Dropbox doubles space for Pro accounts at no extra cost

Cloud storage and syncing startup Dropbox is beefing up its paid offerings in the wake of increased competition from the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, among others. Starting today Dropbox Pro subscribers will see twice as much storage space on their accounts for no additional cost.

Those who previously paid $9.99 a month or $99 per year for 50GB of storage will be upgraded to 102GB (100GB plus the 2GB of free space provided to all users), while those paying $19.99 a month or $199 per year  will now get 202GB instead of 100GB.

The company also says that it is giving any current Pro members a 3 month 100GB trial to share with friends. The new plans will go into effect tonight.

Although the bump in storage space is certainly welcome Dropbox is still among the priciest alternatives out there. Google Drive offers 100GB on top of your free storage at $60 per year, for example, while Microsoft’s SkyDrive offers the same deal for $50 a year and Amazon at $100 a year.

Free Dropbox accounts are not receiving any upgrades. They still start at 2GB, which is considerably less than rival offerings, but Dropbox allows you bump that up to 18GB through referrals and other promotions.

RapidShare releases cloud sync tool RapidDrive

RapidShare is joining the likes of Dropbox and SugarSync in the cloud sync and storage business with the introduction of RapidDrive. The new service is said to work directly with a computer’s file system, allowing for automatic synching with remote servers.

RapidDrive works by creating a network drive that connects to the company’s servers, allowing users to easily manage offsite files via Windows Explorer. On the client side, the storage folder is essentially treated just like an additional hard drive on the system.

To send a file to the cloud, simply drag and drop or copy and paste the data into the RapidDrive folder and everything else happens automatically. Any computer that is linked to the same RapidDrive account can access the storage folder, much like any of the several other competing services.

“With RapidDrive, we are providing a tool that creates an even closer link between cloud storage and the PC environment, which makes it easier to manage files,” said RapidShare CEO Alexandra Zwingli. “RapidDrive is an essential means of simplifying work processes, especially for customers who are regular users of RapidShare at work.”

Since the service is simply a storage solution, it is not possible to install and run software from within RapidDrive.

RapidDrive is still in beta and is only available for Windows XP, Vista and 7 as of writing. Mac OS X support will come with the full build expected to drop in September. Those interested in checking out RapidDrive can download it by following this link.

Boxopus pushes torrent downloads directly to your Dropbox, skips desktop clients

A new service called Boxopus has come up with an interesting way of bridging the worlds of BitTorrent and cloud storage, offering a way for people to cue up torrent downloads and have them automatically added to their Dropbox folders, all without even needing to install a torrent client on your computer.


Boxopus uses the Dropbox API, which means you can link both services using your Dropbox credentials, without fear of giving access to other files stored in your account. Once that step is done you can add as many torrents as you like through the Boxopus website and the latter will then take care of the downloading. All files are automatically sent to a special folder within your Dropbox account and synced across devices.

Of course, if you don’t want the same file downloaded on multiple computers, you can use Dropbox’s selective sync feature to leave torrent downloads in the cloud, accessing or downloading them as needed.

One of the main benefits to users is that they can add torrents to their Dropbox from work, school or on the road.TorrentFreak also notes that these downloads are anonymous, as Boxopus takes care of the downloading, although you are still required to enter your email when registering to the service.
Another thing worth highlighting is that the service aims to make torrent downloads easier for novice users with a one-click Boxopus download button that can be integrated into websites. TorrentReactor, Fulldls.com, Vertor.com, and Torrentzap.com have already added this option, according to TorrentFreak.
But of course there are several downsides as well, starting with the fact that free Dropbox users only get 2GB of space out of the box — you can bump that to over 10GB without spending a dime but there’s some work involved. Downloading generally takes a bit longer too because Dropbox sync speeds are limited. And of course there’s the question of whether Dropbox will block the service when pressed over piracy concerns.
Boxopus is completely free and unlimited during beta testing stage but the company plans to rollout paid subscriptions at some point in the future, imposing limits on free subscriptions.
Source : http://techspot.com