It appears that Google has had a change of heart, and has finally decided in favor of launching its own cloud storage solution to compete with the likes of Dropbox, Box.net, SkyDrive, and iCloud. The Wall Street Journal believes that Google is very close to launching Google Drive, something that users have been anticipating and demanding ever since Gmail launched with a gigabyte of storage. In fact, Google was almost ready to launch a similar product called GDrive, way back in 2008. However, Sundar Pichai, the current SVP of Chrome and Apps, managed to get the product dumped with a bizarre argument that files are outdated. According to Steven Levy’s “In the Plex”, Pinchai believed that “Files are so 1990”.

“You just want to get information into the cloud. When people use our Google Docs, there are no more files. You just start editing in the cloud, and there’s never a file.”
– Sundar Pinchai

Google’s entry into the cloud-storage arena is long overdue. Both Microsoft and Apple have compelling products in this segment, which are already (or soon will be) tightly integrated with their own ecosystem. Google, on the other hand, has allowed third-parties like Dropbox to take control of the Android ecosystem. What makes the prolonged lack of an online backup solution from Google surprising is the fact that Google is well known for having access to ginormous quantities of cheap storage. In fact, Google already offers plenty of storage to users in the form of Gmail, Google Docs, and Picasa. What it has been lacking so far is an integrated solution to unite its assorted services.

Like its competitors, Google will be opting for a freemium model. The basic storage plan for Google Drive will be free, with additional storage available for purchase. It will be interesting to observe how Google prices its new product. If it retains the current model of charging $5 per year for additional 20 gigabytes, and $20 per year for 80 gigabytes, it could very well demolish its competitors. It is also likely that at some point, Google will bundle Drive with Google Apps for Android, which should give an instant boost to its user base.

Dropbox famously turned down a nine-figure acquisition offer from Apple. Now, with Google, Microsoft, and Apple setting their sights on the cloud storage market, it will have its work cut out. However, if Dropbox manages to retain its focus on innovation and superior customer service, it will prove to be a tough competitor to beat.

Dropbox is no doubt one of the most popular file synching software for PCs and mobile phones alike. To start out, Dropbox gives users 2GB of free space (and an additional 250MB) and then allows users to earn additional space by referring friends. However, you can earn 5GB of free space by downloading the beta version of Dropbox.

Users who download the beta version of Dropbox and help the developers fix the bugs will get up-to 5GB of space for uploading photos and videos from their mobile phone, camera or SD card. You will receive 500MB of space when you first import your photos or videos to Dropbox and continue earning additional 500MB of data for every 500MB of photos or videos you upload to the cloud.

Also Read:

• A Guide to Using Symbolic Links With Dropbox
• Backup WordPress Database, Themes, Plugins & Uploads To Dropbox, Amazon S3
• How to Sync Your Game Saves Between Computers for Free
• How to Send Email Attachments to Dropbox Automatically
• How To Run Multiple Instances Of Dropbox

Dropbox has been growing rapidly and there were some hints that they might also integrate with Google Docs soon, however, nothing has come of it yet.

Beta software can often be buggy and sometimes crash your system. However, if you are willing to take the risk, you can download the beta version of Dropbox from here. Also, don’t forget to check our Online Storage section to find free online storage for your files.

[via Engadget]

The dramatic Megaupload crackdown has turned the online file sharing world upside down by shattering the illusion of invulnerability that many of these operators enjoyed. Earlier today, Uploaded.to shut out US users, while Filesonic pulled the plug globally. Since then, several more cyber lockers have followed suit.

Filesonic, which receives more than a billion page views every month, seems to be on the run. Not only is it restricting users from downloading files uploaded by others, there are also reports of large scale file deletion. The Twitter account of Filesonic, which is typically fairly chirpy, has also vanished off the face of the earth. Somewhat surprisingly, WUpload – which is Filesonic’s sister site, continues to function.

Fileserve, another popular file sharing service, has also capitulated. Going forward, you will only be able to download your own files from Fileserve. Other services operated by Fileserve – including Uploadstation, Filejungle, VideoBB and Videozer – also seem to be in shutdown mode. Affiliate program has been yanked, and user accounts and files are being deleted en masse. None of the files that I found through Google Search were downloadable.

Other services that Torrent Freak is reporting as down are Uploadbox, x7.to, and Filepost. 4shared has also terminated its affiliate program. However, unlike most of the other services, it has promised to pay out any dues within the next fifteen days.

