Tag Archives | Box.net

Box.net Gets Syncing

Posted by Harry McCracken on June 10, 2010 at 10:09 am

Box.net–the collaborative, file-sharing service for business that likes to position itself as a scrappy, cloud-based alternative to Microsoft’s SharePoint–is adding a syncing feature. Rather than having to upload and download documents in a browser, users will be be able to run an applet called Box Sync that shuttles files back and forth in the background, a la services such as SugarSync:

For now, the feature is only available for Windows (a Mac version is in the works) and only for subscribers who have a Business account, which costs $15 a month. (Box also has a free version with 1GB of storage.) Box Sync complements existing Box features such as its nifty Web-based file viewer.

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Box.net Gets a File Viewer

Posted by Harry McCracken on January 21, 2010 at 6:00 am

Online storage and sharing service Box.net has added a feature that’s sure to become one of its most popular, and which sets it apart from the competition: built-in file viewing that lets you see the contents of files right in your browser. Based on technology that Box acquired last year when it bought a company called Increo, the file viewer is nicely integrated with the rest of Box, sporting the same dead simple, streamlined user interface.

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Abandoning Xdrive? Box.net Wants Your Data

Posted by Harry McCracken on August 13, 2008 at 2:40 pm

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the fact that AOL has decided to “sunset” its venerable Xdrive online storage service. Xdrive users, not surprisingly, seem to be figuring out exit strategies–and every day, my post gets read by folks who found it via Xdrive-related Google searches.

Box.net, an Xdrive rival, dropped me a note to let me know about a new service it’s offering to would-be Xdrive Xpatriates: one-click transfers of data from Xdrive accounts to Box.net ones. Okay, it’s only one click after you’ve registered for Box.net, but it still looks pretty simple:

This isn’t for everyone–for one thing, Box.net only offers 1GB of space for free. (More space costs from $8 to $15 a month.) I actually think that’s a point in the company’s favor, since a business that actually receives money from its customers is less likely to disappear than one that doesn’t.

And chances seem very slim that AOL will announce to Xdrive users that their data is going away along with the service. Odds are that it’ll sell Xdrive to another online storage company, or strike a deal to let Xdrive users move their stuff to another service. But it pays to be prepared–and if I were an Xdrive fan, I’d do my own preparing rather than relying on AOL. Look on the bright side: There’s no such thing as having too many copies of data that’s important to you…

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