Introducing a sweet new way to sync files with the cloud | Bangkok Post: tech

SLOANRANGER

In the year or so that I have been using the phenomenally popular Dropbox software to put stuff in the cloud, I have had exactly the same thought every time I dropped something and every time I picked something up from the box:

When you call the main SugarSync programme from your system tray, the interface is a familiar, Windows-like setup with easy access by mouse or on a touch screen.

They have got to make this thing better. In that time there scores, maybe hundreds of times I sent files to myself attached to email because it was easier and more efficient.

Well, now there is a better Dropbox - except that it's not Dropbox.

SugarSync is not the name I would pick for a better program. But then "Dropbox" gives the impression of trash rather than value, so perhaps it doesn't really matter.

The latter half of the name, however, does reflect its ability. The program is designed - well-designed - to synchronise digital data of any type among all your computers and devices.

In practice that means that if you add a document from your laptop at the office, SugarSync instantly grabs it and puts it into the designated folder in the cloud. From there, you can grab the document when you go home to work, or when you're in a meeting and want to show it on your tablet, or when you're on the BTS and want to look at it on your smart phone.

When you add a YouTube video from your iPad, you can show it to friends at work on the office computer, so long as you check to make sure the IT department geeks are playing games as usual, of course.

When you add some songs to your SugarSync account from your BlackBerry, they are immediately available for all your computers, all your devices.

Here's the deal, and this is why I never much liked Dropbox and really love SugarSync to pieces.

In Dropbox you add or update a file, and then you also have to literally pick it up (with your mouse) and drop it into the box. There are two steps.

In SugarSync you add or update a file and ... and nothing. The program, which is running in the system tray like Dropbox, actually using less memory than Dropbox (32KB of memory versus 40KB on my main computer, for example) updates and syncs the file automatically.

Not only does SugarSync actually, well, sync material into the cloud for all your PCs and devices, it also in effect is a backup for all your precious data.

Dropbox gives you two gigabytes of free storage room; Sugarsync gives you five. Dropbox gives you various tests to gain extra space such as handing over names and email address of your friends; Sugarsync does roughly the same. And both will sell you more storage for a fairly reasonable price - although of course you need to use a credit card of some sort to do that efficiently.

The 5GB offer is a dealmaker. But SugarSync has additional features that make it what Dropbox could have been.

Chief among these is the way it handles your updates. SugarSync has a "magic briefcase" where you can drag and drop any file from any of your computers, and then access it on all the others. Sound familiar? Yes, that's pretty much the only thing that Dropbox does.

And that is a very handy thing. But SugarSync's ability to handle, replicate, monitor and automatically update folders and files is unmatched in Dropbox. The only way to update folders in Dropbox is to place them in a hierarchy Dropbox mandates. SugarSync does it your way.

There is one other feature where SugarSync is usefully different from Dropbox, and that is in public sharing of your material.

Dropbox allows you to set up one or more folders where you can allow access to friends or colleagues.

SugarSync allows you to set a "flag" on any file, to make it public or private. But it also has what it calls private shared folders. You can set them up at the SugarSync website or via the desktop app, then invite friends or others to hit your SugarSync and have access only to the folder or folders you designate.

One more way to share with SugarSync: Upload the material you want to share, and provide a download link. You can then email or text that link only to those you want to access the files.

This is not a Dropbox-bashing column by the way. Jillions of people are using Dropbox and are darned happy with it, including backing up their data and giving shares to friends and family. But I do think SugarSync has got all the Dropbox features, got them better and added some wrinkles that are very useful - not to mention the extra 3GB of free storage.

Both Dropbox and SugarSync are exactly where you would expect them to be: http://www.dropbox.com and http://www.sugarsync.com.