Myfabrik - The YouTube and Flickr of Online Storage?
Today Silicon Valley company
Fabrik launched its myfabrik online storage and
file-sharing service, after a 4 month beta period. It's also releasing a new service
called myfabrik lite, that lets users share
large multimedia files (up to 1GB at a time). The aim with the Lite product is twofold:
as a solution to sending huge attachments by email and also to enable users to
auto-generate HTML code on the fly, to embed streaming media players within blog posts
and web pages.
The difference between myfabrik and myfabrik lite is that the former is being marketed as a full-fledged storage solution, whereas the lite version is to "host and deliver content". So the Lite version is really about sharing multimedia content with others, via a blog or social network.
Screenshot of myfabrik
Myfabrik is certainly a good looking service and I like the way they are positioning it - not as a boring old storage solution, but as a way to make it easy for people to use digital media on the Web. The tool itself is not much different to the other online storage solutions around, but there are little things that seem to personalize the app more. For example at the bottom of the myfabrik app is a little ajaxy box called 'Experiences'. Click on that and you can label your media files according to life experiences - such as Love, Friends, Event, etc.
Myfabrik is being positioned for use by bloggers and social networkers, as well as creative types. In the pitch I received, it was described as "like having a combination of YouTube, Flickr, .Mac and G Drive all wrapped up into one." This seems like a good ploy to capture that elusive YouTube-using younger generation, at the same time as appealing to Mac-wielding Flickr-loving bloggers.
The basic service is free with 1GB of space - with additional space selling for 49 cents per month per gigabyte. Although when I signed up today I could still get the 2GB free beta offer.
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Doesn't seem to really stand out to me. Streamload does though because of the massive amount of space they are willing to give you. And if you are willing to pay you can get 1 TB for $30/mo.
I believe web-based (or "remote") storage is going to be big in the future. Not because of "media hosting", but because every device will have access to the web. I can very well envision a "medium-less" society in the future. Japan and South Korea already have the infrastructure in place to support such a solution.
One barrier that I can see right now is that there are so many storage providers with so many different connection/API stacks that it just wouldn't make sense for any particular device mfg to go with one solution over the other (i.e. a Streamload connection app versus a LiveDrive or GDrive connection app).
Certainly a few issues have to be resolved from an online provider:
1. Security -- Mozy has the right idea in that only the user has the passkey.
2. Access -- I like the fact that you can access your files via a web browser with Omnidrive. Also, Omnidrive works like another drive on your system so you can drag and drop AND work on a document from the Omnidrive such that when you save and close, it's already backed up.
3. The ability to share files, photos, videos.
4. The ability to post directly to your storage and have it link into your blog or something. Omnidrive allows for this with a connection into Flickr (I think).
5. Unlimited storage (or storage at reasonable pricing) -- Carbonite has this down...
Chaka,
The concept of Omnidrive is good and all, but again - there needs to be ONE platform that covers EVERY storage provider. It's going to get ugly when you have to have 20 different apps for your TiVo or cellular phone just to access your data.
Think of it as a browser - wouldn't it suck if you needed a different browser for each website you visited? One browser should work with ALL websites.
Robert,
I totally agree. You misread my post. I am pointing out issues and citing who I think (if applicable) is doing it best right now. So far, it looks like Omnidrive to me, personally.
Frankly, I wish things would consolidate faster and more effectively. I cannot commit to a service if I don't believe in it and believe it's safe.
Robert,
I've started working with Carbonite here in the UK (http://www.carbonite.com) so I could be biased, but I haven't yet seen an application that matches Carbonite for ease of use, reliability and value for money.
Set and forget. Unlimited storage. Free trial. $5 / £3 a month.
Love to know what you and your contributors here think.
I agree with the first poster. I really don't see anything standing out here. Now to be fair I haven't tried the service yet, but based on the description the app seems on par w/ all the other competitors out there.
I guess I'm a little partial though. I did create www.dropboks.com
You got to take a look at IBackup. IBackup is a secure online data storage, access and data sharing solution for consumers and businesses with several possible interfaces and options to store, retrieve and manipulate your data. All IBackup applications have 128-bit SSL encryption as default option. IBackup has browser based and downloadable applications for Windows, Linux / Unix and Mac platforms.
With wire compression, advanced patching, latency minimization, IBackup offers highest possible performance with IBackup for Windows. Play all your favorite audio or video files stored in your IBackup account using the ‘Media Gallery’ feature. You can even share your favorite files with friends and family either with browser-based Web-Manager or another application called ‘IDrive’. IBackup lets you have direct control over access to the space, folders and the files. You have control over who can view, edit, save and upload folders and files stored in your IBackup account. For example, you can enable Locking for your shared files to avoid any mistaken overwriting.
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Also try IBackup Professional. The data files backed up using IBackup are encrypted on transmission using 128-bit SSL and the data files are stored by default encrypted using AES 256-bit encryption* and automatically decrypted during restores. The encryption is done based on a user defined key, so the data stored on IBackup Professional servers cannot be decrypted by anybody other than you.