The World Wide Web Consortium has published a draft of an interface that browsers can use to manipulate files better, one of a series of steps aimed at gradually improving the sophistication and polish of Web site interfaces.
The draft File API (application programming interface) defines a number of ways that browsers and Web sites can handle files better. One big part of it: being able to select multiple files for upload, such as on photo-sharing sites or Web-based e-mail, a task that often relies on Adobe Systems' Flash today.
But there are other aspects, too. For example, the Files interface governs the use of "blobs," or packages of raw binary data such as video files. Google has touted blobs for its Gears browser plug-in as a way to divide large videos into small chunks so that uploads can be more easily resumed if a network problem interrupts the process.
Another benefit: files are handled asynchronously, which means the browser won't freeze up while a file is being uploaded or otherwise handled, and the browser reports progress on file transfers.
The technology is one example of work to transform the Web into a better foundation for interactive applications, a move that usurps some power from computer operating systems such as Windows and that's embodied most boldly in Google's Chrome OS project.
Here's one example of use of the Files interface provided by Mike Smith, who works for the W3C on matters relating to HTML--Hypertext Markup Language, the language used to describe Web pages:
A user uses a Web-based application for reading and sending e-mail. She wants to attach multiple files to particular messages. The Web application provides an user interface that allows her to select multiple files to attach at the same time. After she selects the files, they are uploaded to the Web application asynchronously, allowing the user to perform other actions while they are uploading (for example, finishing the rest of the message she was composing before you added the file attachments). As the attachments are uploaded, the Web applications shows progress bars to indicate how much of the contents of the files have uploaded thus far.
The interface can work in conjunction with various standards including the drag-and-drop support in the HTML 5 now under development and the Web Workers technology that lets browsers better perform multiple operations simultaneously.
The interface also can help Web applications process the contents of files. For example, Smith describes a lyrics finder:
A user has on her local file system a playlist file from her favorite desktop music player. The playlist contains a list of song titles and information, and she wants to be able to easily fetch the lyrics for particular songs without needing to manually search for the lyrics on the Web. So a site can provide a Web-based application that allows her to upload her playlist. The Web application then parses the file and then presents a user interface to her, show in the contents of the file as a hyperlinked, sortable list. She can then retrieve the lyrics for any given song just by clicking on a particular song title.
Arun Ranganathan, Mozilla's standards evangelist and chairman of the WebGL working group, wrote the specification, according to Chris Blizzard, Mozilla's director of developer relations.
Standards for the Web are advancing rapidly with W3C representatives including Microsoft working in conjunction with a parallel effort, WHATWG. New standards require actual implementation in browsers before they are accepted as finished, a fact that can lead to some chaos but that helps ensure the new ideas are tested in the real world.
Firefox 3.6, in beta testing now, will support most of the Files API, according to Blizzard.
Memeo Send uses Outlook integration and drag-and-drop to keep file transfers simple.
(Credit: Memeo)Memeo Send (for Windows | Mac) is a brand-new application aimed at business professionals in small-to-medium size companies who frequently need to transfer large files to colleagues--including photos, videos, PowerPoint presentations, and hefty design files from InDesign and Adobe Illustrator.
Where Memeo Share (Windows | Mac), the company's free-to-try photo- and video-sharing app, focuses on gallery organization and consumer media, Memeo's impetus with Send is much more on tracking, management, and bulk deliveries.
Memeo Send opens as a simple, yet attractive desktop application that uploads files two ways: you can browse the file tree, or you can drag and drop from an open folder to the Memeo Send interface. After that, selecting recipients and jotting down an optional description are all that's left to ship out your parcel of files.
To anticipate the needs of its business users, Memeo Send integrates the Microsoft Outlook address book into the "Send to" field--just the personal Contacts portion, mind you, not a global corporate list if your company has one. You can also type or paste contacts' names by hand. We'd like a way to create new e-mail groups in Memeo to quickly access a recurring knot of recipients, in addition to accomplishing the task by creating a new Outlook group.
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Google Docs now supports .docx and .xlsx, two files formats found in nearly every modern day word processor or spreadsheet editor. Previously, when trying to import either of these formats into Google Docs, the service would simply tell the user it was not supported.
Google has allowed users to open up these files from Gmail or in Google search results since the introduction of its HTML-document viewer last year, but hadn't allowed direct opening of them in Docs without the extra conversion step. Gmail still only offers the options to view received .docx and .xlsx-formatted files in its HTML viewer, or download it directly to the desktop. In comparison, supported files can be sent directly to Google Docs.
