AOL's Xdrive online storage service allows users to store up to 5GB of data for free. Windows users can also install Xdrive as a virtual hard drive making it easy to upload and download files or perform automated backups. But the the Xdrive desktop software often takes a while to connect and in our tests kind of wreaks havoc on the Windows Explorer process.
Today AOL is launching a public beta of Xdrive Desktop Lite, a new desktop application for uploading and downloading files from your Xdrive storage space. Xdrive Desktop Lite is built on Adobe AIR, which means it works on a PC or Mac.
Xdrive Desktop Lite users can upload files simply by dragging and dropping items from their computer. For some reason downloading isn't quite as easy. In order to download a file using the application you need to click on an item and select the download option from the drop down menu. There are also menu options that will let you email a link to the file or grab a string of code that will let you embed media files on any web page.
This blog's parent company AOL is planning some major updates to two of its cooler web services, Xdrive and BlueString. Xdrive is an online file storage service that gives you 5GB of space for free. But right now the service is hampered by a somewhat clunky interface. BlueSting is a recently launched service that lets users upload and arrange digital media to create personalized timelines.
This week AOL launched a series of BlueString Facebook applications under the My Memory Gallery label. The company also plans to create standalone widgets that you can use to embed timelines on blogs and other web sites.
We're much more excited about the forthcoming desktop versions of BlueString and Xdrive. AOL is using Adobe Flex and AIR to create desktop interfaces for these web apps that will let users upload and arrange files simply by dragging and dropping them from their desktops. No need to upload files before you can start arranging your timelines.
The new version of Xdrive will be called Xdrive Oxygen and is set for a February release. The desktop version of BlueString is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2008.
While most web-based email services have file attachment size limits, there are plenty of ways around those limitations. MailBigFile, YouSendIt, Driveway, and other services all let you "park" large files temporarily online and send an email to your friend or colleague letting them know the file is available for download. But sometimes you want to send a message directly from your email client and still attach a large file.
This blog's parent company AOL is launching a new service that attempts to let you do just that. And we want to like it, we really do. But right now it just doesn't work as well as we'd hope yet.
Here's how it works. AOL has a whole slew of web services, including a web-based email client and a web-based storage service called Xdrive, which gives you 5GB of online storage for free. So combining the two was kind of a no brainer. All you have to do is sign up for XDrive and then click the "attach file" button when composing an email message, and check the "Upload to my Xdrive" to send large attachments via Xdrive. Any file that's larger than 16MB will automatically be sent via XDrive.
For some media types, this works great. Your recipient gets an email with clickable links that let them view pictures or watch/listen to multimedia files online. But for other file types, things are a bit trickier. While the recipient will see a link with the name of the file you uploaded, when they click the download button they will get a file with an arbitrary string of characters for a file name. That wouldn't be so bad if Xdrive didn't also strip the file type from the name. That means if you send a Word document, for example, the recipient will have to add ".doc" to the end of the file before their computer will know which program to use to open the file.
We're glad to see AOL taking steps to allow users to send large messages via email. The concept is brilliant because it lets you get around file size limits whether you're the sender or receiver. But the execution still needs some work.
When AOL introduced 5 GB of online storage--for free--there was much rejoicing. The service is called XDrive. But that wasn't the extent of it. For a reasonable premium (that's ten bucks a month), you could get 50 GB of online storage. Not a bad way to keep a few backups handy. AOL also jumped in the sack with JSON ("jay-son"), a web API that allows developers to work the XDrive into their own apps.
One such app is the Open XDrive Usage Meter Widget for the Mac's built-in widget system, Dashboard. The widget includes analog and digital readouts of available storage (in megabytes) and offers configurable thresholds for low space warnings. The background of the widget will change to yellow and then red as you surpass those thresholds. And, as the author of the widget points out--it's already compatible with Leopard, the next release of Mac OS X.
Lost data, the words should make any user cringe at the thought. Hours of time spent creating documents, all gone in a matter of seconds. It's something that we never want to happen to us.
Of course there are ways to ensure that data can be recovered. Microsoft has been so kind as to build in a back up program on Windows XP and Vista operating systems. Wired has an outline of all the goodies users are going to need in order to achieve a proper backup of files. This includes a secondary external hard drive, the built in Windows XP or Vista backup options, 3rd party software options, and online backup options like Xdrive and Mozy.
Maybe we will be lucky enough to see system backups unnecessary in the upcoming years as operating systems evolve. After all, it would be a nice feature to build in.
