Cloud Storage options

Cloud Storage.  Your options have changed...Again...

Happy Sunday!  When I originally created this blog about a year ago, the cloud scene storage scene  was similar, yet very different.  Since then most, if not all the cloud service providers have upped the ante and now offer more free storage and better options.  CX.com, for some reason, has gotten rid of there free option.  Box.com and Google have greatly enhanced their cloud options, so with all the change occurring I thought it would be a good idea to update the blog, yet again with the most current information for all my readers.  So, here we go, again!

Well start this updated blog with the same five cloud options that I reviewed back in October of 2013.    Those sites are Dropbox, Google Drive, CX, Copy and Box.  Dropbox was one of the first players on the cloud scene, so I’ve been using it for a few years now.  I like the ease with which it integrates with Mac OSX (and Windows), though it does have it’s drawbacks.  CX and Copy are newer to the game.  Copy offers  more storage for free, and like Dropbox have a very good App for your iOS devices.   CX no longer has a free option, which right off the bat would lead me no longer recommend it.   Google Drive is one of the many tools to spawn out of Gmail.  One of the great features of Google Drive is that, if you have a Google account, you automatically get access to Google Drive for free!  The final option that I’m going to write about, Box, has also been around for a few years.  Box is geared toward the enterprise, though anyone can sign up.  Box now gives users 50GB of free storage, thats the most free storage offered.  Also, like the other four, has the ability to upgrade to more storage for a monthly fee.

Let’s dig a little further into the options, we’ll start with Dropbox.  Nothing has changed for Dropbox since the previous update in October.  They have been around longer than the four others here (since 2004), that doesn’t however make them the best option.  Dropbox has a very user friendly interface, and new users start with 2gb of free storage.  It entices you to share Dropbox with everyone you know by offering you 500mb of free storage for everyone who joins based on your introduction, giving you up to 18gb of free storage. Dropbox installs on your Mac (or PC) as well as your iPhone or iPad (or android device).  Once you’ve installed in on your Mac, you can easily transfer files using Finder (a very nice option), or you can log into Dropbox.com from your browser of choice and upload files through it’s friendly easy to use interface.  Dropbox’s features are more limited than some of the others here, but it’s very good at what it does, which is provide you with either additional storage, as well as a place to back up and share your important files.  If the 2gb you get for free (or if you can get your friends/family to join you and get up to 18gb free) isn’t enough, you can purchase additional storage, starting at 100gb  for $9.99 a month, 200gb for $19.99 all the way up to 500gb for $49.99 a month.  Dropbox’s iOS app has been updated to work nicely with iOS 7.  It let’s you download or upload files from your iPhone or iPad, a nice addition and a great way to have access to the files you need, wherever and whenever you need them.  Some other nice iOS features include the ability to share files (rather than having to email or message them to someone), create folders, send a file as a Facebook message, or post to Facebook as well as being able to share via Twitter.  All in all, a nice easy to use interface, potential for 18gb of free space, but from a storage perspective, Dropbox is far behind Drive, Box and Copy.

Next up, Google Drive.  Google is continually adding free storage, and they have really upped the ante with their latest offerings.  Google drive has actually been around since 2005, when it started as Google Docs.  What is now Google Drive, is a nice leap forward.  When I last updated the blog, Google Drive had upped their offering to 15gb of free storage, plus the ability to create documents using Google’s web suite of applications, something not offered by Dropbox, CX, or Copy.  Not too mention, there’s even an online store where you can add apps to your Google Drive, a very nice feature indeed, although let me point out this caveat, most apps require Google’s Chrome browser in order to work.  So if you don’t use Chrome, most of those apps are not suitable for your browser!  Similar to Dropbox, Drive has a nice, easy to use interface, as well as an iOS companion app that gives you access to all your files, wherever and whenever you need, also allowing you to upload photos or videos from your iOS device and share them.    If the 15gb of free storage is not enough, Google has recently changed their upgrade options, yet again, and the changes are better!   You can upgrade from 100GB for only $1.99 a month, all the way to  10TB for a measly $99.99 per month.  In between those options, you can get 1TB at $9.99/month.  Easily the best options of any of the cloud service providers.  Drive let’s you share documents with other Google users (and vice versa), and in my opinion has the best integration companion, Google Hangouts.   With an upgraded interface, tremendous storage options, Google drive is definitely a cloud storage option to consider.