Compared with previous versions of the popular .doc and .xls formats, the "x" variants bring with them smaller file size and the addition of Open XML. These two are also the default format in the latest versions of Microsoft's Excel and Word 2007, two widely used production tools.
Still missing is a way to import .pptx files from PowerPoint 2007 without losing formatting. Just like it used to do with .docx and .xlsx files, Google Docs strips things like themes, transitions and artwork. Competitor Zoho has offered support for these Open Office XML formats since early 2008.
Previously, Google Docs users would see this screen when trying to import a .Docx or .Xlsx file type.
(Credit: CNET)Hawkscope is a cross-platform, open-source project that provides alternative navigation through your files for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Still in beta, it's also extensible, so not only can you jump folders in a zippy, context menu-style tree, but you can search Google, check your Gmail, and post to your Twitter account from the Hawkscope interface.
Hawkscope provides menu-based file navigation.
(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)Hawkscope appears as a hawk icon just next to your clock, so that's the system tray for Windows and the menu bar for Macs. For users with dark themes, the icon might be hard to see--look for an empty spot in between other icons. Click on it to make the menu appear, and you'll find pre-loaded options such as your profile folder, your local drive and any networked or external drives, and a Settings menu near the bottom. The menu is divided into the Quick Access list at the top, file system roots in the middle, and the Hawkscope menu at the bottom.
From Settings, you can customize much of the program. The General tab configures the icon theme independent of your operating system, a neat if simple little trick. The next tab, Quick Access, lets you add, remove, and reorder folders that appear at the very top of the Hawkscope menu. In my screenshot, you can see that I've set Blogs and Reviews and My Pictures to show up there. The Blacklist tab prevents certain folders or file types from appearing, while Network configures a proxy if you need one.
Plugins is the following tab, and that's where Hawkscope starts to get interesting. As you can see from my screenshot, I've added the Gmail and search Google plugins. Hit the Get Plugins button to open up the Hawkscope plugins Web page, and download any of the plugins that interest you into the Hawkscope plugin folder. Once you've clicked the Reload Plugins button, you should see what you've just installed in your plugin list. Hit OK and they should appear at the top of the main Hawkscope navigation.
Hawkscope provides users with useful system integration, including proxies and custom configuration.
(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)The Gmail plugin shows all your new e-mail in a drop-down list, which is tolerable but overwhelming when you've got a large number of them. Click on one to open it in a new browser window. I noticed that the plugin has problems switching between Gmail accounts, and--somewhat scarily, for secuity reasons--kept accessing one account, even when the user name and password had been replaced by another account.
The Search Google plugin works better, with a desktop-based search field that opens for you to enter your query. Hit Enter and it opens a new Web page with your Google search results. Currently, the small list of plug-ins supports two others that I didn't test: Tweeting from Hawkscope, and executing commands from the main menu.
I like that Hawkscope is taking another look at reinvigorating the context menu format, but the way it's done feels awkward at times. If you have a deep tree of folders and you haven't pre-programmed your most commonly-used ones to the Quick Access menu, it can take a lot of time to find what you're looking for. Hawkscope would be more useful, too, were it hot key accessible. Keyboard junkies could pull up the menu with quick combo and then use the arrow keys to maneuver. As it stands, it's an interesting way of browsing your files, but mostly because it's available on the major operating systems.
Disney Online announced on Wednesday that it has acquired "a number" of assets from family site Kaboose.
According to the company, Kaboose assets were acquired for $18 million. Kaboose sites, including BabyZone and AmazingMoms, will become part of Disney's existing family properties. The deal will be completed once the acquisition attains shareholder approval.
FileLater, an authorized IRS e-file provider, announced on Wednesday that it is now the only online service to provide both businesses and consumers the opportunity to file a tax extension before the April 15 deadline. The company said it facilitated the filing of more extensions in March 2009 than it did in all of 2008. It has also enjoyed "five times the traffic" leading up to April 15. FileLater charges $39.95 for business tax extensions and $17.95 for personal income tax extensions.
Online note-taking service Evernote released an updated version of its application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Dubbed version 2.0, the app now includes landscape view and the option to see thumbnail images of saved content (a la Apple's Coverflow). But more importantly, the free app now includes an integrated browser, which lets users access links within their notes without firing up the Safari browser. The free update is now available in the Apple App Store.
Bicyclist Lance Armstrong's Livestrong site, which provides health, fitness, and lifestyle-related content, on Wednesday announced that its expanding its service to the BlackBerry.
