Box.net Shakes Hands With iPad’s App Store

March 30, 2012 by Yonah · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services

File-sharing service Box.net, founded by Aaron Levie and Dylan Smith in 2005, has recently developed an application for iPad and iPhone to let you share, view, and edit your content.

The new application blends in with several third-party mobile tools that help you manage file on your mobile device. Among them we find Quickoffice, Adobe EchoSign, Nuance PaperPort Notes, and PDF expert. As such, you can use Box’s file-sharing application in parallel with these useful tools.

“We think this is the first time there’s a mobile cloud for the enterprise that you can implement across your business instantly,” said Box’s CEO Aaron Levie.

To seamlessly integrate with this kind of environment, a partner application – for example Adobe EchoSign – must tap into an application program interface (API) exposed by Box.

“Now the execution of documents all happens within the Box environment,” Mangesh Bhandaraar (senior product manager at Adobe Systems) said.
It has been Levie’s goal to bring competition in a market ruled by huge brands like Microsoft and Oracle, and, as it seems, he managed to pull it off.

“We don’t have a large enterprise sales force,” Alan Masarek (QuickOffice’s CEO) told Wired.

“This is a new sales channel for us, which is wonderful.”

One of Box’s most interesting features is that it offers 50GB free storage on a regular account, unlike other competitors who, for a free account, offer no more than 10 GB.

Tags: Apple, Box.net, file-sharing, iphone

iTune’s Security Issues – A Trump For Government Authorities

November 28, 2011 by Yonah · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events

While the topic here is not exactly related to file-sharing, its importance in the digital landscape transcends the mere issues of niche, especially since it concerns a giant like Apple and the right to privacy.

A report by UK’s Telegraph.co.uk reveals the truth behind secret services and iTune’s security glitches, making even the most down to Earth person just a bit paranoid.

It is said that a British company named Gamma International sold hacking software to governments, allowing them to exploit some iTunes vulnerability due to a security threat in the application’s update. Going under the name of FinFisher, the software can be used to spy on people’s computers (over 250 million computers use Apple’s media player).

Known to be used by British intelligence agencies, the software made its way in the far reaches of North Africa, in the hands of Egypt’s secret police, as records were discovered this year in some abandoned offices.

Brian Krebs, a security writer, said that Apple received a notice in 2008 about the threat. Despite this, they company released a patch fix only earlier this month, offering a 3 years gateway of exploiting.

“A prominent security researcher warned Apple about this dangerous vulnerability in mid-2008, yet the company waited more than 1,200 days to fix the flaw,” Brian’s blog post reads.

“The disclosure raises questions about whether and when Apple knew about the Trojan offering, and its timing in choosing to sew up the security hole in this ubiquitous software title.”

Also of interest is that Apple’s response to security threats is of 91 days, according to Brian’s sayings; this time, however, was not the case.

Francisco Amato, an Argentinian security researcher, is the man who sent the notice to Apple. Commenting on the late, the least to say, response he suggested that “maybe they forgot about it, or it was just on the bottom of their to-do list”.

Regarding FinFisher, Apple said that is doing their best “to find and fix any issues that could compromise systems”.
“The security and privacy of our users is extremely important,” a spokeswoman said.

In November 2011 iTunes’ update 10.5.1 explained that a man-in-the-middle attacker may offer software that appears to originate from Apple”, adding that the “issue has been mitigated”.

Gamma International refused to comment on the subject.

Tags: Apple

New Social Music Network Solution For iPhone Enthusiasts: SoundShare

November 9, 2011 by Yonah · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Downloads, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services, Movies, MP3, Digital Audio & Games

Music is part of our everyday life, as Steve Jobs once said. This is the main reason he launched the iPod for the first time, thus pushing the boundaries of how we listen to music forward.

SoundShare continues his legacy by providing a new Social Music Network for iPhones.

“SoundShare app allows you to share your music experience with your friends just by listening to your songs,” the developer said.

“With a built-in Player, you can listen and share every song while using Safari or any other app. SoundShare also has its own Social Network, so you don’t have to worry about posting on Facebook/Twitter every song you listen, though, if you want, you’re just one tap away.”

The application’s features are similar to Twitter’s – in the sense that you’re provided with newsfeeds of people you want to follow. If you find yourself stuck on listening the same playlist over and over again all you have to do is to “spy” on other people’s preferences and pick your favorite tunes.

Just like any respectable social network, SoundShare allows you to post comments, rate songs and even show your favorite tunes on other social networking portals.

The app has a built-in music player which you can run in the background while using other applications. To download it, just install the latest version of iTunes and look-up SoundShare.

Enjoy!

Tags: Apple, digital music, iphone, social networking

Utorrent Fast Forward: Apple Friendly + Improvements to Its Mac Client

October 22, 2011 by Yonah · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Digital Media, Mobile Phones, P2P technology, Downloads, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services

As technology is continuously pushing the limits of how we understand the Internet, we find ourselves separated from the chair sitting in front of the computer and given the chance to become mobile on every step. BitTorrent’s development team is once again setting the example and releases an optimized version of the already notorious uTorrent Remote for iPad. Not only that, but they’ve improved the mainline client and uTorrent for Mac users.

The all-new uTorrent Remote has been dramatically upgraded to cover both the Android and Apple market.

“We’re happy to release a gorgeous new Web interface for µTorrent, optimized for the iPad for a great touch experience,” Brett Nishi – Director of Product Management – commented in a press release.

“It comes complete with all the functionality in the PC-based µTorrent Remote.”

Most of its features are present in the left sidebar, combining easy access with functionality.

As for BitTorrent’s mainline and uTorrent clients, the company’s developing team had worked hard to fulfill those users’ needs which instead of opting for a Linux or Windows-based operating system chose the Mac OSX.

That and the ever growing Apple product usage had ultimately led to the release of a stable version of uTorrent for Mac.

“In the BitTorrent community, the number of users with at least one Apple product is growing at a pretty quick pace,” reads Brett Nishi (BitTorrent Inc.’s Director of Product Management) blog post.

“And we hear you loud and clear with your requests for a little more love.”

Among the compatibility changes, new features are included with this version such as RSS Feeds, Schedule, Remote and Mobile access and Advanced Controls and Info.

Tags: Apple, file sharing applications, file-sharing, Mac, p2p, uTorrent

Google To Break iTunes’ Monopoly?

October 17, 2011 by Yonah · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Movies, MP3, Digital Audio & Games

Rumor has it that Google Inc. is looking to shake hands with record companies in order to launch a Music Store similar to Apple’s iTunes.

Wanting to remain anonymous, some people said that Google is looking for permission to sell downloads and to obtain streaming rights on its customer’s devices. If Google is granted to launch its own music store it would be the end of iTunes’ monopoly over the music industry and the beginning of a competitive business. However, Google refused to comment on the earlier published by the New York Times discussions.

A Google Music Beta service was started on May the 10th without obtaining the needed licenses from the record companies. The service stores users’ song libraries and playlists and also suggests music, based on people’s collections. Furthermore, the company provides a movie-rental service through the Android Market.

Apple has made its move this month and launched iCloud, a wireless-based service that stores a variety of media data such as photos, music, documents and shares it between devices (from Mac computers to iPhones and iPads).

People in the business said that Apple is thinking of getting the green light from the movie studios to store films in their cloud.

Tags: Apple, google, iTunes, music downloads, music industry