If you’re like me, you always try to avoid storing or backing up files, even those that are important to you. It’s too boring, time-consuming and cumbersome to remember doing it regularly.
This is where a new service called quanp (short for “quantum paper” and pronounced “kwan-puh”), launched today in beta, comes in. Developed by Japanese technology giant Ricoh, quanp wants to become your online center for collecting and organizing all of your personal “digital life memories”.
Dropbox and many other services basically do the same, but the idea behind quanp is to turn storing and sharing pictures, music, videos, PDFs etc. online into a more enjoyable experience by making it more “visual”. The service is currently free and as Ricoh says, mainly aimed at US residents for the time being (in Japan, quanp is available in free and paid versions since March). The US version is being managed by a Ricoh office based out of Cupertino in California.
The structure of the quanp site is a tad confusing, but you basically get a suite of three tools:
- quanp.on (a Windows-only online storage client)
- quanp.net (a browser version)
- quanp drop (a desktop widget)
Here is a quick rundown:
quanp.on
I had to unearth my Windows machine for quanp.on, but once installed (system requirements), the software works as promised. It lets you drag and drop, tag and date files you can then navigate through a pretty “3D” interface (Ricoh calls this 3D visual browsing). Files can also be easily shared with other quanp users over the web.
quanp.net
Definitely not as sexy as quanp.on or the widget, this browser version (for Mac and Windows users) doesn’t offer anything similar services have been offering for years.
quanp drop
“quanp drop” is an animated, customizable widget that sits on your Mac or Windows desktop (system requirements) and allows you to share files by dragging and dropping them into it as if you’re adding files to a folder. You need to register in order to then manage and share these files. quanp drop also requires Adobe AIR to function.
Ricoh says these beta versions of their tools are mainly aimed at geeks and heavy web users whose opinions the company wants to use as a basis for further improvements. So give one of the tools a shot (personally I recommend the widget and the client version), follow them on Twitter, and post your feedback in the forum (or write an email).
The following video provides more background on the service.
What an awkward name….yuck!
This seems like a very interesting tool. I might have to take a closer look and review this on our site.
So how do we get a Login ID ?
Fancy stuff is Windows only. And the voice over on that video seems quite bored with what he is presenting.
I agree, they should add a Mac version for quanp.on (I already complained to Ricoh directly).
this technology strategically executed will change the world of online advetising and marketing.
this is the future of online display advertising. imagine if they were shuffling custom interactive business listings instead of personal photos.
the domain name kwan-poo will deadpool this company no matter what the technolgy. ricoh needs to acquire some talent and landscape to showcase the power of their weaponry.
Sounds interesting. If you “shook” a corporate document, maybe interesting tidbits about the company would appear on screen.
Yannick, you can register on the top page (http://www.quanp.com/us/) on the top right.
Everythings is cool except for the name… dont they say you should choose a name easy to recognize with.
Looks cool. I’m going to give it a try. Please change the video. The narrator almost put me to sleep and the quality made it difficult to watch.
If someone knows anyone at Ricoh, please have them contact me. I own Copies.com and that would be a much better name for this service.
info@copies.com
Paul Rubillo
I am checking it out now and have a few questions.
1. I so far have this installed on my office desktop. Should I register again for my laptop and home computers and then share within so each has 10gb of storage as well as being intershared or would a single share work and then share between like that? I am wondering how it works when you actually share it I guess since I cant test it out yet.
2. How long is the trial? Will the free 10 gb be removed when the trial is over? I dont want to get sucked into something then have to pay in a few months if I dont like the service.
Shane,
Thank you very much for your questions. Quick answers here, you can
always ask more directly at quanp-support@us.quanp.com .
1. No need to re-register. One account can be accessed from
anywhere. 10GB of storage. This is a beta test and so we’d like to
keep it to one account per person. If storage size is an obvious
issue, we’d love to get that feedback from you. If you were really
using it, how much would you need? This is exactly the type of
feedback we’re looking for.
2. Very good question. The exact length of the beta testing period
has not been decided. It will remain free for as long at it is in
beta. That much we know for sure.
Thank you,
Tatsu Nakai
quanp Team