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Syncing data between a smartphone and a cable is a lousy chore (I’m looking at you, iTunes), but fortunately you can juggle a lot of your files in the “cloud” (i.e. wirelessly over an internet connection) with Dropbox-powered apps. As of today, these apps are showcased in a directory, which should really come in handy for smartphone users.

It can be a little tricky to explain, so take how I use Dropbox as an example: I read digital documents often. While browsing the web on my Mac, I’ll see a PDF I want to read later. I drag and drop the PDF into my Dropbox, and then on my iPad or iPhone I launch the Dropbox app. When I select the PDF, Dropbox gives me the option of loading the document with other third-party apps that are designed for PDF-reading such as iBooks or GoodReader. Choose an app and the file loads there instead, leaving the Dropbox app.

So basically, there are a bunch of third-party apps designed to handle different types of media that are using the Dropbox API to spare you the trouble of wired syncing or e-mailing yourself files. And Dropbox just today launched a showcase displaying which apps will cater to your wireless lifestyle.

Dropbox is available on several mobile platforms: BlackBerry, iOS, Android, Windows Mobile.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Dropbox, the file-syncin’, cloud-storin’ service for the cognoscenti and the extremely good-looking, has released a beta for the Blackberry. Currently limited to 1,000 users (and already fully subscribed), the beta essentially brings gigabytes of remote storage to your crackberry.

Dropbox is a service which syncs any files in the Dropbox folder on your computer with 2GB free space in the cloud (you can pay for more). This is at once a backup (with versioned saves of files, so you can rescue a file you wrongly edited) and as a sharing service.

Like the versions for iPhone and Android, Dropbox for Blackberry lets you open files, stream movies and music and view pictures right on your handheld. You can also upload files: pictures taken with the Blackberry’s camera, for example.

It’s too late to sign up for this wave of the beta, but hopefully this signals that the fully-baked app, which will run on OS 5.0 devices, will be launched soon.

Dropbox for Blackberry Beta Begins [Dropbox Forums via <a href="http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/07/31/dropbox-launches-a-limited-beta-version-for-the-blackberry/
">Boy Genius]

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Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Dropbox, the free cloud-storage and kinda-backup service, is awesome. One of its best features is to let you share all the documents on your computer with your iPad, iPhone, Android device and soon, your BlackBerry. It would seem, then, to be the perfect way to work around Apple’s excruciating file-transfers for the iPad. There’s just one catch: you can’t actually edit your files.

Droptext fixes this. The application, from developer Kevin Smith, does one thing: It connects to your online Dropbox and lets you edit text files. Up until now, you have had to open the file in a separate application and then try to save it back, somehow, into the original Dropbox folder as a copy. That, or you need to buy one of the capable but ugly and expensive office apps like Office HD.

Smith’s app is dead simple. Once you have signed into your Dropbox account, you can browse files and folders. Anything that is editable has an icon. Tap that icon and the document opens in edit view. Tap “Save” to save. That’s it.

Any plain text file can be opened, from TXT through PHP, HTML and M. RTF and Word docs cannot be viewed or edited, however. You can also create and delete files, although to actually send them anywhere you’ll need to fire up a different Dropbox-aware application.

In my short testing, Droptext crashed on me several times. The iTunes store page promises “bug fixes” as “coming soon”. The biggest draw of this app is the price, though. At just $1, it’s worth having the 2.9MB app around for when you need it.

Droptext [iTunes via iLounge]

Dropbox Anywhere [Dropbox]

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews