Dropbox API for mobile & web apps

Today Dropbox announced an API for mobile and web apps.

From a security standpoint this sounds great:

You’ll never have to enter your Dropbox account info into a third-party app on version 1. Instead, you’ll approve access using the official Dropbox app on mobile or via the web at dropbox.com.

And this.

Version 1 adds support for apps that can only read or write to a single folder in your Dropbox.

Authentication is not sent to third party apps, and you can selectively limit access to a single folder which prevents exposing all of your Dropbox data. Hellofax is one example of this kind of integration—they offer the option of receiving faxes as PDFs that can be routed to a Dropbox folder.

More detailed info for developers at dropbox.com/developers.

AeroFS: file sync without servers

AeroFS is a file syncing application, similar to Dropbox, but instead of syncing your files with their servers it runs within your own network and syncs data among your devices internally. It’s a distributed P2P (peer-to-peer) filesystem that doesn’t require a ‘middleman’ server. They offer an optional encrypted sync to their servers (cloud) if you want offsite backup as well. See their Features page for more info.

The idea is a really good one: if you already have file storage capacity in your home or business you can use it to set up automatic syncing and sharing of directories and files without going through a third party service. Many companies have security policies that don’t allow file sharing through services like Dropbox, so something like AeroFS could meet that need really well.

As of this writing they are in beta so you can sign up for an invitation and be notified when it’s ready.

From XKCD:

Vimeo Pro

Vimeo recently introduced Vimeo Pro—video hosting and delivery customized for your business. They offer custom websites (portfolios) that you can brand to showcase your videos. I use Vimeo for hosting and offsite storage of videos and I’ve been really impressed with their service, the devoted user community, the Video School tutorials and a talented base of creatives posting their work on there. If you’re looking for interesting and entertaining video work or ideas on how to improve your own videos, spend some time browsing on vimeo.com.

Vimeo Pro is different from Vimeo Plus—the Plus account is for individuals and Pro is targeted to businesses. With Vimeo Pro you get 50 GB of storage and 250,000 plays (you can buy more if you need it) for $199 per year.

A blurb from the Vimeo Pro FAQ:

Included in Vimeo PRO:
- Commercial hosting option (new!)
- High Definition video (up to 1080p!)
- Advanced Analytics
- Unlimited customizable video Portfolio sites
- Unlimited HD embedding
- Fast, Priority uploading
- Super-customizable and brandable video player (new!)
- HTML5 support with the Vimeo Universal Player
- Full mobile, tablet and connected TV compatibility
- Unlisted video review pages (new!)
- Third Party video player support (new!)
- Optional original file storage
- much, much more

And don’t miss their latest Video School lesson: Tripod Tricks!

Dropbox updates Terms of Service

Dropbox announced on their blog today an update to their Terms of Service (TOS) in response to some unhappy customer feedback. Previously the TOS wording gave the impression that Dropbox was claiming ownership rights over customer data. This didn’t go over well, so they have revised the language to be more clear about their intentions.

I’m glad because I really like Dropbox. There are other cloud storage and sync services out there but Dropbox has really executed well with ease of use and reliable sync across multiple devices.

We’ve never been interested in rights broader than what we need to run Dropbox. We want to get this language right so that you’re comfortable using Dropbox with no reservations: what’s yours is yours.

If you’re interested in getting a Dropbox account use this link to join and we’ll both get extra storage as a referral bonus. You can sign up for a free 2 GB account and then upgrade to a paid account, or just stay at the free level.

WWDC 2011

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) kicks off next Monday, June 6 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, beginning with Steve Jobs’ keynote (aka The Stevenote) at 10 AM.

Below is a photo from AppleInsider showing some of the banners going up. It looks like the three themes of the conference will be:

• Mac OS X Lion (10.7)
• iOS 5
• iCloud

I’m really interested to see what Apple is going to do with the iCloud service. I hope it’s better than MobileMe, which never seemed to me to be a very serious effort on Apple’s part. Cloud syncing and backup services like Dropbox and a few others have shown what a good service can look like in that space. I think it’s pretty clear by now that a music syncing/streaming service is going to be introduced as a big part of the iCloud offering. I’m sure that calendar and contact syncing will remain, and some have speculated that parts of the iCloud service may be offered at no cost to users who upgrade to OS X Lion.

Amazon Cloud Drive

Amazon just announced their Cloud Drive service. It’s not an automated file syncing service like Dropbox—it’s (currently) a manual, browser-based upload to a file share on Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3). Dropbox is built on the S3 infrastructure, though, so I wonder what Amazon will do in terms of building their own application or API for syncing. Amazon knows storage and Dropbox knows syncing, so maybe there’s an acquisition in the future here.