Two industry stalwarts that have refused to budge are RapidShare and Mediafire. Both of them have decided to distance themselves from Megaupload, and are harping on the legitimacy of their business model. In fact, Mediafire even went a step further, and promised to shakeup the cloud storage industry with a major new release in the next quarter. I have included the responses from Rapidshare and Mediafire below.

Dear RapidShare fans,
You posted some comments on our wall today regarding the shutdown of Megaupload. There is no reason to be concerned. We distinguish ourselves from services like Megaupload in many major issues and we aren’t threatened in any way. One of the main differences between RapidShare and Megaupload is that we never wanted to escape from the legal access of any administration. RapidShare AG was founded in Switzerland, was always based at the address cited in the imprint and was always managed with an authentic name without any anonymous intermediary companies. The drastic measures against Megaupload were obviously seen as necessary by the FBI because the situation was different there.
We wish you a great time with RapidShare!

MediaFire’s premium services are based on a user’s ability to upload data and pay to distribute it. This storage and sharing model is similar to Akamai, Amazon S3, YouSendIt, etc. MediaFire has no caps or restrictions for downloading data and each upload is limited to a maximum size of 200MB for non-premium users.

Most importantly, people choose MediaFire because it offers high quality services that are simple to use and extremely powerful. We incorporate the latest HTML5 technologies, the most advanced user interfaces, and are constantly expanding our services with features requested by businesses and professionals. In Q2 2012, MediaFire will redefine how people access and manage their data and how they interact with the cloud by releasing long-in-development desktop and mobile applications that solve problems Microsoft, Dropbox, and Box fail to address.

A little more about MediaFire:

MediaFire was founded in 2006 and is based near Houston, Texas. MediaFire is used by people at 86% of Fortune 500 companies and is currently ranked in the top 100 websites globally by Amazon’s Alexa and Google/DoubleClick’s Ad Planner services.

Thanks again everyone, especially to our fans who we’ve heard loud and clear evangelizing the benefits of our service. It’s easy for us to get caught up in building our technology and services and we haven’t spent enough time espousing our own benefits and differentiators. The cloud is an incredibly convenient and powerful tool for many professionals, businesses and individuals. At MediaFire, we are committed to continuing to innovate on this technology and provide it to our users in new, simple, ethical and cost effective ways.

It looks like the Megaupload takedown is not just prompting rebuttal from sites like Uploaded.to, but also has put fear in the minds of other large File sharing websites.

After Uploaded.to blocked U.S. users, another large file sharing website called FileSonic has now stopped users from downloading files that other’s have uploaded.

When compared to Uploaded.to, FileSonic is a very large website with an Alexa global rank of 167 and a U.S. rank of 220. Compete data shows that FileSonic gets approximately 1.9 million visitors from the United States. The site now displays a message as shown below when you try to download a file from FileSonic.

All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally.

If this file belongs to you, please login to download it directly from your file manager

It is not really clear as to whether FileSonic stopped file downloads due to fear of being targeted by the FBI and US Justice Department or whether they have already been targeted. However, it looks like that file sharing websites are starting to become cautious of what data they hold on their servers thanks to the U.S. Justice Department and FBI crackdown.

If you are affected by this, don’t forget to check out several alternatives to Megaupload to store files in the cloud and other ways to share files online. You can also check out services like Dropbox and SugarSync among others to easily sync and share your files online or take a look at several other services to backup and sync your files online.

This has been a very interesting last few days with the draconian piracy law of SOPA and PIPA being defeated in the U.S. Congress and Megaupload being shutdown by the U.S. Justice Department. In fact the Megaupload website was back online shortly on different servers as well.

In retaliation of the Megaupload shutdown, the famous group Anonymous also took down several websites in protest. However, it looks like the protest is now growing to another level.

According to reports from Torrent Freak, another file sharing website called Uploaded.to is now blocking users from U.S. and not allowing them to upload or download files from their service. This is definitely a big rebuttal from them and would likely make other services follow in their footsteps.

Currently, users who visit uploaded.to from United States are displayed a message similar to the one in the image above. It reads:

Not available

Our service is currently unavailable in your country. Sorry about that.

Uploaded.to has a traffic rank of 3075 in the United States according to Alexa and serves about 350K users from United States according to Compete. Though their stats are no where near what Megaupload had; which was the 13th most popular website in the world, it would definitely inconvenience U.S. users who have used it to store files on the website.