Do you need a place where you can upload and download files quickly? Without the features of an Xdrive or Box.net? DropBoks is a free (they do ask for a $1 donation for users) storage solution where each user account has access to 1GB of storage. However, uploading and downloading must consist of file sizes smaller than 50MB. It's an extremely simple application to use, and signing up to use it takes 10 seconds. Browse to the files you wish to upload, and they get uploaded to a folder, similar to a Windows folder view, where users can click to download. Finished with the file? Drag and drop it onto the trash icon. You can't get much simpler for this for online storage solutions. Is the storage space secure? That's what they say.
The online storage biz sure is heating up, what with Xdrive and Files-Upload being two of the most recent and spacious notables. Now Joyent, providers of other online services like TextDrive and Connector (web-based apps for small business), is entering the space with Bingo!, a WebDAV storage solution with some handy perks. For starters, let's get the storage space and price points out of the way:
100 gigabytes of storage (10 gigabytes of bandwidth) for $199 a year
50 gigabytes of storage (5 gigabytes of bandwidth) for $99 a year
25 gigabytes of storage (2.5 gigabytes of bandwidth) for $49 a year
Powered by "Sun's amazing X4500 platform," customers receive one user account with a whole lotta goodies, such as a public folder for hosting things like images and podcasts, the ability to use your own domain or simply mycompany.bingodisk.com, as well as a complementary 5-user subscription to Connector.
All things considered, I prefer the ease and cross-platform friendliness of WebDAV from folks like Bingo! and DreamHost, as opposed to the constrictive and proprietary web UI many of these online storage newcomers employ (on a side note to developers and marketers: can you please stop using exclamation points (!) in your product names?). Of course, it is sometimes hard to beat 'free,' but with the nice array of extra options for the serious storage user that make the icing on the cake taste that much sweeter, Bingo! has a lot going for it.
Last month we told you that AOL would be giving away 5GB of web storage space to anyone who has an AOL screenname. Well it's true, Xdrive is now available, and I don't have an exclusive scoop or anything, I just went to the site and signed in. The service looks good. It is nothing like the old Xdrive service of past years (which is a good thing). The web interface is nice, and the site is available to Windows, Mac, and Linux users. Today's Xdrive is feature packed and well worth the free price tag, in fact at $9.95 a month, the 50GB drive is worth it too. You can opt to sign-up for the yearly payment plan, and you'll pay $99.50 (2 months free). Xdrive sports a built-in music player for your music, special photo features, mobile viewing and faxing of documents (from your cell), and even allows you to setup automated scheduled backups when you download the Xdrive desktop client. I had a small hiccup installing the desktop client, but it did end up working just fine.
With yesterday's announcement from AOL about 5GBs of online storage, the to-be released Windows Live Drive and rumored Google GDrive, all the major players are making strides into providing large amounts of persistent and easily accessible storage to their users.
Except Yahoo! - they've had a storage service forever - Y! Briefcase, but it is dwarfed by these recent developments - 30MB free, upgradable to just 100MB for $35, and a very Web 1.0 interface - no AJAX in sight.
It's not like they are not running large disk services for the backends of several properties - Y! Photos and Flickr offer unlimited storage for image files, so it's not a stretch to imagine them having the capacity to compete if they want to.
So Yahoo!... where's your offering? Is this a game of catch-up like when GMail opened the floodgates on 1GB+ mailboxes, or a case of Yahoo! forgetting an older service and letting it wither away??
AOL (this blog's parent company) announced today that starting next month it will offer 5GB of free online storage for all web users. The free online storage will start in September, and will be powered by Xdrive, a service acquired by AOL late last year. There will be no charges for uploading or downloading documents and files, and users will be able to access their files at www.xdrive.com.
The service will allow users to store digital photos, videos, and important documents in Xdrive's secure data facility, and will include:
5 Gigabytes (GB) secure online storage at no cost
No charges for uploads or downloads
Ability to store any type of file, including photos, music, video, and documents
Drag and drop interface between online storage and hard drive
Access to files through any Web-connected PC or mobile device
Permission-based file and folder sharing
Online collaboration via shared files
Scheduled automatic backups
Automatic upload of e-mail attachments from providers including AOL Mail, AIM Mail, or any non-AOL POP3 or IMAP-compatible mail providers
Full-resolution photo storage
Easy access to AOL Pictures for professional prints and photo gifts
The free Xdrive service will begin in early September and will be available to anyone with an AOL account or AIM screenname.
Update: As several readers pointed out, the original post was somewhat "press-releasey," particularly given our ties to AOL. Though we're genuinely excited about this service, we've edited the post accordingly. --Jordan Running.
With yesterday's announcement from 
