Now more than ever, we're living in a digital
world. We have computers in our pockets and tablets and laptops in our gear bags. We have work
documents, vendor references, and presentations for work, and plenty of
photos, videos, music, and movies for our personal lives.
Yet the more files we accumulate, the more storage, synchronization, and backup problems there are, which is why cloud storage services are more important than ever. It's critical to choose the right one for your needs so that your files will always be close at hand, even if they aren't necessarily stored on your mobile device. Meanwhile, cloud storage services keep changing all the time, with the addition of new features. So here, we're following up on an earlier and very popular cloud storage services roundup with an updated look at four you might consider: Dropbox, Box and Google Drive.
Note: This comparison was first published in 2011. It has now been updated to reflect changes and improvements made to these apps since then.
Dropbox
2GB for free, up to 18GB total with referrals, up to 500GB for $400 yearly
Dropbox is still the current champ, for good reason. It's fast, easy to use, and extremely reliable. The service monitors one particular icon on your computer and automatically uploads files to your Dropbox.
You
can then access those files either from within Finder on a Mac, the
standard Windows file system on a PC, any web browser, or the free apps
available for mobile devices. Those apps run on Android smartphones and
tablets, Blackberry and Kindle Fire devices, and on Apple's iPhone, iPod
Touch, and iPad.
Once you download and install the right Dropbox app for your device, sign into your account and you'll find a simple interface which looks just like a traditional computer file system. One of the most useful features is the ability to mark individual files as favorites, so you'll be able to access those files offline when you don't have an Internet connection (if the service ever goes down, during an airplane flight, etc.).
The mobile apps are rather simple, but they get the job done. You can view some file types (plain text, photos, and PDFs) from within the app itself, while others (ePub eBooks, Microsoft Office files, etc.) must be sent to a helper app such as Polaris Office on Android devices or Documents to Go, GoodReader, iBooks, or Stanza on the iPad. File editing is much more limited, and can only be accomplished with plain text files in the Android version of the app.
Of course there's a lot more to Drop box than simple file synchronization. Need to share a folder with friends or work colleagues? You can do that, and your mobile device will notify you when files are added or changed. Want to make sure that all of the photos that you take on-the-go are safe, even if you lose your phone? Set it up so that all of your mobile photos are automatically uploaded to your Dropbox.
Some mobile apps such as 1Password rely on Drop-box to synchonize your passwords and private data across devices, which is a fantastic time-saver if you create a new web login on your phone and want to have access to that new password and other login info when you get back to your desktop computer.
Backing up that cool digital comic or that hot new musician on Kickstarter? More often than not your digital reward will come in the form of a Drop-box link, so that you can save the file directly to your Dropbox for safekeeping and access from anywhere. Dropbox will also keep track of the links that you visit, on the From Others tab.
One of the more recent improvements is integration with Yahoo Mail for email attachments, so that you can save the files you receive straight to your Dropbox, allowing you to keep your email inbox as empty as possible. If you're already using the Mailbox app on your iOS device, you'll find that it also offers Dropbox integration for email attachments.
Despite its considerable merits, though, Dropbox still needs more editing and collaboration tools in order to stay on top of the cloud storage game.
Box
10GB for free, up to 100GB of total storage available for $8 a month
Box is similar to Dropbox in its cloud storage and synchronization services. However, Box adds some clever collaboration tools to the mix, as well. For example, you can share individual files or entire folders with a few clicks. You can also embed files on a web page for public viewing, with full control over whether users can print, download, or share the file.
If
you're working with a group, you can add collaborators to each folder
in your Dropbox, share direct links to individual files, and add
comments as well, instead of needing to send a flurry of email messages
back and forth each time a document warrants discussion. There's even a
special Box OneCloud service available for business users that is
designed to help teams keep all of their shared documents in sync with
each other, using Box as a central repository.
The Box mobile apps are available for Android, Apple's iOS, and Windows Phone 8, plus desktop computers as well. There are no built-in editing features in the mobile apps, but they do work with external helper apps such as Quickoffice, PaperPort Notes, and PDF Expert to make the editing process as seamless as possible.
Box also places a strong emphasis on security, with the mobile apps optionally requiring a four digit unlock code each time the app is launched, in addition to the regular login information. You can optionally cache all recent files as they are accessed within the mobile app, or you can mark individual files as favorites for offline access.
The Box smartphone and tablets app also offer some unique features. For instance, there's an Update tab that lets you know what the latest activity was and exactly when it happened, including the name of the person who accessed each file. You can also create batch uploads of photos and videos directly from your smartphone or tablet, instead of uploading one at a time, or -- as with the other file sharing apps covered here -- only allowing the upload of individual new photos taken from within the app.
Box is more expensive overall than Dropbox, but it provides more collaboration and workgroup features. Arguably, the mobile apps are more polished as well, though with the recent Dropbox improvements the performance gap has narrowed over the last year. Box might be overkill for someone who just wants to back up his or her files. Yet for groups and enterprise customers, it offers some compelling sharing and synchronization features for work-groups and teams.
