After you install ZumoDrive on your desktop, you will see a new disk drive in your file manager. Once you copy data to this new network drive, it is automatically saved to the cloud.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. Other cloud storage apps, like Soonr, Mozy, Syncplicity, or Microsoft's Live Mesh, integrate with your existing file structure and, depending on the program, put a stronger emphasis on backup or synchronization.

While it is quite handy to see the same file structure on your phone, netbook, and desktop, this also means that your files only live in the cloud. ZumoDrive keeps a cache of files on your hard drive, but that is only a cache and doesn't necessarily contain all of your files. If you are looking for a backup solution or an easy way to sync your folders between different machines, then ZumoDrive is not necessarily the best way to go.

Instead, we think that the best way to use ZumoDrive is in conjunction with its iPhone app.

iPhone App

If you are comfortable with the way ZumoDrive works, then its iPhone application (iTunes link) is a great extension to the service. The app features three different views: Files, Music, and Photos. The files menu lets you browse through all your files and folders on your ZumoDrive. The music and photos views present you with views that are similar to Apple's own iPod and Photos apps on the iPhone. It should be noted, however, that ZumoDrive will use up some space on your iPhone, as it creates its own local cache of your documents.

Pricing

ZumoDrive's original prices during the private beta were a bit on the steep side, but the company has now reduced its prices. You will still get 1GB of free storage and the 10GB 'starter plan' will still cost you $2.99 a month. If you need more space, however, then 25GB will now set you back $6.99, 50GB $11.99, and 100GB $19.99 per month.

Verdict

If you are mostly interested in saving and syncing office documents and accessing them from your iPhone, Soonr is currently a better solution (our review) - especially because it opens up documents faster than ZumoDrive and because it allows you to remotely print documents from within the iPhone app. However, if you are mostly interested in being able to access your music files and photos, then ZumoDrive is a better solution than Soonr.

Of course, there is also a whole range of other apps that bridge the gap between your mobile device and your desktop - and many of these programs have a larger (though also more specialized) feature set than ZumoDrive. If you are solely looking for a photo app, for example, we would recommend Phanfare's Photon (especially after this week's update of its iPhone app), and if you just want to access all of your music, then Simplify Media is still one of the best solutions (though you do have to keep your computer running at all times for it to work).

ZumoDrive is less powerful than these apps, but it does provide a good comprehensive solution if you want quick and easy access to more music and photos than your iPhone or iPod Touch could normally handle.

While you currently have to complete the registration on your iPhone, the central hub for getting started is really Soonr's desktop client, which is basic, but gets the job done. The client, which is available for Mac and Windows, lets you choose which files to sync to Soonr's servers and gives you an overview of how much online storage you have been using and the latest status updates. Soonr also provides a web interface that lets you manage all your documents.

The iPhone interface was clearly designed with the user in mind. A dashboard provides you with all the latest updates like newly added files and folders, or printed documents. You can also browse through your files and view them with a more traditional file browser.

One feature we would like to see here is the ability to bookmark folders that you often use, so that you don't have to navigate the directory tree every time you want to access a new file.

Finding and Sharing Files

While the file browser is useful, those of us with a large number of files on their computers will surely welcome Soonr's search function, which allows you to search inside your files.

Soonr also makes it incredibly easy to share files. You can share files directly with other Soonr users, or send an email or SMS with an invitation. You can also forward files as attachments to any email address.

One feature we would like to see here is integration with the iPhone contacts application. It would also be great if you could upload files to Soonr by forwarding an email to the service. That way, whenever you get a document that isn't natively supported by the iPhone mail client, you could access it through Soonr.

Remote Printing

Another useful feature of Soonr is the ability to print files remotely. The desktop client automatically discovers the default printer on your computers and the print job completes without any further interaction.

Verdict

Soonr is one of the most useful productivity apps we have seen for the iPhone. Some web apps like Syncplicity also let you access your cloud storage, but they can't provide the ease of use and compatibility with a large number of file types in the same way a native application like Soonr can.

In the long run, it would be great if Soonr would also let you edit files on the iPhone, but even without this feature, it's already incredibly useful.