Hasta La Gadget!

Box has released the version 2.2 of its Android app, and it comes with a flurry of improvements. Looking at the new features, two stand out: First, you can know in real-time if one of your offline files has been updated, which gives you a chance to sync right away and avoid being one step behind. This doesn’t really solve potential file collisions, but deals with simple situations where a quick file update would suffice.

Secondly, if you share a tablet, or have professional and personal accounts (like 88% of Box users), it is now possible to switch between multiple Dropbox accounts from the Box for Android app. With this new feature, you don’t have to jump through loops to access your data, regardless of where it is on Box. If you have a lot of files, you may appreciate all the sorting options (name, date, size, last-modified) or the optional thumbnail view for photos.

Finally, Box has done quite a bit of work on the user interface. This includes using Google’s new Navigation Drawer, redesigning the update feeds and heavy users can have a Home Screen widget that will show you uploads and download events, just in case you forgot which files went in or out.

Box For Android 2.2 Launched original content from Ubergizmo.

It’s hardly worthy of any presses being halted, but those interested in minor Google Drive updates should take notice. Google has just updated Docs and Slides to let users select text, click on said text, and have Google search results pop up in addition to users’ own Drive documents. The point? Easy hyperlinking for related websites, which ought to be a boon for budding students or digital bookworms who prefer to annotate just about everything. As Google puts it:

“Starting today, the link tool now offers you suggestions based on the text you are hyperlinking just in case you don’t have the URL you need offhand. To try it out, select the text you want and click the “Insert link” icon from the menu bar (or use Ctrl K).”

Filed under: Software, Google

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Google Drive (Google+)

Cloud storage services are a dime a dozen these days, and just the thought of sifting through the mass to find the one that works best for you can be overwhelming. But when it comes to not just mobile-specific but also photo-specific storage, your options are pretty much cut entirely. That’s what makes Loom (which just went into beta) so great—it’s a better way to take photos that gives you the benefits of the cloud without any of the complications.

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With the recent fiasco with the NSA and PRISM program, concern for user privacy has skyrocketed tremendously, and now that the word is out on tech companies, they have no choice but to make things better for their users. Google is doing its part, and it’s said that the search giant is secretly testing encryption methods for Google Drive files for protection against the NSA.

According to CNET, sources say that Google is experimenting with encrypting Google Drive files in order to prevent the NSA and other government agencies from digging into users’ files. While a small number of files are already encrypted, it seems Google wants to encrypt every file that goes through its Google Drive servers.

PRISM collects data that the companies are required to provide under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. However, encrypted files don’t fall under FISA (as long as the government doesn’t know the password to get in), so it seems that companies are heading in this direction with their user files, Google Drive being one of the first cloud services to begin the process.

Of course, companies use HTTPS as a form of encryption in order to protect the communications of files while they’re being transmitted over the interwebs, but cloud companies rarely encrypt files that are simply just sitting there in the cloud. This is mainly because it’s a complex thing to do and it ups the cost of server computing power.

However, in a time where users are becoming more and more wary of tech companies and the data they have on users, these companies can’t become stingy, and they need to start taking action to protect users’ files and information, even if that means going out of their way to include encryption and other security benefits.

SOURCE: CNET

Google Drive encryption tipped incoming for NSA protection is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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BitTorrent’s personal cloud service, Sync, just moved into beta today. And now, it even has its own Android app. If you need some online space the NSA can’t get at, go check it out. It’s free!

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