Now onto CX.  CX has changed things up, and in my opinion, not for the better.  They have removed their free starter option (you do get to try the service for 30 days for free, but that really doest count!).  CX gives you 10GB of storage for $9.99/year.  Not a bad deal, but when your competitors are giving away storage, it's not a good deal by any stretch!   They have 256 bit encryption for those of you looking to keep your stuff as encrypted as possible, they have redundant backups in case anything happens to their systems, and added firewall protection to keep you data safe, all killer features!  Like Google Drive, CX has a group feature that let’s you collaborate with other people (team members, family, friends etc.), though it does not offer video conferencing as of this blog writing.  It also has a nice feature where you can highlight some files as favorites for offline viewing when necessary.  Like the other cloud offerings, Cx’s iOS app allows you the ability to upload photo’s directly from your iPhone or iPad.  CX seems to like the Dropbox idea where you share with friends, and if they sign up you get additional storage, only where Dropbox offers 500mb of storage per person, CX is offering 300mb with the ability to earn up to 6gb additional free storage, giving you a potential total of 16gb free storage.  Unlike Dropbox, CX’s integration with the Mac is not through Finder, rather it has an App you can download, run and pick which folder(s) you wish to sync (very easy to use).  CX has great plans if you wish to add storage.  I’m just going to cover the Personal Plans here, there are additional plans for businesses.  CX's upgrade options have remained the same.  A user can upgrade to 25GB for $4.99 a month.  If that isn’t enough for you, you can go to 100GB for $9.99 a month, and if you still need more, for $21.99 a month you’ll get 250GB of storage!  Seven months ago those options were very good.  Today, with the options you are getting from both Google Drive and Box.com, they don't look all that good.  Your options are not as numerous as with Google Drive, however if you are looking for a good online back-up of pictures or movies (or both), CX is a good way to go!  All in all I still like CX’s online interface, but wish the Mac access was via Finder instead of having to run an additional app to sync your files.  But sadly, I can no longer recommend CX as a viable cloud storage option.  Sorry guys!

Very little has changed for the next cloud storage option, Copy.com.   Copy was created by Networking security specialists, Barracuda Networks, so you can be sure your content will be as secure as possible!  Similar to Drive, Copy starts you off at 15GB of free storage.  Copy has both personal and business options, for the purpose of this blog, I'm only going to cover the personal options.  Beyond the 15GB free plan, Copy now has only one other plan, 250GB for either $9.99/month or $99/year.  They have gotten rid of their 500GB for $14.99/month or $149/year option, perhaps no one was using that much space?  The two options are good, not great .  Your options are more limited than what Google offers with Drive.  The best part of Copy is still its referral plans.  There literally is no option to how much free storage you can accrue!  I've read review of people earning up to 600gb of free storage by inviting their contacts!  That is absolutely amazing!  Copy works across platforms, including Linux.  Most cloud service providers are limited to Mac OSX and Windows.  Copy is even now available on the Windows mobile platform, for those that have Windows mobile phones.  Both Copy.com and the desktop client are very easy to use.  The desktop client integrates with Finder (for Mac), which I love as it makes syncing files and folders a very easy and intuitive task.  All in all (and certainly in my opinion), Copy is a viable cloud service options, that I would recommend.

The last storage option I’m going to cover here is Box.com.  Box started selling cloud storage into enterprises before it opened up to consumers.  Box perviously had been offering 10GB of free storage, which they recently bumped up to 50GB.  There is a slight catch.  You don't get the extra 40GB of storage until you install Box on your iOS device.  But that's the whole point of these cloud storage sights right?  Having your files in the cloud so you can have access to them on your devices.  Like Dropbox, Box has great integration into Mac OSX, where you can access your files through Finder.  Box’s big differentiator is still their ability to allow you to create a document using the Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel and Powerpoint) of tools.  If you do not have a copy of Microsoft Word (or Excel or Powerpoint), it opens a cloud version for you, and automatically saves your work to your Box storage, not your computer.  One thing I don't like about Box, is that it will not store your iWork files!  So if you are a Pages/Keynote/Numbers user, you'll have to export your files to PDF format in order to store them on Box.  To me that's a huge detractor.  In Boxes favor, is that it let's you create a document in Google Doc format!  Little by little we are getting away from the need to own copies of Microsoft Office (or any other office products for that matter).  Because of it’s tight Microsoft integration, Box, in my opinion, offers a great alternative for those users confined to Microsoft Office.  Box has, an easy to use online interface.  Box’s iOS app is very similar to the others, with the same features.  You can tap a file and make it a favorite, which will allow offline access.  You can also upload pictures and video from you iPhone or iPad.  If you are looking for additional storage, now a single user can upgrade to 100GB for only $5 a month.  Not as good as Google Drive's offering, but still fairly reasonable.   There are also many other options for businesses that I'm not going to cover here.

