The Cloud Gets More Awesome with New Offers

If you want to be able to access your files from any device and easily share them with others, plenty of action is coming on that front. In the last few days, Dropbox and Box both announced they're enhancing their cloud offerings and Microsoft and Apple are fanning the flames of user desire by giving sneak peeks at upcoming functions in their online storage services.

Dropbox announced a new feature that automatically uploads full-size copies of your photos to its cloud storage service whether you're on a Mac, Windows PC, or Android phone. Compatibility with iOS devices is coming before long.

In response, venture capitalist Bill Gurley wrote an effusive post on his blog calling Dropbox a "major disruption."

The straightway month

For the straightway month, Box is giving Android users 50GB of free online storage. During the free offering won't automatically sync files from your desktop to the cloud, 50GB is generous storage, even if you have to upload files manually.

For instance, I use a 4G mobile hotspot to access the Internet. It's fast and portable, however my data usage is an expensive issue that I'm constantly monitoring. For someone like me, auto sync isn't necessarily the greatest thing.

The Box app for Android onto your smartphone

To get Box's free storage you need to download the Box app for Android onto your smartphone and create an account. From there, you can open up Box on your desktop, upload files to the cloud, share them with others, and see them on your mobile device.

Box premium plans will auto sync your files to the cloud like Dropbox, nevertheless the Business plan will cost you $15 a month per user even though if you ante up you'll as well get 1000GB of storage.

While Google offers several Dropbox-like functions, just as the way you can upload, store and share documents through Google Docs, launch of Google's long-rumored GDrive is supposedly close at hand. It would let you upload and store files to its servers and be able to access them from anywhere you have an Internet connection.

Microsoft, in its turn, is expected to release the Windows 8 Consumer Preview at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona at once week. This should be interesting considering that on February 20 the company announced that Windows 8 will merge its free online storage service SkyDrive and syncing software Mesh to provide a service that looks like it will rival or beat iCloud.

The importance it places on its iCloud service

And analysts recently said Apple's move to update Mac OS X for consumers this summer demonstrates the importance it places on its iCloud service. The company recently announced it is seeding developers with a preview of Mac OS X 10.8, dubbed "Mountain Lion."

Michael Gartenberg, a technology director with Gartner, says Apple is making Mac OS X and iOS feel the same and that iCloud plays a central role in Mountain Lion. For instance, when the OS launches, it asks for the user's iCloud credentials, and offers to create an account if the user has none.