Wuala is an online storage and file sharing service that takes a different approach than most companies offering similar services. Wuala offers users 1GB of web space for free and charges for additional storage. Nothing new there. But the company also lets users dedicate a bit of hard drive space on their own computers to storing files from other users. In exchange, you get an equal amount of additional storage space for free. That's because Wuala uses a peer to peer network to store and transfer encrypted files.

Today Wuala has expanded the service by adding a web interface and web API. Users can now share selected files over the internet. Users can also send links to files that are privately shared to friends who haven't already signed up for the service. The new API also allows third party developers to integrate Wuala with third party web apps, widges, or other services. For example, you could create an app that would allow users to open images stored on Wuala with an online image editor like Picnik or Splashup.