So quite a bit has changed.  Most of it for the better, in CX's case, not so much.  When you are trying to figure out which one is best,  there may not be a best, like me, you may end up using multiple cloud storage sites.   If you are looking for the most free storage, Box is now the way to go.  If you are looking for the most mature product, Box is again the way to go.  If you are looking for one with the most options, Google Drive should be your choice.  Since all but CX are free,  I recommend trying them all out and seeing which one suits you the best.   I hope the updated blog helps, if you like it or even if you don’t, leave a comment I love hearing from you…
Until next time, Best to you and your devices.

Read more ►

A review of the new iPhone 5S and iOS 7 Touch ID.

In case you missed it, Apple has released a new iPhone, the 5S!  The new iPhone 5S doesn't have a new form factor, it can't beam you to other locations, and it can't drive your car (yet!).  The new features it added, though perhaps not mind blowing, or for that matter, even visible to the eye, have helped position the 5S to what I would call, a very "forward thinking" smartphone.  It's priced the same as the iPhone 5 that it has replaced, and sets itself apart from other smartphone(s) with its advanced new 64-bit processor architecture (all other smartphones have 32-bit processors) that powers a very cool, very impressive, Touch ID fingerprint sensor as well as easy-to-use new camera upgrades that we've come to expect with the new iPhone releases.  In this blog I'm going to highlight the Touch ID and its features.  I will cover new camera features in the next blog, soon to come.

The iPhone 5S provides four major enhancements to the iPhone 5 (which, by the way,  was not only the world's top selling iPhone, but the top selling smartphone as well): the new Touch ID for both  security and convenience; new camera features in both hardware and software; a brand new, advanced new multiple-processors architecture that combines the speedy new A7 as well as the new M7, which provides background-task efficiency; and new radio components that provide broader LTE carrier coverage and better compatibility. They may not seem like much, but believe me, these are significant updates. 

Touch ID

The most prominent to the eye, is the new Touch ID fingerprint sensor. The Home button is now circled by a slightly inward-sloping metal ring (used to sense your finger's presence without requiring press) in the same finish color as the sides of the device (in Silver, Gold or Space Grey). 
Rather than being slightly concave as with all previous iPhone Home buttons, the new sapphire Home button disc within the ring is flat. Since the ring's edge lies flush with the front surface of the device and the button within is slightly recessed, it has a similar feel to previous Home buttons. 
The "click" action of the button also feels the same. If you compare older Home buttons, on the 5S there's what appears to be a slight optical illusion that makes the new Home button look smaller, thanks to the color-accented metallic ring calling attention to the button's edge.

This results in a contrast of Touch ID being both readily apparent and invisible at the same time. The software implementation of Touch ID is also purposely invisible. 

The TouchID has no movie-style depiction of "scanning… authenticated!" with animations, buzzing or flashing lights for feedback. It just works, you touch the Home Button, your iPhone 5S unlocks.

What Touch ID does

iOS 7 currently uses two features for the Touch ID sensor: Passcode Unlock and iTunes & App Store purchasing. This gives Apple the ability to focus entirely on getting the initial experience right, rather than unleashing a multitude of half baked feature concepts, or erring in other ways that would be worse than never having implemented Touch ID at all.

In practice, being able to log in with a finger press is both a quick convenience and an intuitive simplification over having to manually type in a passcode, similar to having a proximity key that lets you get in and start your car without requiring a physical key. The Touch ID convenience hopefully makes it much more likely that you'll create and use a passcode, and set your phone to lock immediately. 

Apple says half of its users are not currently using a passcode, and it's likely that many of those who do, set a delay so they don't have to type it in the passcode every time they wake their device. With Touch ID, it's much more practical to have your phone locked all the time. Logging in with a finger touch is almost as fast as unlocking the phone without a passcode.

