Does your Blackberry do enough for you? RIM thinks it could do just a little more, so it released an official mobile Flickr uploader for Blackberry handsets. The program allows Flickr-Blackberry hybrid addicts to snap pics, tag/geo-tag pics, place pics in albums, and adjust pic sizes. When you're all set and ready, posting the photo is a matter of a few button presses.
We recommend Flickr users with Blackberry handsets at least try it since it's free, and we can imagine the service being useful in a wide variety of situations including blogging, of course. It's probably more useful as a toy than a tool -- an easy way to share vacation photos on-the-go, great concert moments, fun party events, etc.
This is quite different from RIM's usual behavior, which is centered around productivity and business rather than recreation. The program's existence is likely a response to the recent surge of unique services accompanying successful, fun-based handsets (Sidekick, Helio Ocean, LG Voyager, iPhone, etc). Though it's not the most amazing thing to come from RIM, at least it's better than a useless MySpace app or another YouTube uploader... been there, done that, not impressed.
Does the world really need another photo sharing website? Maybe, if that site is Photie.com. Photie's design is strikingly simple. It's easy to navigate, signup is a snap, and there are plenty of interesting photos to check out on the front page. The main attraction here, though, is the ability to upload photos of any size.
Photie doesn't have all the pro features that sites like Flickr and Smugmug offer, but there are plenty of users out there who think of those as frills. A free service with a nice, clean design and no cap on file sizes looks pretty good if you don't want to deal with stuff like social networks, mobile uploads, and signup fees. This is just uploading and tagging, like nature intended it.
The site is still in beta, so we'll keep an eye on it and see how it evolves. Frankly, we're hoping it stays with the friendly "less-complicated-than-Flickr, much-classier-than-ImageShack model". Before you start with the "not another photo site!" comments, give it a look. We think some users will find it's just what they needed.
Warning: Because Photie displays recently-uploaded photos on the front page, you might not want to click through at work. There was nothing controversial up front when we took the screenshot above, but it's best to be careful. Thanks to readers Alex and Todd for catching this.
DockDrop is a simple Mac OS X application that lets you easily and quickly upload files to an FTP, WebDAV, or SCP server, with added support for Flickr uploads.
When DockDrop is open, it resides quietly on your dock (hence the name). When you want to upload a file or folder, simply drop the item onto the Dockdrop icon (see again why the name is so apt?). Dockdrop will prompt you for the upload method of your choice, upload the file, and put a URL for your upload on the clipboard, ready for pasting into an email, chat program or website.
Dockdrop offers set-it-and-forget-it functionality: once you enter in your server credentials, Dockdrop will store the settings, so you won't have to enter them again.
One of the added bonuses of DockDrop (besides its simplicity and ease of use) is the Flickr integration. After a simple authentication process, you can drag and drop your images onto DockDrop and they upload seamlessly to your Flickr account.
Dockdrop is free, and requires an Intel Mac with 10.4 or 10.5.
DivShare, which we have covered before, is not just another online storage site. It lets users upload and download unlimited files, and also well as offers a Facebook application and a power uploading tool. They have now released a no download web document viewer.
Even though we love downloads at Download Squad, keeping things online sure does have its remotely accessible benefits, and that's just what DivShare is doing with their flash based web document viewer. The new tool allows for viewing all types of documents from videos, photos and audio material anywhere. These documents can either be kept private, or embedded in websites, blogs or social networks.
Also released into the DivShare stables is a new iPhone app that allows for searching, downloading and emailing DivShare files straight from Apple's device. There will also be a few other specialty items getting released this week, including a Facebook collaboration tool, developer API and private label video players. If you haven't checked out what DivShare can offer your unlimited file storage needs, now could be the time.
DivShare is an online sharing, hosting and storage site. Similar in offerings from YouSendIt, Xdrive, and Box.net, DivShare offers unlimited uploads and downloads through an intuitive dashboard. It's an easy to use service that has been constantly evolving in the past few months since its launch, and quickly carving its own niche in this slowly crowding market space.
A new social feature has been incorporated into DivShare recently called DivShare groups. This new edition allows users to collaborate on projects through sharing photos, videos and music with other users, as well as the ability to connect with others who share the same interests.
Another service that is being tested, and has soft launched into the DivShare environment is streaming flash video. With this integration, users can now host and stream videos on the internet. It supports up to 560x420 resolutions with video sizes up to 200MB. There is no cap on the number of videos that can be uploaded to user's accounts, and videos can be resized to fit on popular social network sites.