There is no official update from Uploaded.to about this blockage and whether it will remain permanent. In the meantime, if you have been affected by the Megaupload takedown or the Uploaded.to blockage, don’t forget to check out several alternatives to Megaupload to store files in the cloud and other ways to share files online.

The U.S. Anti-piracy law SOPA and PIPA may be off the table for now, however, it did deal a a major blow to the 13th most visited site on the internet – “Megaupload” in some way.

Yesterday, the Justice Department of US shutdown Megaupload; one of the most popular online file sharing website in the world. Along with the closure of the website, they also arrested 7 people in connection with piracy and other charges. The downside of this was that several users might have lost legitimate files hosted on their servers forever.

However, it looks like Megaupload is now making its way back on the internetz in another form. A forum post on a website (via Giga OM) says that Megaupload is now back online through a new domain name called megavideo.biz. However, the domain does not work fully, but they do have a working IP which does say that the site is back and they are working on it to get back to earlier levels soon.

The message reads:

WE DON’T HAVE ANY DOMAIN NAME FOR NOW

ONLY THIS IP ADDRESS (http://109.236.83.66) BEWARE TO THE PISHING SITES!

This is the NEW MEGAUPLOAD SITE! we are working to be back full again

Bookmark the site and share the new address in facebook and twitter!

A quick WhoIS of the IP address shows that the server is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands by the RIPE Network Coordination Center and not Sweden where File sharing is an official religion . Ironically, the Megaupload operation was a international co-operation between United States and several other countries which included Netherlands, so there is no guarantee that the above IP address may stay up for a long time.

It is not clear whether the site owners have access to the uploaded files when the Feds seized the Megaupload domains and servers. However, it could be that the site owners might have kept backups of the files in other locations as well.

It would be interesting to see, if the site really comes back into operation and how they would allow users to download files which they have already uploaded.  If you have been a Megaupload user, don’t forget to check out several alternatives to Megaupload to store files in the cloud and other ways to share files online.

Apple fans: As if things weren’t good enough already, Box.net has an offer that will blow your mind! Mark Saldana, Social Media Manager at Box.net, announced on their official blog, that iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users will get 50GB of lifetime storage for free if they sign up for a Box Personal account.

The offer started at midnight of October 13th and will extend for 50 days. The Box account isn’t restricted to just the mobile device, either, so you can use it with your PC. Below are the instructions stated on their website to set up a new account.

1. Visit the app store and download the Box app for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
2. Log in to your account or register for a new one directly from the app
3. Start sharing and collaborating in the cloud
4. (optional but recommended) Tell the world how you’ll use your 50 GB with the hashtag  #Box50GB

It is obvious that Box.net is trying to capitalize on the iPhone 4S euphoria. Not only that, but you have to believe that the introduction of Apple’s iCloud has a little to do with it, as well. All new Apple devices now come with the iCloud. This basically gets you 5GB of online storage for free. The iCloud’s seamless integration with iPhone/iPad devices threatens to take market share from companies like Box.net. It’s understandable that Box.net would come out in full swing.

This is a great promotion and, according to their blog, there will be other contests and tips coming in the next 50 days, so you might want to stay tuned.

What about you? Is this a service that you would like to take advantage of? Let us know your thoughts and if you are considering this as part of your app collection.

Don’t forget to read our earlier article about how you can mount Box.net in Windows Explorer.

What can you do if you want to send an entire CD to someone? Sending large files as an email attachment is usually a problem. Most email providers have limits on the size of attachments. For example, Yahoo’s and Gmail’s limit is 20mb, with Hotmail trailing behind at 10mb.

You could use any one of several online file storage sites, or even set up your own FTP server. These all take time and usually require some setup. There are easier ways to send large files if you don’t want to waste time.

A new service called WeTransfer allows you to attach several files, up to 2Gb in total, and send a download link to a person or group. There is no sign-up required. You can use any fromaddress you wish and include a short message to the recipients.

WeTransfer couldn’t be much easier to use. However, if you need alternatives, take a look at YouSendit, which has been around a long time and is just as easy to use.

I like to use WinDroplr, which allows you to quickly upload and create short URLs to share in email, Facebook or Twitter. It’s fast and easy but it requires you to install a simple program on your PC.

One of my rock-star friends likes to use Box.net to share his unique creations online. It’s free, and you can even mount Box.net as a virtual drive on your PC.

