Zapr makes drag and drop file transfer easy

Definitely an interesting idea, I’m just not one to trust people having remote access to files on my machine. If the app has a hole or was ever to be cracked, that could mean bad things for companies that start to use this service.

It would be interesting if they had an IM link to friend feature, instead of email only.

So it’s essentially a bare bones web server for a single file right?

It still runs into the problems of firewall/router issues unless it has some magic way around that…

Hm. Not a bad application, though I think that Pando would perform at a faster transfer rate while being more secure as well. Any thoughts?

Be sure to check out exaroom.com as well. Same browser based download but much more private and the management of share is fully implemented via web interface. Also, connection between client application and server is securly encrypted.

It’s DropSend ( http://www.dropsend.com ). Where’s the feature/cost comparison?

Pando (www.pando.com) is the first and definitely the best private file sharing app on the market. I personally don’t need another IM client or buddy list just to trasnfer files. I just want to email large files to collegues and friends, and have it just work. Thats Pando. Awesome app.

Zapr doesn’t run into problems with the firewall since it uses the microsoft .net framework,
It’s also way different from http://www.dropsend.com and pando

it’s unlike dropsend since it shares locally, and people download it directly, if you change a file it changes, etc. also there are no limits to the file size, or amount of sharing.

And it’s unlike pando because a person can allways access the file as long as you have it up, think of it more like file hosting, or using an ftp program, etc. You also don’t have to have the program to download, nor do you have to initiate contact….

Yea I could picture them talking in the conference room:

“So should we keep our current name Zingee which is uber hip name, or should we go with Zapr which has more appeal to the Web 2.0 crowd because it sounds just like every other web 2.0 app out there.”

“Flickr and all the other cool web 2.0 cats are out there doing it, why not us! Lets join the bandwagon!”

But why use this say over just sending files via (MSN, AIM, or whatever IM service)? What would be the difference? Maybe you should put this to the test versus an IM service and see if its really worth it.

Sorry for the self-promo but this is relevant. Check out Netizen (www.civilnetizen.com), a strong file transfer application that I’m working on. Like the other ones listed above, it uses a simple interface to drag and drop files to send to your friends and coworkers.

It’s greatest strength is the intelligent networking behind it though. While many other apps use the web to host and send the files at ridiculously high costs, we currently use 100% p2p and optimize for LAN transfers. Our next release will be include a hybrid p2p/http web bridge system that allows for 100% transfer success even if users can’t connect behind firewalls. When it comes to file transfer, it’s all about the networking…

Hello

My english is bad but Zapr and Zingee it’s the same technology and the same service.

Look this : http://zingee.blogs.com/

I’m talking about on my blog ( http://blog.accessoweb.info ) too

Chris,

Zapr changed its name because of a trademark dispute with phonetically similar Zingy. This service differs from IM clients in that it allows for passive downloading, whereas both users must be active in the IM case. I picture something like this being useful to some of the non-techcrunch crowd. Yes, there are a million of these types of services out there and I think Zapr has been slow in its maturation, but I think it takes an interesting angle in entering the market.

It was more of a rip on the silly trends of names these companies choose. Its like they are almost trying too hard and all they can come up with is a flickr-ish name.

Maybe I should just start a service where I name apps…..or better yet, create a web app that names web apps! I would name this one…..ZamFram.

unless they’re super fast, else, what’s the point? all IM clients can do this.

Hi, it’s Mick from Zapr here. Just a couple of points on the comments here.

Firstly, thanks for the time Nick and the comments everyone. It’s great getting feedback.

Secondly, in the beta, what you share out is available publicly, so just test it with pictures, videos and other non-sensitive files/folders. Permissions are coming soon.

Regarding comparing us to IM, we are really different. One of the biggest difference is actually that Zapr creates a permenent URL which you can do more with. IM is for sharing right now with one person. With Zapr you create a URL which you can send to lots of people, put in your My Space or blog and your friends can come back to it later. You can’t do that with IM. Plus, you can share folders with Zapr which you can’t do with IM.

With the name, yeah, tell me about it. The reason why so many companies have funny names now is because it helps to have the .com and everything sensible is being squatted on at the moment. But we like Zapr.

Other quick points;
* It’s P2P.
* The folder sharing is live so you can add or remove stuff from a folder on your computer and it changes what you’re sharing live.
* Unlike most other apps, the person your sharing to doesn’t need to sign up or download/install anything. You just click the link and use a browser.

Thanks again.