With all of these recent new editions, DivShare is one Web 2.0 location to add to your toolbox and bookmark list that you will always have a use for, nomatter what you're purpose is.
With Radar, users can take pictures with a mobile phone or digital camera and send it directly to Radar as a picture email message, then choose which friends can instantly see it from a phone or PC. Think Twitter on steroids.
To get the process started, you have to sign up for a free account, and pick a unique username. When account information is submitted users are presented with a unique Radar email address. This is the email address where you would send pictures or videos either from your mobile camera phone, or from your desktop PC. Once they have been uploaded to your personal account, friends and contacts can then post comments and share their thoughts on your pictures and videos through a special invitation code you send them. Just another way to incorporate your mobile lifestyle into an online social setting.
Photobucket is set to make an announcement that will allow users of its personal media management service -- which stores and shares images and videos -- a way to utilize flash to edit video's online.
The free service is said to be open in beta this month to premium customers, and rolled out to everyone in March. The web based video editor will be timeline based and allow users to mix photos and videos stored in Photobucket with captions, soundtracks, and effects through a drag and drop interface.
Photobucket allows users to upload photo and video content to create interactive collages, scrolling images, slideshows, animated image stamps, share video clips, and buy prints. This new initiative will most likely see its approximately 35 million current users increase drastically to see if the flash based video tool can benefit them.
MP3tunes is now offering free unlimited storage and music streaming for all your tunes. The site previously gave away 1GB of storage to sync your music, and even "sideload" any tunes you find on the web with Firefox and IE plugins to save the tunes you find to your locker. Now you get unlimited space to upload, store, sync, and enjoy all your music from any computer anywhere. Their uploader seems to upload fairly well, and doesn't take much babysitting to get it to work either. The audio quality is worthy of listening, it is seriously not bad. I am somewhat of an audiophile, and this service is really rocking for me right now. If you have a lot of music, it can take a while to upload your tracks (so leave it uploading overnight at least), but man, it is worth it, to be able to listen to your music anywhere you want. The service boasts the ability to stream to mobile devices, but sadly I haven't tried that feature yet. If you have the opportunity, try it out and let me know what you think of it. You can even sync album art. Wicked. My ear drums are going to need a vacation after this.
UPDATE: If you sign up and don't see your account go to unlimited right away, you will still have 1GB, and will be put on the list for an unlimited account. The service is great, either way, but apparently, it isn't fully rolled out to all users yet. I had a free OBOE account previously, so I guess they allowed me to upgrade sooner than new sign-ups. My bad. Thanks Taylor for pointing this out.
There are a lot of file sharing/hosting/storing sites out there. A lot. So one of my first predictable questions for DivShare co-founder David Altschul was of course, "Why use DivShare?" His answer: "DivShare sets itself apart from other free file hosts in a number of distinct ways, most notably in that we offer unlimited uploads and downloads, no waiting lines for files, auto image galleries, no popups or spam, an intuitive member dashboard, and all files stay online forever. Perhaps the biggest reason why bloggers and webmasters should choose DivShare over the other free file hosts is our co-branding options. Blogs can quickly and easily add their name, URL and logo to their hosted file pages via the dashboard. An example of co-branding can be seen here (warning: the link may also start a download - you can cancel it - but it's actually a pretty good song).
I have to admit, everything David says sounds great (files stay online forever?!). But how does it actually perform? Well, the aforementioned song downloaded at an average rate of 550KBps, which isn't bad at all. I uploaded a 10MB video, and though there's no fancy Flash-Ajax upload timer, it took less than 2 minutes to complete. On an upstream-weak cable connection, that's pretty darn good. Since DivShare launched this month, only time will tell if the service remains as excellent as it is right now. Happy uploading!
Flickr is making our holidays a little cheerier with some bonuses for Pro and Free members alike. The biggest bonus is for Pro users, of course: Beginning this month all Pro account will have totally unlimited storage and bandwidth. While probably only a fraction of Pro users were bumping up against the old 2GB-per-month upload limit, who can argue with unlimited? Free users have cause to celebrate, too: The per-month upload limit for free accounts has been bumped up to 100MB, a 500% increase over the previous 20MB limit. A Pro account still costs $24.95 per year, and a free account clearly still costs nada. For those "Giving the Gift of Flickr," Flickr also has a new system that lets you buy a Pro account activation code that will work for both existing Flickr users and those just signing up, and they also have a cute little card you can print out to stuff in that special someone's stocking.
But wait, there's more! The Flickr crew have blessed us with a cute holiday easter egg: If you add a note to one of your photos with the text "ho ho ho hat" or "ho ho ho beard," Flickr will add a cute santa hat or beard to the photo wherever you put the note. You can see it in action on the dashing Merlin Mann. Lovely!
