Credit: SpiderOak)The SpiderOak client program crashed when I attempted to transfer a single 1MB JPEG file. The software is a real throwback, and the reason I prefer an online service. In testing, I was prompted to download a 12MB update of the SpiderOak app. When I restarted, the program automatically updated the 257MB of data I had backed up previously.
It took more than an hour to transfer 257MB of data to the SpiderOak server. Subsequent syncs and single-file transfers went much quicker, but using the program feels like you're plodding through the settings and folder tree. If 2GB of storage space isn't enough, you can buy 100GB increments for $10 a month or $100 a year.
Secure more than files
Online file encryption is only one component of the security services CryptoHeaven offers a workgroup. You can also send and receive e-mail and IM securely by inviting people to communicate with you; for an added fee, the company will also host your domain to give your encrypted communications a personal touch.
The free service lets you store up to only 40MB, but that's expandable up to 50GB for prices starting at $7.99 a month or $66 a year for 200MB. Personal accounts come with up to five e-mail addresses, and business accounts offer up to 12 addresses.
Passwords are optional for the CryptoHeaven secure online file storage, e-mail, and IM service.
(Credit: CryptoHeaven)After you download the 8.4MB CryptoHeaven client program, the installation routine asks whether you want to password-protect the account and use a password hint. Business plans let you create and manage accounts, including assigning passphrases and setting permissions.
The company promises that no one can access your data but you via its "AES encryption with 256-bit symmetric key as well as public-key cryptography with 2048-4096-bit keys." Sounds secure enough for my needs.
The quick-and-easy approach to secure online storage
There's something to be said for the multifunction approaches taken by such security services as SpiderOak and CryptoHeaven. But there's a time and place for specialists as well. The SwissDisk service offers 50MB of secure online storage as a "gift" but charges from $3 a month for a Mobility service to $12 a month for a personal account that includes access to your data from Windows Explorer or Mac Finder.
After you sign up for your free account, you simply log in the SwissDisk site, browse to the files or folders you want to upload, and click Upload. My test 1MB JPEG file uploaded in about five seconds. You can download, delete, rename, or create a temporary URL for your online files. Simple and straightforward.
Storing files securely online couldn't be simpler than with the free SwissDisk service.
(Credit: SwissDisk)The only downside of the SwissDisk service is that you have to provide a telephone number and mailing address in addition to an e-mail address to sign up for a free account. Considering that the data and transmission lines are protected by 256-bit AES encryption and the SwissDisk servers "certified Hacker Safe," I'd say my files are safer online than they are on my own PC.
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CNET)
Everyone knows they should back up their data, but a surprisingly small percentage of people actually do. Unfortunately, when the big crash finally comes or you experience a hard-drive failure, that's usually the time you realize you should have been backing up all along. There are a number of programs that make it easier to regularly back up your hard drive, but in my experience, many require several steps to get the job done.
Nero's BackItUp and Burn ($39.99), released yesterday, attempts to make the whole process easier for everyone. Using an intuitive tabbed interface and simple controls, just about anyone can pick up BackItUp and Burn and start a regular schedule for backups or folder syncing in only a few clicks. The software even offers the option of sending you an e-mail notification when automated backups are complete.
It's incredibly easy to set up a backup schedule so you never have to worry about your data again
(Credit: CNET)BackItUp and Burn also includes full burning capabilities (as the name suggests), letting you burn your music, videos, data, and pictures to CD, DVD, or Blue-ray Discs so you have a hard copy of your most important personal files. Nero offers a free Gigabyte of online storage for a three-month trial, but you'll need to buy a subscription (there are three tiers to choose from) if you want to store more data in the cloud. You can pay as little as $7.49 for 5GB of storage for three months, or as much as $59.99 for 25GB of storage for a year. You should be aware that this program requires the latest Microsoft .NET Framework in order to run (you will be prompted to download during install). You also will have the choice of installing the Ask Toolbar during install.
Nobody wants to lose all his or her data, but too few of us actually take the steps necessary to create regular backups. Nero's BackItUp and Burn provides novice and advanced users a way to keep music, photos, and data safe without a lot of hassle and at a fairly affordable price.
If you're an iTunes user (download for Windows|Mac) whose appetite for music, movies, and podcasts is outstripping the capacity of your computer, it might be a good time to think about offloading that library to an external hard drive or a separate internal drive. If you do it right, the process is relatively simple, although the transfer time could take an hour or more, depending on the size of your media library.
To walk you through it, here's a step-by-step video and slide show tutorial on how to move your iTunes library to an external hard drive.
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Just about everyone who works with a computer knows they should perform regular backups, but only a very small percentage actually do. While people's intentions are good, most simply think backing up their computer is too much trouble or software is too complex to figure out. Unfortunately, when the big crash finally does occur or a laptop is stolen, for example, the resulting loss of important data has us pulling our hair out wondering why we didn't take the plunge on backup software.
Today, a front-runner in backup software on Windows machines released a strong backup solution for Mac. Backblaze takes the guesswork out of backing up your data with an easy to understand interface, simple scheduling tools, and a brand-new external drives backup interface. To keep your data safe, use the Backblaze preference pane to securely back up your data online so when the unthinkable happens, you can resync your data from the last backup. Backblaze lets you restore from the Web or you can get a DVD or USB drive sent through FedEx.