Yet the more files we accumulate, the more storage, synchronization, and backup problems there are, which is why cloud storage services are more important than ever. It's critical to choose the right one for your needs so that your files will always be close at hand, even if they aren't necessarily stored on your mobile device. Meanwhile, cloud storage services keep changing all the time, with the addition of new features. So here, we're following up on an earlier and very popular cloud storage services roundup with an updated look at four you might consider: Dropbox, Box and Google Drive.
Note: This comparison was first published in 2011. It has now been updated to reflect changes and improvements made to these apps since then.
Dropbox
2GB for free, up to 18GB total with referrals, up to 500GB for $400 yearly
Dropbox is still the current champ, for good reason. It's fast, easy to use, and extremely reliable. The service monitors one particular icon on your computer and automatically uploads files to your Dropbox.
You
can then access those files either from within Finder on a Mac, the
standard Windows file system on a PC, any web browser, or the free apps
available for mobile devices. Those apps run on Android smartphones and
tablets, Blackberry and Kindle Fire devices, and on Apple's iPhone, iPod
Touch, and iPad.Once you download and install the right Dropbox app for your device, sign into your account and you'll find a simple interface which looks just like a traditional computer file system. One of the most useful features is the ability to mark individual files as favorites, so you'll be able to access those files offline when you don't have an Internet connection (if the service ever goes down, during an airplane flight, etc.).
The mobile apps are rather simple, but they get the job done. You can view some file types (plain text, photos, and PDFs) from within the app itself, while others (ePub eBooks, Microsoft Office files, etc.) must be sent to a helper app such as Polaris Office on Android devices or Documents to Go, GoodReader, iBooks, or Stanza on the iPad. File editing is much more limited, and can only be accomplished with plain text files in the Android version of the app.
Of course there's a lot more to Drop box than simple file synchronization. Need to share a folder with friends or work colleagues? You can do that, and your mobile device will notify you when files are added or changed. Want to make sure that all of the photos that you take on-the-go are safe, even if you lose your phone? Set it up so that all of your mobile photos are automatically uploaded to your Dropbox.
Some mobile apps such as 1Password rely on Drop-box to synchonize your passwords and private data across devices, which is a fantastic time-saver if you create a new web login on your phone and want to have access to that new password and other login info when you get back to your desktop computer.
Backing up that cool digital comic or that hot new musician on Kickstarter? More often than not your digital reward will come in the form of a Drop-box link, so that you can save the file directly to your Dropbox for safekeeping and access from anywhere. Dropbox will also keep track of the links that you visit, on the From Others tab.
One of the more recent improvements is integration with Yahoo Mail for email attachments, so that you can save the files you receive straight to your Dropbox, allowing you to keep your email inbox as empty as possible. If you're already using the Mailbox app on your iOS device, you'll find that it also offers Dropbox integration for email attachments.
Despite its considerable merits, though, Dropbox still needs more editing and collaboration tools in order to stay on top of the cloud storage game.
Box
10GB for free, up to 100GB of total storage available for $8 a month
Box is similar to Dropbox in its cloud storage and synchronization services. However, Box adds some clever collaboration tools to the mix, as well. For example, you can share individual files or entire folders with a few clicks. You can also embed files on a web page for public viewing, with full control over whether users can print, download, or share the file.
If
you're working with a group, you can add collaborators to each folder
in your Dropbox, share direct links to individual files, and add
comments as well, instead of needing to send a flurry of email messages
back and forth each time a document warrants discussion. There's even a
special Box OneCloud service available for business users that is
designed to help teams keep all of their shared documents in sync with
each other, using Box as a central repository.The Box mobile apps are available for Android, Apple's iOS, and Windows Phone 8, plus desktop computers as well. There are no built-in editing features in the mobile apps, but they do work with external helper apps such as Quickoffice, PaperPort Notes, and PDF Expert to make the editing process as seamless as possible.
Box also places a strong emphasis on security, with the mobile apps optionally requiring a four digit unlock code each time the app is launched, in addition to the regular login information. You can optionally cache all recent files as they are accessed within the mobile app, or you can mark individual files as favorites for offline access.
The Box smartphone and tablets app also offer some unique features. For instance, there's an Update tab that lets you know what the latest activity was and exactly when it happened, including the name of the person who accessed each file. You can also create batch uploads of photos and videos directly from your smartphone or tablet, instead of uploading one at a time, or -- as with the other file sharing apps covered here -- only allowing the upload of individual new photos taken from within the app.
Box is more expensive overall than Dropbox, but it provides more collaboration and workgroup features. Arguably, the mobile apps are more polished as well, though with the recent Dropbox improvements the performance gap has narrowed over the last year. Box might be overkill for someone who just wants to back up his or her files. Yet for groups and enterprise customers, it offers some compelling sharing and synchronization features for work-groups and teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment