Last year, I reviewed a few backup solutions that, like most, allowed you to backup important files to a central server so you would never be in the predicament I was in a few years ago where I lost gigabytes worth of data. T.W. Garrett informed us about the useful Byteswap that allows you to upload files in addition to other important files.

Now, you can feast your eyes upon SugarSync (formerly known as Hummingbird). For as long as I can remember, I have been using another cool service by Sharpcast that allows you to backup, share, and sync (in real time) all your pictures. It is a simple as anything: You download the program, install it, and specify where your pictures are located, and the software instantly starts syncing your files. I say “syncing” rather than backing up, because that is exactly what is does. If you have another computer in the home, you are able to instantly see you pictures on that computer. If you are at work and want to show off your kids, there are there. If you are bored and want to look at pictures while you are waiting, but there is not a computer in the area, fear not. Just whip out your cell phone and they are there also! Any changes made from any location are instantly synchronized everywhere.

“Sharpcast’s real-time “push” sync eliminates the daily frustrations of manual backups, tediously uploading and downloading files; and using email, cables, storage cards and other peripherals to shuttle files back and forth.”

Using this same idea, the smart people over at Sharpcast have created SugarSync. What looks to be a replacement for the current photo software, they are now offering, SugarSync synchronizes all files in addition to photos. SugarSync  allows you to sync and backup your files and media across all of your computers, the web and mobile phone. Best of all, SugarSync takes care of everything automatically in the background so you never have to make backups or email files to yourself.

“COMING SOON: SugarSync!

SugarSync (formerly known as Hummingbird) is a service from Sharpcast that allows you to sync and access your files and media from anywhere – on different computers, on the web, even on your mobile phone. SugarSync securely backs up all your computers online and synchronizes them automatically so you always have access to your files. Best of all, SugarSync takes care of everything automatically in the background, so you never have to make backups or email files to yourself. Say goodbye to CD burning and emailing files to yourself; say hello to SugarSync.”

A small client is required on your Windows PC. The application client runs in the background to monitor and synchronizes a copy on a secure central server. Files can then be available and accessible via web browser directed to http://sugarsync.com  or from a mobile phone browser athttp://m.sugarsync.com . It even has a nice iPhone optimized site to view your pictures! I am hoping the ability to backup your pictures on the iPhone will be implemented soon.

The software, I noticed, is a little slow right now and steels bandwidth as if five people were playing WOW simultaneously on the same network. I am hoping this will also be fixed in an update. I normally would leave it running (as suggested) but it just eats away my internet connection, which is relatively fast. I thought that perhaps, it was my internet provider, but after closing the program, I see a significant difference. However, like most beta programs, not all problems are subject to all users, but different problems (if any) can arise with any user, so I would say, try it. In general, you will love it.

Now, when SugarSync comes online in spring, user will get 2 GB free but for now, Beta users get 11 GB of online storage space for saving synchronized files. Of course, there will be premium prices of which have yet to be announced. Yes, it is currently in private beta so do not think you can rush over to Sharpcast and download the product today. There is a waiting list with a few users added every-so-often. I am a nice person though, and I have nothing else to do with my invitations, so the first five people to request an invitation in comments will get an email invitation from me.  

 I finally got my invitation from Adobe informing me that I could now start using their latest beta – Adobe Share. Those are the only two words you need in this review – “Adobe” and “Share.” Hope you enjoyed this review!

Actually, I will go ahead and tell you a little about this great product from Adobe. I am a big fan of Adobe, not to mention this new look that is starting to appear on their new products. I recently purchased Photoshop Elements 6.0 and I absolutely love the look and simplicity of the program. Adobe Share does not fall short of look (UI) and simplicity.

What is Adobe Share? Well, it, put simply, is a place to store your files to access from anywhere. You can also share them with others. In their own words, “Share {Adobe Share} beta is a web-based service that allows you to upload and share files. You can distribute the URL for the file to a selected number of users, post the link for the URL on a website, or embed the code for previewing the file in a web page. You have the option to allow recipients to invite others to view your shared files or limit access to only the specified recipients.”

The  web application’s fantastic interface is very easy to use and navigate. If you have used any of the new Adobe applications, you will feel right at home. It allows you to share files for yourself to access from anywhere or for sharing with friends, it is as easy as selecting your friends you need to share the file with and send them an invitation to download the files. It also gives you the ability to embed the content into your blog, or have a link to it to use it or send it to your friends via email.