Last week YouTube added a killer new feature that's been a long time coming: Quick Capture. It allows anybody with a webcam to essentially record video directly to YouTube's servers, cleverly taking the sometimes laborious upload process out of the loop. All you have to do is get a YouTube account, head over the Quick Capture page, enter a title and such, authorize Flash to access your webcam, and hit Record. While power-users will feel the lack of editing tools, novices who can't or don't want to deal with video-editing software will quickly start taking advantage of Quick Capture, and I suspect it will quickly become a major source of videos on YouTube. Being able to create and uploads on a whim with basically zero overhead will be a big drive for lone amateur video publishers.
YouTube also recently launched a Video Toolbox section, which contains tips and tutorials "from the pros" on improving your video with better lighting, sound, editing, and more.
I have used (and still do) a bunch of video upload services, all the usuals, YouTube, Vimeo, Uncut, Google, and some unusual ones as well. I must say I can't get over how simple and elegant the simplicity of Netscape video is. Of course by now I'm sure you know that this blog, and Netscape are owned by AOL, so some of you are saying, "geez, what a cheap plug," but it's not. Netscape makes video easy, even easier than YouTube in my book. I am a quick and dirty application lover, and Netscape Video fits the bill. What is your favorite video service and why? Do you like YouTube's new "Quick Capture" feature, or is Google more your speed? Personally, I love Netscape Video. It is uncommonly uncomplicated.
So you're building a web site and want users to upload files--lots of files at once. Using an ordinary HTML file dialog is easy and gets the job done, but if the user wants to upload 30 files he has to click on a "Browse..." button 30 times and select each file one at a time. Some sites, like Flickr, solved this problem with a downloadable desktop app. Others used Java applets. And then along came Flash 8, which had perhaps the most promising solution: Built-in support for uploading multiple files at once. Brilliant! However, harnessing this power was not simple--it required, for one thing, a copy of Flash MX, which ain't cheap, not to mention the actual knowledge to use it.
By now I'm sure you know where I'm going with this: SWFUpload. It's an open source Flash widget that lets you add multiple simultaneous file uploads to your web service without spending so much as a cent. It's fairly robust, allowing you to specify your own custom graphics and dimensions for the upload button, choose which file types will be allowed, as well as JavaScript callback functions for showing upload progress, errors, and so on. And like I said, it's open source, so if you do happen to have Flash MX and some skills, you can tweak the .FLA source til your heart's content. Very cool.
Files-Upload will let you upload up to a 1GB file unlimited times and unlimited storage on their site, and you can do it using your favorite FTP program. The catch here is that your files will only be retained for 6 months since the last download of that file. If you don't feel like downloading files every six months, you will lose files. Files-Upload offers a free subdomain "myname.files-upload.com" for easy access to those files. There is also a web interface to upload files if you want, but hey who wouldn't want to use FTP for most things? Either way, and even with the 6 month half-life of your files, FREE is a hard price to beat to only have to do a re-download every 6 months to keep them alive. Worth it, don't you think?
Dan Lurie over at TUAW found a review of BitTorrent clients for Mac OS X a few days ago. Apparently, this inspired Clone Software, Ltd. to stop guarding their secret and release BitRocket (which TUAW promptly found) - an OSS torrent client (in beta) for the Mac that indeed rockets past the competition (zing!).
BitRocket excels because it is refreshingly Mac OS X friendly, right down to the UI and design of the app. On the left side is a list for RSS torrent feeds, and at the bottom of that list is a master up/download panel for keeping an eye on just how much is moving in each direction.
Does your Blackberry do enough for you? RIM thinks it could do just a little more, so it released an official mobile Flickr uploader for Blackberry handsets. The program allows Flickr-Blackberry hybrid addicts to snap pics, tag/geo-tag pics, place pics in albums, and adjust pic sizes. When you're all set and ready, posting the photo is a matter of a few button presses.
So you're building a web site and want users to upload files--lots of files at once. Using an ordinary HTML file dialog is easy and gets the job done, but if the user wants to upload 30 files he has to click on a "Browse..." button 30 times and select each file one at a time. Some sites, like Flickr, solved this problem with a downloadable desktop app. Others used Java applets. And then along came Flash 8, which had perhaps the most promising solution: Built-in support for uploading multiple files at once. Brilliant! However, harnessing this power was not simple--it required, for one thing, a copy of Flash MX, which ain't cheap, not to mention the actual knowledge to use it.