Dubbed Calorie Tracker, Livestrong's app will allow users to input exactly what they're eating throughout the day to determine how many calories they've consumed. Calorie Tracker will be able to locate more than 525,000 food items and 2,000 fitness activities. Users can see how many calories they're consuming and how many they're burning off.
The app even shows information on fat, carbohydrate, and protein intake. It will be preinstalled in the BlackBerry application carousel on all devices released after April 1. It should be noted that Calorie Tracker is currently available in the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch owners.
Back in July 2008, torrent tracker The Pirate Bay announced plans to encrypt the Internet. That hasn't happened yet, but they plan to offer a VPN tunneling service to the public starting April 1.
Dubbing the service IPREDator after the controversial Swedish Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) that takes effect the same day. IPRED's main goal is to make it easier for copyright holders to acquire the personal data of suspected illegal file sharers.
By offering a VPN service that doesn't log its traffic, IPREDator is simultaneously setting itself apart from other Web-based VPN services and offering what looks like a way to legally evade IPRED. Without logs, users will be able to exchange data without worrying about a subpoena revealing to whom the data packets were going, or what their contents were.
Other details about the new VPN service are thin, except that users will be asked to pay a small premium, approximately $6.77 or 5 euros, for the service. It's also not clear if the service will be compatible with other non-file sharing uses, or if it will try to compete with other encrypted tunneling services like LogMeIn or GoToMyPC.
The current beta is free and can be signed up for at the IPREDator site, although it's taking only 500 testers. If anybody does get a chance to use the beta service, please post about it below.
Amidst the crowd of peer-to-peer file-sharing options comes an attempt to return file-sharing to its utilitarian roots and away from legal quagmires by emphasizing file-publishing. Free and open-source, LittleShoot is the brainchild of Adam Fisk, a LimeWire developer who wants LittleShoot to be "like Google for files instead of Web pages."
LittleShoot manages torrents as well as scouring the Web for most major file formats.
(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)Where most P2P programs are standalone clients, LittleShoot is a browser plug-in like QuickTime or Shockwave that should work with all major browsers. It utilizes an AJAX-based interface at LittleShoot.org to search, publish, and download files. Once you've downloaded and installed the plug-in, it will take you to the LittleShoot.org search page unless you opt out. From there, entering any search term will return results with hits from YouTube, IsoHunt, Flickr, Yahoo, and LimeWire. A SafeSearch option attempts to restrict inappropriate content.
The most recent version introduces torrent-handling abilities. Check out any torrent site, download the torrent, and LittleShoot will automatically start downloading it. LittleShoot lacks advanced features like throttling, but for a basic set-it-and-forget-it torrent client, it's not too shabby. Helpful links on the side make it easy to Twitter or Facebook the torrent, and a drop-down menu gives you access to dozens more sharing options.
Non-torrent files found by LittleShoot will open in a new window, but can't be downloaded directly.
Unfortunately, the publishing option wasn't working when I tested it. When you click "Browse," you can search your hard drive for files to share. Once you've chosen a file, you can tag it--however, the JPG and WMV files I tried to upload didn't work. Even with these drawbacks, LittleShoot looks like an interesting attempt to demystify file-sharing by making it more accessible than it's been so far.
GigaTribe makes it easy to share folders with friends and family.
(Credit: Rick Broida)Looking for an easy way to share photos, videos, and other files with your friends and family? GigaTribe for Windows creates private peer-to-peer networks so you can swap to your heart's content.
The basic service is free, but Cheapskate readers can get a three-month subscription to GigaTribe Ultimate.
Just click the preceding link, and follow the instructions. Once you've created your username, use this promo code: P3MCHS.
Presto! You've got a GigaTribe Ultimate account that's good for 90 days. If you want to keep it going after that, it'll cost you $4.99 monthly or $29.95 annually. You can also drop back to a free account, if you prefer.
What does Ultimate give you that free doesn't? Among other things: unlimited simultaneous downloads (versus just one at a time), a choice of authorization levels for shared folders, password protection for shared folders, access to your shared files from any Web browser, and tech support via e-mail.
I've tried lots of file-sharing software and services over the years, and while GigaTribe can be a little daunting, at first, it has some great features: unlimited sharing, unlimited file sizes, and live chat within the client. Want to learn more about the service? Here's a YouTube video that walks you through.
You've got until April 24 to sign up for this freebie. Mac users, sit tight: a beta test version is in the works. In the meantime, do you have a preferred file-swapping solution? Hit the Comments, and share your favorites.
Transferring a large file isn't always easy. When e-mail won't work (which it often doesn't for files of any heft), you can burn to a disc or send a file piecemeal, but neither option provides much value to the person who just needs your file now, and simply.
