Private file-sharing service drop.io is jumping on the “real-time” bandwagon, speeding up its application to make it a near-instantaneous experience and adding chat. Before, drop.io was slightly asynchronous in that one person would have to upload their photos, movies, music, or documents that they wanted to share, and everyone else would have to wait until they were uploaded before they were available. Now, the app is pretty much instantaneous, with a live stream of files, comments, and chat appearing in every participants window at exactly the same time. Music and other media are playable inline, and no page refreshes are necessary. (The magic is a new XMPP backbone).
Transferring a large photo, for instance, looks more like file-sharing on Skype in that when you send a file, the receiving party sees a download progress bar. Except that the entire app is much more visual and works across the various drop.io input methods: via its Website, Firefox plug-in, and email.
What is perhaps more significant is that drop.io is adding chat to its service, which lets people collaborate entirely within the app without resorting to another IM client or email to talk about the files that are being transferred. Since drop.io is a one-to-many service, it is easy to share and chat across large groups. A chat window pops down at the bottom. Chat is also supported on the iPhone and Android phones. You can watch a screenshare here.
Drop.io is taking its cues from other real-time feeds that are becoming the default UI for everything from Facebook to Twitter to FreindFeed to Bebo. Any file can also be commented on. When you add the files—which can be anything from photos to movies to voicemails, with chat and comments—what you end up with is a private activity stream around each shared file. Drop.io calls this the “blog view.”
All-in-all it makes for a more engaging experience than the lonely dropbox of yore.
I dont understand the worth of such products.
I do not approve of it.
smelly
from u know where
So what if they sped up and added chat.
Dropbox already ate their lunch a long time ago. Time to find something else to do boys
Personally I use them both. Dropbox is great for syncing, but I use drop.io for quick sharing.
Seems like they are different things IMHO
Ew. The hate on TC is so underwhelming.
“…ate their lunch…” dude, seriously? Your technologisms are tired. What start-up recently fired you to make you so bland and uninteresting?
This innovation very good. How can we use the service like rapidshare now we have the drop.io.
From UK
Lewis
I better prefer using RapidShare. It’s really awesome. Even the piracy Masters loves it.
http://www.smartbloggerz.com
Solution in search of a problem.
Best comment ever!!!
wtf u wanna say ?
Very good
I also like the easy to use API. but i havnt integrated it
they should just make it like Rapidshare and just cut the premium part….
Then it will work nicely..
Come on, is chat really essential for easy file sharing?
Drop.io started simple and I liked it. More and more coming features felt like an improvement, but recently I showed drop.io to a friend and he said:
“Yeah, but… what is this service really about?”
I think they are somehow lost. Sure they might still have some money to spend, but I am not sure if this is what you expect from a file exchange service.
Seems to me like it’s a collaboration play
Right. A “drop” now seems like a mini virtual office.
I have to say that the feature I’ve used most on Drop.io is Fax. Its great to have a free eFax handy when you need it. Also cool if you want an easy to use “drop box” on your site.
Speaking of drop boxes, Drop Box pretty much runs my life now. If I need to share a file I share a folder or just send a public link, depending if its a one time deal or not.
chat?
If the technology is the same as Zapr, I like it very much. I use Zapr daily. On the other hand, I think someone mentioned that the drop.io has a fax function. That is a goodie…or so it seems before trying it.
I use this actively with my band to share current mp3’s with each other. It’s very nice to have a simple repository that anyone can add/delete to and stays at a static URL.
Thus far the only annoyance has been a lack of wiki-style ‘history’ where you could dig up old versions of files without breaking your 100mb limit.
I sold a domain with the same extension (video.io) for $400 … no one else bid so it went for the reserve price…
Nice article! Check out my site too at http://macmaniapodcast.com
Drop.io is a great service. A ton of our teachers on eduFire use it to share resources with students.