Web Worker Daily

File-sharing and syncing service Box.net (previously covered on WWD) yesterday announced that it plans to acquire Increo Solutions, the developers behind document embedding service Embedit.in and feedback app Backboard, tools that we’ve also written about previously.

Over time, this acquisition should improve the ways that you can view, share and collaborate on documents within Box.net, as the Increo Solutions tools become integrated into the service. Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box.net, said, “We really like what Increo has accomplished with their technology, which supports our goal of providing Box.net customers with a better way to share and work with documents and content in the cloud.”

However, for now, the Increo Solutions products remain standalone, and users can continue to work with the products and get technical support as before, according to this handy FAQ about the acquisition for current Increo customers.

Is this acquisition good news for Box.net customers?

While we have covered the social media aspects of LinkedIn in the past, the service is now being extended with third-party applications. Right now, Box.net Files and Huddle WorkSpaces enable you to use LinkedIn as an online document collaboration platform. These free tools are light versions of more full-featured products, but should serve you just fine for one-off collaboration needs.

The potential of LinkedIn for document collaboration may sound hinky to some, but there are some real benefits, including:

• Secure access via the LinkedIn social network of contacts.
• No infrastructure or administrative costs.
• Access documents anywhere via the web, as long as you are a LinkedIn member.

However, there is a flip side, in that that there are basically two types of LinkedIn users — those who log in faithfully on a regular basis, and those who log in just often enough to respond to network invites, and otherwise spend little time on the site. Online document collaboration via LinkedIn is going to work best for organizations where LinkedIn is already part of the corporate culture. In other words, frequent LinkedIn users are going to be the best adopters of these applications.

Both of these applications are accessible from your LinkedIn profile, via the “Featured Applications” section.

Collaborating With Box.net Files

LinkedIn offers Box.net Files as an application you can add to your LinkedIn Profile offering the following:

• Posting files to your LinkedIn profile.
• Sharing files with your LinkedIn contacts.

You can view and edit files via your LinkedIn profile:

Collaborating With Huddle WorkSpaces

Huddle WorkSpaces is another LinkedIn application offering online document collaboration features, allowing users to work together with unlimited connections. It includes private online workspaces with 1GB of online storage space free. While this may not seem like a lot for document storage, it should more than accommodate your ad-hoc online collaboration needs.

It also includes an online discussion forum for the exchange of information and ideas.  The Huddle Workspace forum should be familiar to those who spend even a minimal amount of time in online discussion forums.

While Huddle WorkSpaces touts that there is no need for Microsoft Office or OpenOffice.org because you can create and edit documents online using the app, it’s probably better not to stray from your desktop apps when creating a document you are sharing online, because you’ll only suffer for it with incompatibility issues down the road.

You can also post comments and request approvals from your browser.

Online Collaboration with LinkedIn

If you’re on a budget, you can definitely find some good online collaboration options via LinkedIn, providing your group is comfortable with using it.

Have you tried LinkedIn’s online collaboration applications? What do you use them for?

Editor’s note:  With this post we wecome Doriano Carta to the WWD team. Doriano, better known as “Paisano” on Twitter and everywhere else online, has written for several blogs including Mashable, SarahLacy.com, PistachioConsulting and Chris Brogan’s Dadomatic.com where he is also the Editor-in-Chief.

How much are you willing to pay for your favorite web apps and services? That’s the key question to which every app developer wants an answer. It seems as if the provider of every once-free service is now pondering ways to make money and extract revenue from their members, which makes sense when you consider that they are, after all, businesses.

Remember that old adage, you get what you pay for? Will we continue to see more of our favorite free services following this model of offering stripped down freemium accounts along with feature-rich premium plans? Will online advertising ever allow these sites to generate enough revenue to avoid going this route?

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Cloud file storage app Box.net (previously covered on WWD)  today announced some nifty new features that should prove useful, particularly if you’re a freelancer working with remote clients: Tasks, Global Folders and Custom Branding.

Tasks lets you assign tasks around files, which should be handy if you have a workflow that involves client approval of files or collaborating on files with others. For example, you can assign the task of reviewing a design right from within Box.net. For any file you can assign tasks to yourself, someone else or a group of people. By having this kind of functionality built into the app, you can keep the tasks together with the file itself, which should help avoid the kind of confusion that can result when assigning tasks via email.

Global Folders provides a simple way to publish files on the Internet, with just a few mouse clicks and no HTML fiddling required. You can take any of your Box.net folders and turn them into a publicly accessible web page with a customized, static URL.

Custom Branding lets Business edition subscribers customize the Box.net UI with their own branding, projecting a much more professional appearance when sharing files with clients.

What do you think of Box.net’s new features?

FileshareHQ, a new file-sharing and sending service that was launched today by UK design agency Slipstream Studio, joins a very crowded space, one currently occupied by the likes of Dropbox, box.net and YouSendIt. But FileshareHQ differentiates itself by targeting “pro users” — designers, web developers, photographers, video editors and the like — and offering FTP access to files, in addition to the usual web interface. Read the rest of this entry »

As these things go, Box.net is an old-timer among cloud file storage options, having been around for four years now.

Without a network sync component like Windows LiveSync (aka FolderShare) and DropBox, Box.net competes by focusing on reliability and accessibility. Once a file is uploaded to Box.net, it’s easy to grab and edit from any desktop browser or mobile device. The service is consistently fast and available. Plans range from free to enterprise solutions. While the free version is functional with 1 GB of storage space, it may be worth the upgrade to the $7.95/month Individual plan for the faster uploads alone. It’s significantly faster than any FTP server I’ve ever used.

After keeping the same look and feel for years, Box.net recently refreshed their interface and introduced the ability to create documents directly on the site.

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Those of you who have been working in the cloud for a while should be familiar with Box.net, an early entry into the now-crowded online storage/file sharing space.

I recently had a nice chat with Community Manager Sean Lindo about what they have coming down the road (and about how we’ve been using Box.net at my day job). One of the projects he mentioned was a new iPhone application that they were waiting to clear the App Store.

I have to admit, I was a bit ho hum at the news. Everyone is doing an iPhone app these days. The app was released today. I downloaded it this afternoon, expecting a rather basic file browser.

I didn’t give the concept enough credit. The reality is better than that.

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Following on the heels of DropBox, SugarSync, and Box.Net, HP has officially announced Upline, a storage service that is useful for those who are seeking a way to share files with others or take advantage of online backup.

Online storage has its advantages.  Your files are available remotely from any computer you have HP’s software installed on.  If you migrate computers, you just download your files onto the new machine.  Also, Upline will grant you a URL to easily share files with co-workers and friends/family.

To kick things off, HP is offering businesses and consumers a free 1 year subscription to their limited service.

These free accounts grant users 1GB of storage.  For unlimited storage, HP is charging between $59-299 per year, depending on how many users/PCs will have access.

Unfortunately, the software only works on Windows PCs.  If you’re seeking a service like this for use between Mac and Windows computers, take a look at DropBox.  Their free service provides 5GB of disk space.  However, having the HP brand behind your online storage solution is an attractive trait.