Google Finally Adds the Ability to Download Your Music
Last Updated on Saturday, 28 January 2012 05:14 Written by Alan Saturday, 28 January 2012 05:14
One thing that has been glaringly absent from Google Music has been the ability for users to download their music. It seemed that this feature would be added when Google Music came out of Beta a couple of months ago, but it was the one thing still lacking. Now, finally Google has corrected that issue. There had been some work-arounds, but none were very good, and Google only allowed for downloading one track at a time.
Google has updated the service to bring full library download capability, making Google Music not only a streaming everywhere service, but also a cloud storage service. The new feature is available from both the Google Music web site and also via the Music Manager app. For songs you have uploaded to the service there is unlimited downloads available, but for songs purchased from Google Music there is a two download limit, although even after download the songs remain in your online library for play.
With the ability to hold up to 20,000 songs for free Google Music has been a great deal since day one, but now it’s functionality feels more complete. If you haven’t yet used it then now is the time to give it a try. Head over to music.google.com.
How To: Set Up a Box Account for Windows and Android Part 1 – Windows
Last Updated on Saturday, 21 January 2012 12:37 Written by Alan Thursday, 26 January 2012 07:00
Box, formerly known as Box.net, has become a premiere storage location on the web. There are many places that users can store their files in the cloud, such as SkyDrive and Dropbox, but everyone seems to settle on one particular service depending on need, usage, and pricing; or simply by sticking with a service because it was the first they heard about.
Box is available for both personal and business use, and it’s surprisingly popular with some very large companies. In fact, Box claims they are being used by 82% of the Fortunes 500 companies, which is a staggering number, especially since Box seems to get less attention in the tech world than other rival services. Like many of today’s cloud file storage services, Box has many mobile options and is very easy to set up.
The easiest way to get started in on your computer. In this case I am using Windows 7 and I will just point my browser to the Box web site. A personal use Box account is free and includes anywhere from 5 GB up to 50 GB of storage and file size limits from 25 MB to 1 GB, as well as access via a mobile app. Once you have signed up for an account and received your confirmation email you can log in and get started.
The main interface is pretty basic. Your files, once you have added some, will be front and center. The right column has options for uploading and sharing, creating folders, inviting people to collaborate on documents, and more.
First we will need to create a folder, so let’s click either the “Create a new folder” option from the right column, seen above, or click the “New” button and choose “New folder”. Notice you can also create a web document , Google Doc, or Google Spreadsheet.
Name your new folder and it will appear on the main files area of your user interface. Now lets add a document to the new folder. Again there two places you can click – the “Upload and share files” link on the right or “Upload” button above the files area. You can then browse to a file anywhere on your PC or network, click to hightlight it, then click “Open” and the file will automatically upload to the Box cloud.
You can now email a link to the file to someone or invite others to work on the document with you. You can right-click the file to get a list of options that includes download it, uploading a newer version, tagging it, deleting it, and more.
The top menu, which by default puts you on “Files” also allows you to add “Contacts”, view your recent “Updates”, handle your “Account”, and, the most important thing in today’s world, get “Apps” – both mobile and others, such as a Google Docs plug-in, Box for Office, Box for iOS, or many more.
Box is one of the most popular and fully-featured cloud programs in the world today. As you can see from the above tutorial it’s very simple to setup and use and it brings the cloud to the average user. Next time we will look at accessing that cloud from an Android device.
Setting Up Amazon Cloud Music
Last Updated on Friday, 20 January 2012 07:56 Written by Alan Monday, 23 January 2012 07:00
The cloud is becoming the primary place for people to store their music these days, with Google Music getting there first and being followed quicky by Amazon Cloud Player and later iCloud. Amazon, like the others, combines music purchases from their MP3 store with their cloud service, which allows the user to not only store their purchased music, but also the music they own that’s on their computers.
To get started with Amazon Cloud Player you can just visit the web site and click the link for “Cloud Player”, which will open a web app that allows you to play, upload, download, and delete your online music files. The first time you visit this web app you will have to install the Amazon Cloud Player Uploader.
Once you click the “Upload your music” button the Uploader app will begin downloading and installing. It will install automatically set to the account from which you were signed in when you downloaded it. There doesn’t appear to be a way to change accounts, so if you share your computer you will need to be careful with this step.
The app will automatically check your computer for music, although it doesn’t scan our whole hard drive, but instead scans both Windows Media Player and your iTunes library.
If you don’t see the music you are looking for then you can click the “browse for more music” and you can then look for other music stored anywhere on your computer, or on your network.
Now you can begin uploading all of your music. Once it’s done, you will be able to access your music from any PC by visiting the Amazon Cloud website or by installing the Amazon MP3 app on your mobile device.
The Amazon Cloud Player comes with 5 GB of free storage. However, you can get free unlimited music storage, along with 20 GB of basic cloud storage for other files right now for $20 per year. Amazon also offers more tiers of cloud storage that all come with free unlimited music storage. You can get started by visiting the Amazon Cloud Player