If you are wondering what file formats are supported, here they are:

 Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 formats, Rich Text Format (RTF), Open Office formats, text, and PDF, and HTML. Adobe supported image formats are: GIF, JPEG, BMP, PNG, Creative Suite file formats ,SWF and Captivate formats,  and ZIP. You cannot use Share to upload these files (yet):

• Media: MP3, AAC, MOV, WMV, OGG, FLV, XVID, DIVX.
  Fonts: TTF, DFONT, OTF
  Archive: TGZ, 7Z, SIT
  Executable files or script code: EXE, DLL, JAR, WAR, CAB, JS, VB

As the title says, I love it. Adobe Share is great, and I think as they continue in improving this beta, we may see a few more file formats supported. You get 1024MB of free memory to get you started and of course, more options for greater storage. I am not particularly fond of that free size limit, considering there are some services that offer more memory free. I guess you get what you pay for, right? Regardless, you will enjoy it.

I like to follow social networks rather closely to see what features stand out from the rest of the crowd. There are so many social networks these days, it is imperative to be different. When I heard about Yahoo’s new social network, I thought to myself, “oh great, another social network.” I delve deeper to see just what Yahoo’s new social network had to offer, and was somewhat pleased.

Appropriately named, Yahoo’s Kickstart is a professional network with a distinct purpose: to connect college students, recent grads, professionals and alumni to discover internships and jobs, or get career advice and mentorship. Yahoo Kickstart allows you to create a professional profile, browse company profiles and network with your peers, professors, alumni and potential employers.

I like it. It is like Facebook, only a little classier. You will not find “Pet” applications, “Tv Show” applications, or any other futile application. Kickstart is certainly one of the cleanest-looking social networks I have ever joined. Profiles look like resumes. Navigation is easy with a toolbar at the top of the page and boxes on the homepage that immediately notify you of new messages, connection requests, and pending actions. You’ll have to join. It is very simple if you already have an account with Yahoo, which many of you have already. I can imagine this new social network will be quite helpful down the line.

Launching any kind of new social network is a challenge given the competition, but I think they might be able to pull it off. Yahoo might have hit the nail on the head with this one. If you remember back in the day, Yahoo 360 Blogging network did not do so well. Despite its lack of social networking success, Yahoo’s reach is massive and the fact that it is still one of the largest e-mail providers gives Kickstart a great advantage – a Kickstart, if you will.

I always like to say, “persistence is the key.” Only time will tell for this new social network. So far so good though!

I have never heard of Qloud until I was browsing through the Facebook applications. If you use Facebook, then this nifty little application will turn your profile page into a nice music lounge.

Qloud hooks up with your iTunes library and gathers any versions of the songs it can find hosted online, while also taking advantage of your iTunes XML file to include such niceties as play counts and the last time you listened a song.

It manages to do this with a plug-in that installs itself on whatever machine your iTunes library resides in. It will periodically check your iTunes XML file, which is the one that has all your track names and metadata for playlist organization, play counts, and song data. It then cross-references this list with any legally hosted versions of the songs online, and will play them with an embedded player right in the app.

While the company says that it take 15-20 minutes for your library to appear after installing the plug-in, I found that it only took about 10 minutes for my 20GBs of music.

I also am a user of Last.fm so it is just as cool seeing the song you just played on iTunes show up on your profile–making Facebook one step closer to having complete control of everything I’m doing. The service is free and plans to release a plug-in for Windows Media player and other platforms in the near future.

Between e-mail, instant messaging, and sites like Facebook and MySpace, keeping track of multimedia files can be tough. Tubes, is a free application and might be the solution to that problem. It lets you store files in one place and share them with friends, using a simple drag-and drop-interface; a nice Web 2.0 interface.

Tubes is a new social sharing application. I got a chance to test out this neat little application and I must say I like it. It is a fine peer-to-peer file sharing application with a nice, simple interface. “Tubes” refers to shared folders, which can include photos, audio, videos and links.

To get started, you have to sign up with the usual email, username, and password. A confirmation email enables you to download and install the Tubes client software. The software works in Microsoft Windows XP with SP2, or Windows Vista, and it requires .NET. Once you are done with that, you are ready to Invite users to a Tube and they’ll automatically receive any new files that you add to that particular tube.

The program is free, but of course there is a better version, called the Premium option. The free version gives you the basic Tubes functionality, allowing just two devices to be set up, and 1GB of storage. The $4.99/month premium level adds unlimited device allowance, MS Office support, backup, and quicker support.

I like Tubes. It is neat, but there isn’t an email integration option which is something I like when sharing files. As said, it is still in beta, so perhaps they will release that option in the future.