Pricing looks very good for what they’re offering. You get 5 GB free to start with if you have an existing Amazon account.

Evernote hits 5 million users

Evernote—the cloud-based service for capturing/organizing/finding/storing a variety of data—just reached the 5 million user mark. Yesterday they had 22,130 new users join. I’ve been using Evernote for a little over a year, and it’s a terrific app that I use most every day. Works great on the web, my Mac (desktop app) and iPhone and iPad (mobile apps). Also available for Windows, Android and Blackberry.

The chart below shows how quickly they’re scaling per-million-users.

The Ultimate Dropbox Toolkit & Guide

I’m a fan of Dropbox—the cloud data sync service—and if you are too you might find something of interest in The Ultimate Dropbox Toolkit & Guide over on the Appstorm site.

They’ve collected an impressive list of ways to make a valuable tool even more so, including:

• Local Area Network sync (if you have more than one computer on a LAN you can sync directly among them without going to the cloud first)
• Password sync (I use this with 1Password)
• Share photo galleries
• Sync your iTunes library across multiple computers
• Send files to Dropbox by email
• PHP Dropbox uploader
• Website file hosting and sharing

Take your files mobile with Dropbox

Here’s the idea: you’re away from your computer—Mac or PC—and you want to use your mobile device to access folders and files that are saved on your computer. A cloud sync service like Dropbox can fill that gap and provide quick and easy access to your files. I’ve been testing this for a while and it works great.

The way it works:

• You have a Dropbox account (free 2 GB account, or pay for more space).
• The Dropbox application is installed on your computer, which creates a folder called ‘Dropbox’ and syncs this folder (and every folder inside it) to your online account.
• Any folders and files that you would like to be able to access on your mobile device, just move those into the Dropbox folder structure.
• Install the free Dropbox app on your mobile device, enter your login information, and have access to your online account and all of the folders and files you have synced up on your computer.

It’s important to point out that this is not some ‘virtual’ folder—the Dropbox folder and its subfolders actually exist on your computer, so it’s no different than your current folder hierarchy: your data is still stored on your hard drive. The only difference is that once a file is saved locally, a copy automagically gets pushed to the cloud. This serves several purposes:

1. A remote backup of your files. In case your computer were stolen or damaged such that you couldn’t get to your data, you could recover your files from Dropbox. This is reason enough to do it.
2. Remote access for viewing up-to-date copies of all your files when you’re away from your computer.
3. The ability to share a file with someone else, either by using the Public folder or by emailing a link to the file directly from the Dropbox mobile app.

As of this writing Dropbox mobile apps are available for iPhone, iPad, Android, and iPod Touch—according to the Dropbox Anywhere page, Blackberry support is coming as well.

I’ve found the Dropbox service and the mobile applications to be very stable and reliable so far as I have used them on iPhone and iPad. I experimented for a while with a free 2 GB account, but recently upgrade to the 100 GB service for $20 a month.

I’ve mentioned Dropbox in several blog posts—I’m not involved with the company in any way, just a satisfied customer. They’re doing a really good job.

Dropbox

There are many online file sharing / storage / synchronization services showing up these days. They usually offer some limited level of service for free, and start charging for more storage space and features. Dropbox has done a great job of implementing this concept.

I like the idea of having an online option for storage and backup of selected files, and I think the best approach is to use this as a supplement to a local backup strategy. Don’t let it be your only recourse for restoring lost data.

Dropbox

I have been using Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) for a while now for simple backup and sync services. In January 2010 Dropbox announced four million users, so they seem to be doing pretty well. You can keep your files private, or share selected subfolders and files out via a web address you can invite others to. It serves as a backup in case your hard drive fails, or as a way to have access to important files when you don’t have your own computer with you. Any computer with an internet connection will give you access to your Dropbox account.

You can download Dropbox for Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and iPad. Install the application on your computer and it creates a folder that is synced with your online Dropbox account. Add a file to the Dropbox folder on your computer, and it immediately copies it up to your web account. It works really well and can provide some peace of mind knowing that you have a backup copy in case something happens to your computer.

File Synchronization

You can also set it up on multiple machines for syncing files between them; for example, create a Dropbox folder on your home computer and one on your work computer, and have both of those sync to your Dropbox account online. If you add a file to the Dropbox folder on your home computer, you will see it in the folder on your work computer as well. Or, create a shared folder with relatives and drop photos in there from time to time, or whatever you want to share.

Jason Snell of Macworld magazine has a nice five minute Dropbox introductory video that demonstrates the service.

Currently (as of June 2010) the pricing options are:

• Basic Account (2 GB): free
• Pro 50 Account (50 GB): $9.99/month or $99/year
• Pro 100 Account (100 GB): $19.99/month or $199/year

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