Online file-sharing services can transfer large files for you. To use these services, you upload your file to them, and then your recipient gets a link to the download. The file itself doesn't go through e-mail, just the link to it. Let's look at a few different products that perform this service.
Box.net
Box.net may be billed as a service designed for companies, but it's equally useful for consumers.
Overall, Box is extremely easy to use and its interface is second to none. After signing up for an account, you can upload a file of up to 1GB in size, add comments to it to provide some context for other users, and save it to a single folder or multiple folders on the site. Once the file is uploaded, you can e-mail or IM a Box link to others, who can then download that file to their local machine. You can even create a shared workspace and work together online. Whether it was uploading the file or using that shared workspace, Box provided me with an outstanding experience.
One of Box's best features is its customizable widget. After heading to its widgets page, you can upload files, customize the look and feel of your widget, and share it with others by embedding it in your Web site or blog. You can keep adding files until you hit the 1GB limit. It's a really neat feature and a great way to share files that you don't mind keeping unsecured. I created my widget (right) in under a minute.
Unfortunately, Box only provides 1GB of storage a 25MB upload limit for free. If you need more than that, the company charges $7.95 for 5GB of storage and 1GB uploads or $15 per user per month for businesses that want 15GB of storage and 1GB uploads.
Dropbox
Dropbox is similar to Box because it allows you to upload files and share those with others. But in order for them to see the files, the service requires you to add them as authorized users.
Once you sign up for Dropbox, you can immediately start uploading files and creating separate folders to control access to documents. Once a folder is created, you can share it with others by inputting their e-mail addresses into the sharing box on Dropbox. The service then sends those users a link to sign up and start sharing access to the folder.
Dropbox makes it easy to upload files.
(Credit: Dropbox)Uploading files in Dropbox is simple and generally zippy. If you want to create a photo gallery that can be viewed by anyone, the site boasts a Photos section where you can upload pictures. And although it works as advertised, it doesn't compare to nicer galleries like those you'll find on Flickr.
One of the most compelling reasons to use Dropbox is its offline functionality. When you sign up, you can download the company's desktop client, which allows you to drag-and-drop files into it. Once complete, it syncs with your online account in the background while you work. It's an outstanding feature.
Dropbox also offers an attractive pricing model. Although it doesn't provide as many collaboration features as Box, it offers more capacity for free. In fact, you can upload up to 5GB for free. It costs $9.99 per month or $99 per year to have 53GB of storage.
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Online storage service Box.net is sporting a new look Thursday. It's part of a bigger change to woo small to medium-size businesses toward using it as the go-to way to transfer files between colleagues and clients. The changes will trickle down to users of its free, consumer-facing, 1 GB service too.
Instead of going for a desktop software solution, which I'm told is in the works, the company has redesigned its user experience to let employees and managers alike monitor usage and activity around files and folders. Collaborators on a project can see what others have open, the edits they've made, or changes to the file structure. All of these actions are then listed in each individual user's profile in a brand new information feed.
To go hand in hand with this, users can now leave threaded comments on any file. These can be left in project folders or accompany a file when it's moved elsewhere. Jen Grant, Box's VP of marketing, tells me this was done on purpose to give users control over conversations that might exist long after a certain file or project workspace is no longer necessary.
Box.net's new wide look sports user comments and activity feeds around each file.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Grant says that, along with the new look, one of the new things Box is trying to do is make it easier to control what users can do with files. For instance you can now very easily set ownership permissions on a single file, or a group of files based on who you're collaborating with. You're also now able to lock out a file from editing, which means your collaborators will be able to see it and open it for viewing, but will be unable to make any changes.
These features, along with the activity flow will be making their way to the service's iPhone application, and onto other platforms like the BlackBerry in the coming months. Grant says the team is hard at work trying to bring the mobile platform up to snuff with all the things you're able to do on the Web front-end.
One thing I think has yet to be addressed with this update, and what may be holding many businesses from relying on online file storage services is a way to continue that work flow when offline. Competing services like Dropbox let you upload, download and collaborate on files through a Web interface, but also mirror those files right on your local machine in a virtual folder.
As we've seen recently with the Quickbooks outage, and last February's Amazon S3 downtime, inaccessible data can bring things to a screeching halt. When applied to something as simple as a PowerPoint presentation or an ongoing project, people are going to want a hybrid solution that lets them get work done even if they're not able to get at their online files.
Until that happens, the company is expecting users to be happy enough downloading files for editing then re-uploading them when through. Either that, or working on them right inside the application with files that work with the company's OpenBox API.
