Hasta La Gadget!

Dropbox may be late to the iOS 7 app update party, but it’s making up for lost time with an abundance of new features in the just-launched version 3.0 release for Apple’s platform. The refresh brings the expected iOS 7-friendly look and includes AirDrop, making it easy to share links or whole files with nearby friends. It’s also easier to send files to other apps or save videos to the device library, and iPad owners can quickly open files in a full-screen view. If your cloud storage revolves around Dropbox, we’d strongly recommend swinging by the App Store for an upgrade.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Storage, Internet, Mobile

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Source: App Store, Dropbox Blog

If you thought Bitcasa’s infinite cloud storage was too sweet of a deal to exist on this mortal plane for $99 a year, that’s because it was — or at least partly because the bulk of subscribers filled up far less of their digital lockers than expected. According to the outfit, 98 percent of its customers use less than five terabytes of data, and 92 percent “do not store anywhere close to a terabyte.” In addition, the firm says a survey of its customers revealed they valued more features over additional space. As result, the unlimited service will now cost $999 a year, or $99 per month, and the company will focus on making the platform more useful, starting with a freshly-released API. Free accounts have been tweaked to start at 5GB (as opposed to 10GB), and the $99 per year (or $10 a month) tier now nets 1TB of space. For those with even more bits to squirrel away, 5TB can be had by contributing $499 a year (or $49 each month) to Bitcasa’s coffers.

Existing subscribers will get to keep their current plan’s rates and storage, but won’t get access to new offerings — such as the future Linux client — unless they switch to the new pricing scheme. Tencent’s free 10TB of online storage might sound even more tempting now, but it’s worth taking this instance as an example of what could happen to your cloud paradise.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Bitcasa

RealNetworks is trying something a little different with its attempt at launching a cloud service in a very competitive market. It’s combined its upgraded player app with 2GBs of free cloud storage, allowing users to move videos across devices, stream or download them and beam them out to compatible TV sets (via Roku). The new service also means you can share “long videos” from your Android / iOS device to any other video-capable device, and the end-user won’t need to download an app to play it. This is possible through RealPlayer’s new ‘SurePlay’ tech, which auto-formats outgoing videos to the suit screen-size, available bandwidth and storage space of receiving devices. There’s no shortage of compatible hardware, either. Alongside apps Google’s mobile OS and iOS, videos can also be shared or viewed through Windows PCs, Roku TV units and, in fact, any device that can use a web browser. If 2GB sounds a little tight, subscription plans will start at $5 per month for 25GB, and up to $30 per month for 300GB, for those that really can’t stop sharing. We’ve added RealNetwork’s Consumer-facing Matrix (read: price chart) after the break.

Filed under: Internet, Software, HD, Mobile

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If you thought that the free storage that’s offered by Microsoft, Google and others were generous, then you’ve never been to China. Tencent, in an attempt to crawl past local rivals Baidu and Weibo, is offering customers a whopping 10 Terabytes of space on its Weiyun cloud storage service. All users need to do is sign up with the company, offer up their QQ account number, and download the Weiyun mobile app — which bags ’em an instant 1TB, with the allowance gradually increasing to 10TB the more files they upload. The only downside for us, naturally, is that the promotion does make SkyDrive’s 25GB seem a bit stingy by comparison.

Filed under: Storage, Internet

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Via: TNW

Source: Tencent (Translated)

Box may not be the first company you think of when it comes to cloud storage, as it’s largely focused on serving business needs. Still, while Box’s bread and butter is the enterprise, the company does dabble in personal storage, and today Box users had their lockers double in size to 10GB. That’s twice the 5GB previously offered, which makes it a more spacious option than SkyDrive (7GB), Dropbox (2GB), Amazon Cloud Drive (5GB) and iCloud (5GB). The only big-name competitor with more free digital square footage, in fact, is Google Drive, which provides 15GB of space.

There’s also some good news for small businesses and folks who like to share their space in the cloud. Box has rolled out a new starter tier that delivers 100GB of storage and allows up to ten users for $5 a month. 100GB of web workspace for the price of a large latte? Even the smallest startups can afford that.

Filed under: Storage, Internet

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Source: The Box Blog