The initial backup can take some time, but you can pause the process if you need to.
(Credit: CNET)On launch, Backblaze gets to work analyzing your drive for irreplaceable documents immediately, automatically scanning for important files like photos, music files, and other important documents. The files are automatically encrypted on your hard drive, compressed, and then sent to the Backblaze servers in their encrypted state. The initial backup can take up to a few days depending on your Internet connection, but once it's finished, Backblaze backs up files continuously as you work, making sure you won't lose the latest file revisions or recently added music and photos.
While you shouldn't notice a significant change in your Mac's performance during backups, you have the option of scheduling a time each day to perform the backup. Those who want full control over their backup schedule can simply hit a button to Backup Now whenever it's convenient.
The demo gives you a 15-day trial to find out if Backblaze is right for you, and a $5/month subscription fee is all you'll need to get regular backups with unlimited storage. Also, Backblaze is offering the first 25 people who install today a free 1-year license. Clearly, they will go quickly, so grab your copy as soon as possible.
Sugarsync, a pricey but excellent file-syncing and backup solution has a new iPhone application that's downright cool. It gives you access to all the files stored on computers linked up to your Sugarsync account. Better yet, it provides instant--and I do mean instant--updates when a file has been touched by you or another user by utilizing some spiffy push technology.
I got a demo of it in action a few weeks back, and it's one of the better looking applications I've seen. Like the desktop version each linked up machine has its own special icon, and all you have to do to access your files is to pick one from a neat spinning wheel. You'll then get a similar view of the file structure, with folders, icons, and more.
One of the application's greatest assets is that it can be synced up to several computers, and then pass over that data between them in the background. In the mobile world, something that makes this system useful is trying to send someone a large file (say 500MB) that you can't just pull down on your phone and send through e-mail. Sugarsync's solution is to simply send your recipient the link and they'll be able to download the file through their browser's download manager.
The application is also set up to let you move, rename, and delete files remotely. Since everything is linked up to the live sync server those changes will go out immediately. In the demo we saw these changes from desktop to phone and back again getting pushed out in about a second, even over EDGE.
For now, one of the only drawbacks is file compatibility. It handles everything the iPhone can just fine (like MS office documents, PDFs, Quicktime Movie files, etc.), but it has had problems with certain movie codecs and audio files. I'm told all supported audio files will play just fine, it's just an issue of trying to let you do other things while the music is playing, as it currently kicks the file onto the full-screen Quicktime player. Future versions should hopefully be able to let you multitask.
The application is free, but Sugarsync's service is not. Users can grab a 45-day free trial of the 10GB service, which normally costs about three bucks a month.
Sugarsync's iPhone app lets you access and manage your files on multiple devices, right on your phone. You can even open and access compatible file types while out and about.
(Credit: Sharpcast Inc. / CBS Interactive)This highly recommended Firefox extension takes the small pile of gigabytes that the Google folks throw at you for your Gmail account and turns them into a drive with storage and music-playing capabilities.
Accessible via a toolbar button or from the menu bar, Gspace opens a new tab with an FTP-style interface. You can transfer files by highlighting them and hitting the directional arrow. Drag-and-drop is not available, but the plug-in is still replete with goodies. Uploading a file sends an e-mail with it attached to your Gmail, so you can create Gmail's native filters and folders to keep track of files you've uploaded. Deleting the file from Gspace deletes the e-mail.
Gspace also allows users to switch between different Gmail accounts, has an In-box button so you can quickly jump back to the standard Gmail interface, and supports different uses of the virtual drive. These include a Music mode, which can be used with a Flash music player to create a Web-based MP3 player, and a Photo mode that didn't work for us at the time this was written. The rest did, and it made home-to-office file transfers almost as easy as using Google itself.
Mozilla's new project called Weave is an exciting new add-on to Mozilla's popular browser Firefox. While in its infancy, the service plans to be a way for users to save and access their personal browsing information across multiple machines. It's a little bit like Google's Web history, del.icio.us, and a Web password saver all wrapped up into one.
Some use cases for Weave (as listed by Mozilla) include: accessing your history and bookmarks from your home version of Firefox on your mobile Firefox browser, shared/collaborative bookmarking, and personalization tools to let you log in and sync up your home bookmarks, plug-ins and passwords on another machine; all things that are typically a pain unless you're technically proficient or know how to plan ahead.
Weave version 0.1, which Mozilla's Labs team rolled out a few weeks back, lays the foundation for Web developers to add Weave integration into their services. It's limited to some very basic back-end tools for developers, although version 0.2 which is planned for "early 2008" is adding a full-blown API, and a user interface complete with settings to let you control how much of your information Weave can access.
Currently, users who want to take advantage of the Weave plug-in must be running the latest beta of Firefox 3, Mozilla's upcoming follow-up to the current version 2.0, which you can grab here.
The Gdrive, the mythical, hypothetical Google-provided and free Web-based storage drive, took a giant step toward reality earlier this week. As most of America waddled out of its tryptophan-induced haze on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the myth could become real within a few months.
However, you don't have to wait that long to get free storage from Google. Thanks to Gspace and Gmail Drive, you can start using your five-gigabyte-plus of Gmail storage as a virtual drive right now. This second, even.
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