What’s your favorite method for sending large files to people? Be sure to tell us in the comments below.

The worst possible time to make a backup is probably right after a computer crash, but that’s precisely the time when most computer users stop and consider doing so.

For most users backup isn’t a top priority, so they often forget to create regular scheduled backups, in case the worst happens.

However, with the introduction of online backup services, it’s now possible to create and upload backup of your files automatically, the software program runs in the background and uploads all your files onto the server whenever they are saved. This means you have a current and reliable backup to restore from.

There are numerous free online backup services out there, and in this post I will review 4 of the best.

SugarSync

Formerly known as Sharpcast, offers 5GB of online backup space, free for life, it supports automatic file synchronisation which allows you to keep your libraries updated across all your computers. Storage space is upgradable to 10GB if you refer friends, both gaining 500MB each.

Dropbox

Dropbox offers 2GB of free storage space, and is popular amongst computer geeks due to its support for Linux. While 2GB isn’t a lot of storage space, you can upgrade your free account by referring your friends; students get 500MB for each referral, and non-students get 250MB. The max free storage space allowed for students is 16GB and for non students it’s 8GB.

OpenDrive

OpenDrive offers 5GB storage space for free; it has features similar to SugarSync and Dropbox with automatic backups and synchronization abilities. Although it does provide ample space for free account holders, the space is not upgradable by referring friends. I also don’t like the fact that OpenDrive places a watermark on your images if you decide to share them on forums.

Mozy

Mozy is one of the most popular online backup companies out there, and offers 2GB of free storage space. We like the clean interface of Mozy, which is very easy to use. It has bandwidth throttling features to prevent it from clogging up your internet connection.

Out of all of these services, which I have personally tested, SugarSync is my favourite as it has a good 5GB storage space, straight out of the cuff, and is expandable to 10GB which is an impressive amount of storage space.

=== About the Author ===

Guest post written by Abdul Karim, a tech enthusiast, Windows fan and writer for the online backup services website

Disasters can strike at anytime, and you never know exactly how long they will disrupt your business or organization. In basic terms, there are two types of disasters that could damage your network and data systems: natural disasters and human error. There have been many documented cases of either of these situations causing serious (if not irreparable) harm.

We’re told again and again to backup our important data and make sure it is stored in a safe location. In fact, some concerned users actually got together and declared March 31st World BackUp Day. You may not have known this, and it may have passed you by this year, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take some time out of your day and look into (or establish) your plan for data storage and disaster recovery.

What Would Happen If…

What would you do if there was a fire in your office tomorrow? What about a flood? For that matter, what would you do if one of your more clumsy employees were to spill some coffee on the server? Any one of these situations could cause a lot of problems for a company, and yet according to the AFCOM State of the DATA Center report, 15% of the data centers in the study said they did not have a plan for data backup and recovery.

15% may not seem like a lot at first glance, but these are data centers. Their entire livelihood is based on the ability to provide safe and secure data storage and transfer solutions. If these companies haven’t taken the time to prepare for the unexpected, how many other businesses are going to be caught off guard when disaster strikes? History has shown us that most of those businesses will never bounce back after such a loss.

What Are the Options?

There are two basic options to manage your data onsite or online backups. Onsite options include manually backing up the information on various media like CDs, DVDs, or flash drives, while online options include all the cloud computing solutions for storing important data. The one you finally choose will depend on your individual situation.
Individuals and businesses that have small amounts of data or deal with email archiving on a regular basis often opt for the onsite option, mostly because this is something they have always done. The problem, though, is that if your business is hit by some natural disaster all those CDs and DVDs are going to go down with it. Online backup systems are providing a way for companies to get around this problem. Online backups are fast, easy, and can usually be automated to make sure it is done on a regular basis.

What Are the Benefits?

When you work with a reliable data center (one of the 85% that do have some kind of disaster recovery plan) to backup your information, you will be able to mitigate any of the losses that would otherwise result from a disaster. You will be able to save money as you rebuild and re-establish your company, and all that sensitive personal or company data will be safe and secure. You never know when a disaster will strike, so don’t wait for the next World BackUp Day before you start making preparations.

=== About the Author ===

This author writes about a range of technologies for large and medium business units which include cloud computing, servers and other infrastructure solutions. These products and services along with email archiving can reduce management costs and create a flexible infrastructure.