New In The App Store: Box.net
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Box.net is one of the many online storage options now available. They have just released an iPhone app that lets you access your “cloud-stored” files.
Box.net offers a number of different storage options ranging from 1gb of free storage to a $20 a month options that provides 15 GB of storage. I should note that the free option limits individual files to a max of 25 MB and a total of 10 GB of bandwidth usage per month while the paid options offer the ability to upload files of up to 1 GB in size with unlimited bandwidth usage per month.
Since I already have both SugarSync and iDisk storage (with SugarSync offering their own app and A.I. Disk providing access to my iDisk) I opened a free 1GB account. Signup was a breeze and I was ready to go within 30 seconds.
Moving files onto Box.net is a piece of cake. You can either click the upload button and select files from your computer, or you can just drag and drop files into the upload window. Within seconds the pictures I chose to save in my account were up in the Box.net cloud.
The free Box.net iPhone app is among the simplest I’ve used. That’s a good thing but it is also a bit of an issue. After logging into my account I was able to navigate to my files with ease. That was where the limitations appeared. While I could see my files on my iPhone I could not find an option to store them locally for offline access. The closest I came was the option to email the files to myself or anyone else whose address is stored in my contacts. I did e-mail an image to myself and it appeared in my inbox within seconds. Thus it is a great way to store information online and to share it with others. The lack of off-line access to my files however is a deal-breaker for me.
A second huge issue is that Box.net REQUIRES an Internet connection in order to even log in. This is largely irrelevant since you cannot store files locally anyway, but when you consider that you can log into A.I. Disk and access files you have previously stored locally, you quickly see Box.net’s limitations.
The bottom line is this- if you already use Box.net for storage this free application is a nice addition to your collection of iPhone apps. It is free and it offers a nice way to interface with your Box.net account. If, however, you do not yet use off-line storage and are looking to start, we strongly recommend looking for an option that allows you to also have off-line access to files. As a Mac-user I am most happy using a combination of Apple’s iDisk and A.I. Disk.