Touch ID certainly was not created to make your iPhone 5s impenetrable to spy agencies.  But the reality is that Touch ID is far more accurate, faster and more secure than a simple passcode, or any of the alternatives on the market: the  'swipe to unlock' gesture used by Android OS, or the Face Unlock experiment. The latter provides a great example of how being first to market in a category  is not better than being first to market with a great product (Touch ID).

Apple hasn't just beaten Samsung and others to market with workable fingerprint login as a feature, but it's made it known that Touch ID enhances security and can deliver a great product, rather than being an invasive spyware tool designed to collect information about users and what they do, as Samsung did when it gave away a "free" music app in Google Play to its Galaxy customers. Who could trust Samsung or Google with their fingerprints after that disaster?

Further enhancing the Passcode Unlock functionally of Touch ID is iOS 7's new Activation Lock  capability, a new feature that activates automatically when you configure a device with a free iCloud account and turn on "Find my iPhone." 

Activation Lock links the device's activation process with its firmware ID and your iCloud account, so if your device happens to get stolen, the jackass thief who took it can't simply wipe it for quick and easy resale.  Apple's answer involves something it has that the Android platform does not: a centralized activation process. 

The security provided by the Activation Lock is similar to carrying a credit card instead of cash. Thieves can still hold you up, but they can't be guaranteed any payoff. Activation Lock is a welcome deterrent to would be attackers.

Activation Lock available to those with an iPhone 4 and forward via the free iOS 7 update. Using Activation Lock doesn't require a passcode, and turning off iCloud's Find My Phone isn't possible without your iCloud account. 

Using Touch ID with iTunes & App Store

The other (optional, but highly recommended) use of Touch ID is to authenticate purchases in iTunes and the App Store. Apple currently requires you to sign into your account to make a purchase, and sign in again every 15 minutes. If you already have a secure Touch ID fingerprint configured, you can bypass signing in by turning on this new Touch ID feature. 

When you first activate iTunes purchasing, you are asked for your iTunes Apple ID password. Subsequently, you can use your fingerprint instead, Awesome!  Apple's priority for Touch ID is clear, to secure your devices.   However, the infrastructure behind Touch ID as a passcode clearly has broader applications, and the fact that Apple is launching it with iTunes suggests additional plans for Touch ID for perhaps to authenticate sales and also adding security to other transactions as well. 

Touch ID instantly makes it more convenient for Apple's iPhone 5s customers to make iTunes and App Store purchases. It doesn't require signing up for new accounts, and doesn't replace one easy swipe with another easy tap; it replaces a moderately annoying password prompt interruption with a finger touch, again, Awesome!  Once Apple has more experience with how its customers are using Touch ID, it can, and I sure will, move development forward.

I hope this review is helpful, I'd love your feedback!

Read more ►

Getting the most out of Photo Stream for your Apple devices

Today's blog will cover the  Photo Stream part of iCloud.  Photo Stream was introduced in October of 2011, along with iCloud, iOS 5 and a new version of iPhoto (for those people running OSX 10.7, at the time).  Photo Stream was not the first photo sharing software to hit the market (There’s Flickr, Shutterfly, SnapFish, Photobucket and Picasa to name a few), but it was Apple first foray into online pictures.  Apple’s take on photo sharing was initially, as you might expect, closed to non-Apple users.  Here’s how it worked.  You’d snap photos with your iOS device running iOS 5, and when you got into a Wi-Fi zone, those pictures would magically go into the cloud and become available on your other iCloud capable devices.  I’ll never forget the first time I tried it.  Same day the iPhone 4S came out (Oct 14, 2011, I think!), I was outside taking pictures of my kids playing football.  Now I had already updated my version of iPhoto for my iMac, and turned iCloud and Photo Stream on, so when I came into the house, and my iPhone attached to our WI-Fi network, the fifty or so pictures I took, started flowing to the Photo Stream.  I came over to my iMac and opened up iPhoto, clicked on the Photo Stream option, and sure enough, the pictures I had just snapped with my brand new iPhone began appearing on my iMac!  I didn’t have to plug my iPhone in, and copy those pictures into my computer, thanks to iCloud and Photo Stream I had a copy of those pictures without having to do anything!  Nice.  I love technology when it works.  So, how does it work?

