Share Files with Boxroom-In-The-Cloud
Written by Alan Monday, 26 September 2011 07:00
If you you are looking to share or manage files online then you have a lot of options. Boxroom-In-The-Cloud has now joined the ranks and is taking aim at industry-leader Dropbox. The real question is, what do they bring that Dropbox lacks? With the standard set so high, any new service would have to aim at the stars. Boxroom does, but can they deliver? We took a closer look.
The service is still in beta, but it’s the public kind, so anyone can sign up for it. Just enter an email address, a password, and agree to the terms and you’re off and running. You will receive an email shortly inviting you to visit a URL to access your new storage space.
When you log in for the first time you will be prompted to set up an Admin account with a user name, password, and email address. You will then be taken to a screen that allows you to set up integration with an Amazon S3 account – at the moment, it is required to have one. If you don’t have an S3 (Simple Storage Service) account yet, visit Amazon Web Services to sign up. S3 is worth having, not just for this, but for backing up files, although it can cost you if you are dealing with a large amount of files.
Now, under the “Folders” menu you will be able to create new folders, upload files, grant permissions, and a Clipboard that you can copy files to and from. This is the screen you will spend most of your time on.
Besides “Folders”, there are addition menu items across the top of the screen. “Users” allows you add and changes who has access to your account. “Groups” allows to create user groups. “Shared Files” lets you send emails to people with access to a particular file, and give an expiration date to that access. Finally, “System Settings” allows you to change your S3 settings.
The service is free while it remains in beta. There’s no word yet if there will be a free version once it launches for real, but we assume there will be. It works smoothly, is fast, and user-friendly. We like the idea of S3 integration, which Dropbox does not have. However a look at the paid plans (which are not yet available) shows a higher price point than Dropbox. We will see if that changes at launch. The beta allows only a small amount of use, so it’s hard to get a real feeling for it yet. For now, it’s a wait-and-see deal.
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