Cloud storage service options can get complicated and confusing with all of the different providers on the market and features to consider. Reviews.com recently completed an extensive study, spending 126 hours looking at 45 different cloud storage providers, to find the best and most trustworthy options to store important files. 

They consulted multiple information security and technology exports, analyzed dozens of articles and read user reviews and guides. This company also personally tested 26 different software programs on various operating systems, checking transfer speeds while updating information, adding photos and installing apps.

The end result is four finalists they recommend you trust your important data with. After finding the top four contenders, Reviews.com dug even deeper and individually studied and reviewed each of the best. You can find extensive information on the top four including the pros and cons of all. All of these offer both free and premium versions to fit your needs, and three of the four are available worldwide.

In addition, Reviews.com put together comparison guides on upload speeds and tips for choosing the right cloud storage for you. The benefits to a safe and secure cloud storage provider are endless. Though you may be worried about the security of any cloud storage service, Reviews.com addresses this and will put your fears at ease with describing all the features of protection these providers offer. Whether you are a business or a personal user, this research could help you make the right decision on where to store your data.

Take a look at the full article on Reviews.com 

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Barely a year after their launch, two of Dropbox’s services namely Carousel and Mailbox are shutting down by Q1 2016. The news was delivered via the company’s website as well as an email blast to all of the company’s followers.

Mailbox will be the first to go when it closes its doors by February 26th of next year while Carousel will shut down by March 31^st. According to the company, core features of the two services will be reintegrated to the firm’s more important products namely Dropbox and Paper.

According to their statement, the decision to reintegrate the two services back to Dropbox and Paper will allow them to build new ways to help people communicate and collaborate better.

Dropbox has advised its users to start migrating their files before the said dates. In fact, the company has created guides and export tools to make the transition smoother and more convenient.

For those who need more information about shutdown, more details are provided on the Carousel and Mailbox blogs.

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Dropbox recently introduced a new feature on their desktop client that allows for faster syncing, especially of large files from one device to another.

Called as Streaming Sync, the new sync feature is specifically designed for large files. It improves the sync process by overlapping the upload and download phase allowing users to stream data through Dropbox’s servers. This results in almost twice the sync speed compared to previous versions of Dropbox for the desktop.

The sync feature is automatically activated for files larger than 16MB on a user’s Dropbox sync folder. The desktop client update will also provide support to four additional languages as well as scrollable menu notifications when you click on the Dropbox icon on the taskbar.

The app update is now available for download on Dropbox’s website (you can use this link to start the update) and will roll-out in the coming weeks.

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Microsoft has just levelled the playing field by upgrading its OneDrive cloud storage service to match what its competitors are offering.

Starting next month, users of the company’s OneDrive storage solution will have double the storage space from 7GB to 15GB for basic (free users). Those with Office 365 subscription will also get an upgrade. Those with Office 365 Home subscription will get 1TB of storage space per person (up to 5 people) at $12/month; while those with Personal and University subscription will also get a terabyte of space at $9/month and $99/4 years respectively.

On the other hand, those already subscribed to OneDrive’s paid plans will get discounts of up to 70% of their monthly subscription rate. The new pricing scheme will be $1.99 for the 100GB plan (from $7.49) and $3.99 for the 200GB option which was previously priced at $11.49.

And for those who are currently subscribed to any plans, Microsoft will automatically move your plans to the lower prices starting next month. 

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Cloud storage behemoth Dropbox has made a couple of announcements today that should make a lot of people happy.

The company’s first announcement involves the company’s email management app – Mailbox, which was initially an iOS offering. Today the app lands on the Google Play store and brings the much of the iOS app’s features to droid land.

But aside from the usual swipes and snoozes feature of the iOS app, the one for android comes with an Auto-swiping functionality. Basically, the app remembers and learns from a user’s swipes and snoozes to automate common actions. This feature is most useful whenever a user swipes away less important emails and triggers the system to archive similar emails of the same nature in the future.

The Auto-Swipe feature will be synced across a user’s different email accounts and devices so your preferences will be applied even though you’re using different devices to check your emails.

Another app that Dropbox introduced today is Carousel. It is a photo management app available for both Android and iOS that takes photos from your Dropbox account/s and organizes them by time, date and event.

Users can also share their photos to other people and send photos and messages to people in the contact list, a lot like how Instagram Direct works. Carousel is now available for free on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

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Back in June of last year, Microsoft faced a trademark case against British media company BSkyB over the SkyDrive name in the UK and European Union, in which the latter was granted full rights for the Sky branding. However, even though the British court has already ruled in favour of BSkyB since July, Microsoft has been granted temporary use of the SkyDrive name until it is able to transition to the new brand.

This week, the Redmond company has now announced the new name for its cloud storage offering – OneDrive. The service should basically be identical for existing SkyDrive subscribers but it also promises new features once it goes live.

Current SkyDrive or SkyDrive Pro subscribers should be able to continue using SkyDrive and all content from their accounts should automatically be transferred to OneDrive once it launches. For new users, you can sign up for an email notification at preview.onedrive.com.

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Dropbox is kicking off its first ever developer conference – DBX at Fort Mason in San Francisco, California. A number of announcements were made in the event starting off with the unveiling of the Dropbox Platform which is a set of developer tools that make it easier for developers to build apps across devices and platforms.

The Platform is built from the Sync API, which has allowed developers to take advantage of the file syncing technology that has been utilized in Dropbox. There are two key components that were introduced at the event, first is the Datastore API, which lets users sync data across different platforms and devices. The API makes it possible to sync not just files and folders but also data from apps.

The other component of the platform is called Drop-ins, which allows developers to access dropboxes for cross-platform compatibility. There are currently two fully functional drop-ins that developers can use – the Choose and Saver. The Chooser gives developers instant access to files in Dropbox while the Saver is used one-click saving to the cloud.

Also on Dropbox’s agenda during the event was Mailbox. The company is updating the mobile app to now support the ability to send attachments directly from within the app. Dropbox has also announced that their user base has doubled since November from 100million users to 175 million.

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