Let’s start with your device(s).  Photo Stream works with iCloud, so in order to make use of it, your devices need to be iCloud capable.   Your iOS device(s) needs to be running at least iOS 5.1 (if you are not at iOS 6, seriously consider upgrading).  Your Mac needs to be running at least OSX 10.7.5, and you’ll need iPhoto 9.2.2 or Aperture 3.2.3 or later.   Photo Stream does work with PC’s, but I will not be covering that here.    Let’s not forget Apple TV, a wonderful way to share your photos, you’ll need at least the 2^nd generation Apple TV, running software updates 5.0 or later.  

The Photo Stream option on your iOS devices is located in the iCloud Setting.  To start using it, go into Settings, find and tap the iCloud setting, scroll down a bit and you’ll find the Photo Stream option, simply turn it on and start taking pictures with your device!  On your Mac, you’ll open up System Preferences, click the iCloud preference, and similar to your iOS device(s), you’ll turn Photo Stream on.  Now there is one additional step you’ll need to take on your Mac, you’ll go into iPhoto, or Aperture, and within either of those apps, you’ll turn Photo Stream on there as well.  

Now let’s talk about getting pictures in your Photo Stream, how many you can have there, how long they stay there, do pictures count against my iCloud storage etc.  Apple states that you can have up to 1000 pictures in your Photo Stream at any given time.  Apple also says you can have those pictures in your Photo Stream for 30 days.  The pictures in your Photo Stream DO NOT count against your iCloud storage, very important to remember for those who are backing up their devices to iCloud.

Deleting pictures from your Photo Stream on your iOS device is quite simple, and there are two ways to accomplish it.  You can delete a single picture by clicking on the picture, then tapping the garbage can (lower right corner of screen).  Or you can delete multiple pictures.  To do this, you tap the Edit button (top Right), then tap the pictures you wish to delete, then tap the Delete button (bottom right).  On your Mac, deleting a Photo Stream pictures is also very easy.  Either within iPhoto or Aperture, click on the Photo Stream option.  You can delete single pictures, or multiple pictures from Photo Stream, just as you would if you were in an Events/Photos/Faces or Places (iPhoto).  

Now let’s talk about sharing your photos from Photo Stream.  This is a new option that became available in the fall of 2012 with the release of iOS 6.   Shared Photo Streams  can also be created on your Mac, running OSX 10.8.2 or later with Aperture 3.4 or later or iPhoto 9.4 or later (you could and some people do, use both).   Shared Photo Stream(s) rock!  

To turn on Photo Sharing, tap on the Photo Stream option, and make sure the Photo Sharing toggle is set to on.  One great feature of the shared Photo Stream is that is can be shared with non Mac or non iOS devices, thank you Apple!  When you share a Photo Stream, it becomes a private website that you share by providing email addresses to those you wish to share it with.  Here’s how you do it.  On your iOS device, you’ll go into the Photo’s app, and choose Photo Stream, then you choose the pictures you wish to share by clicking the edit button (top right), tapping the photos, then choosing the share option, lower left of your screen.  When you click share, you have six options to share your pictures.  Via Message, another Photo Stream, Facebook, Print, Copy or Save to Camera roll.  We are going to click the Photo Stream option.  Next, click New Photo Stream, type the email addresses (or if you have them in your contacts, simply type the persons name and pick their email address).  Create a name for your Photo Stream, then you can choose whether or not you wish to make this Photo Stream public, or only viewable by those whose email you provided.  If the Photo Stream is NOT created as a public website, those people who were emailed your link, MUST  be using that email address as an Apple ID in order to view the Shared Photo Stream, this is very important.  If you make the Photo Stream public, it can be viewed by anyone, regardless of whether or not their email is an Apple ID or not.   To create a shared Photo Stream in iPhoto, from your library, choose the pictures you wish to share, click the Share option (lower right), choose Photo Stream, enter the names (or email addresses) of those you wish to share the Photo Stream with and the rest as they say, is history!  Those people who you’ve shared your Photo Stream with, who’s email address is an Apple ID, can view the pictures on their iOS device(s), as long as they are running iOS 6 or later, or on their Mac, in iPhoto 9.4 or later, or Aperture, 3.4 or later.  The shared Photo Streams can also be viewed on an Apple TV, running software 5.1 or later.  In case you were wondering, there is a limit to the number of photo’s you can share in a Photo Stream, that number is 1000.  Also, shared Photo Streams never expire, until you delete them…

So, you now know how to share your Photo Streams amongst your friend/family and me should you choose.  Have fun, and until next time, I hope you and your devices are running smoothly!

  

Read more ►