My three cents:

1. Large file transfer cannot rely on the sender being online at all times. Thats a non-starter. You’re not going to get very far without transfer reliability Zapr folks. Thats the name of the game. Thats exactly why people don’t use IM clients to transfer big files — it fails half the time.

2. Large file transfer cannot rely on the sender’s upload speed. I don’t have to tell you guys that its painfully slow, you know that already.

3. Large file transfer cannot rely on a browser to move files. It’s call Hyper TEXT transfer protocol (HTTP) for a reason. Please don’t make us a use a browser to download large files. The smart companies will pick a new protocol that was designed for large files like BitTorrent.

I have to agree with Zach, Pando is the smartest company out there. Took them a while, but they got it right. Simple, send and forget. Zapr folks — think again about using the “but they require software” defense. Nearly a million users in 6 months sounds like another Skype to me.

Arthur, thanks for your 3 cents. You make some good points and the best I can give you is - We agree with you and we’ve got plans.

I completely and wholly agree with Arthur above. Pando just beats Zapr hands down. Most average home users won’t keep their computers up all the time. Also, if someone is downloading a large file say 700 MB and recipient or the sender’s connection is reset of any reason, you will have to restart all over again. Pando has built-in pause and resume….so no worries there.

You simply cannot beat Pando at the moment. Once Pando adds the ability to generate URLs, I think Zapr and BoxCloud will be history.

There’s also a service calld Dliveo, can be downloaded at http://www.dliveo.com. It’s similar to Pando in that it has the auto-resume feature, and works very simliar to e-mail. There are no attachment size limitations for now, and it doesn’t require any ‘buddy’ management like zapr and some of the other ‘IM-like’ file sending programs.

There is also BeamFile (www.beamfile.com) who is a similar product, as well as all the IM clients (BeamFile works a bit faster for me than Pando or Skype). I understand the differences, but I don’t think they matter for most people. Sharing large files (e.g. downlaoded movies) is one-on-one (I don’t want anyone to send a link to my computer), and I don’t want a permanent URL.

I’ve been using Dliveo for the past 30 days. to me I like the facts that I do not have to be on line to send adn receive, from what I can tell there is no P2P sharing, drag and drop is simple, there are no file limits size retraints and the files are delivered directly to the my documents folder.

While I haven’t tested beamfile, I am impressed with Dliveo download speeds. it is absolutely one-to-one. And I know when the person i sent files to has downloaded them because I get a notification and tracking ID.

Hey, we’re looking for more beta testers for Zapr if anyone is keen.

http://www.zapr.net/signup.aspx

Or try a Zapr link to the Old Betsy pc in our office.

http://zapr.net/bobzapr/z/1db10aec92306cdb

I pick Pando because they are smartest to offer Pando for more than one platform! Since I am mac users and all those software mentioned in this comments are windows only except for DropSend and Pando.

So that leave me Pando and DropSend but I still pick Pando becasue DropSend only limit to 250mb for free to users. sending larger files cost them.

I looked at all those others. I do not like the approach of using those software. Why more buddylist when I already have major IM client apps like iChat, AIM, MSN, Yahoo as well as Skype and Gizmo Project.

I found Pando to be very simple, yes I have to use a software but it act like a email client! simple! I create new email in Pando then I drag and drop files I want to send. It become 1 attachment instead of multi-attachements and it get uploaded to their secure sever encrypted! my friend get email right away and download right away while I upload. I may finish upload before he started downloading.

When he get email from me saying that he has attachment from me. it is a Pando file, double-clicking it start Pando app and start downloading. I am off the computer already.

I sometime send pando email to myself so I can distribute the pando file which is less than 1mb in size to my friends on iChat buddylist (Of course, I do tell them to get Pando app at http://www.pando.com before double clicking it) and they are both mac and windows users. no problem!

I am aware for now it is 1gb limit because it is in Beta and I am sure it will get increased (like Google did increase their Gmail size eh) to larger GB sizes. (That’s okay, i can break down in multiples 1gb sizes rar and it can get joined at other end)

Disclaimer: I don’t work for Pando but I am a Pando Beta user and loving it! Now many of my friends are Pando users.

Isn’t the Shared Folders in the new Windows Messenger doing almost the same thing?

No Mac, no good. These things have to be cross platform. AllPeers is very good. Built into the browser and cross platform. That’s what I’m talking about.

Check out http://www.youbackitup.com instead. Drag and drop filesharing in the browser.