SugarSync
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SugarSync is a service that actively syncs files across computers and other devices. SugarSync is operated by SugarSync, Inc. and is based in San Mateo, California. SugarSync enables its users to backup, access, sync and share all of your documents, photos, music and movies so that you can access them from your laptop, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, or any other device. SugarSync is available for Windows and Mac OS X. For mobile devices, SugarSync has an app for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices, and a Windows Phone 7 is in development.
The company, formerly called "Sharpcast", and its service have received press coverage and reviews from various media outlets. In September, 2011, Gizmodo reviewed SugarSync and 10 other services[1] (including Dropbox, Apple's iCloud, Box.net, Amazon, Google and more, and they named SugarSync the "Ultimate Victor" as the Best Cloud Service. The service's major competitors are Dropbox, Apple's iCloud, Box.net, Amazon Cloud Drive, and other Cloud services.
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[edit] Company history
SugarSync was born out of a company by the name of Sharpcast, which was incorporated in 2004 by Gibu Thomas (CEO) and Ben Strong (Chief technical officer). In 2005, the company received a first round of $3 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Selby Ventures. In February 2006, Sharpcast unveiled Sharpcast Photos, a tool for synchronizing images between multiple devices including PCs and mobile phones. One month later, Sharpcast finished a second round of venture capital funding from Draper Fisher Jurvertson, Selby Ventures and Sigma Partners for a total of $16.5 million.[2] The same three investors put in another $10 million in December 2008 for a total of $26.5 million.[3] Both founders left the company in November 2008, and Laura Yecies was appointed the CEO. Yecies and her team re-focused the company and re-named the company as SugarSync in November 2009.
SugarSync is currently led by the following management team:
- Laura Yecies (CEO)
- Peter Chantel (CFO)
- Brock LaPorte (Vice President, Engineering)
- Drew Garcia (Vice President, Product Management)
- Mike Rudolph (Vice President, Marketing)
- Patrick Nguyen (Vice President, Business Development)
[edit] Product history
Sharpcast's first product was Sharpcast Photos, which was software designed to make it easier for people to view their photos on multiple devices and share them with friends via the Internet.[4] This product was the precursor to Sharpcast’s larger, more ambitious project, SugarSync.
In December 2006 Sharpcast inked a deal with Alltel for Sharpcast Photos to be the "standard and exclusive" sync tool for the wireless carrier's Windows Mobile-enabled smartphones.[5] Deals were also made with Lexar and Corel to provide backup services to their customers.
Sharpcast Photos was shut down at the end of January 2009. Users were given the option to migrate to the SugarSync service or retrieve their photos.
SugarSync is the company's newest product and was launched in March 2008. The software is designed to sync all of a user's files (documents, media, photos, etc.) across as many machines as desired.[6] editor N'Gai Croal dubbed SugarSync an "interesting solution" even before its launch for its ability to "automatically sync your documents, photos and multimedia files to the company's servers and any machine you designate."[7]
In 2006, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington said about the company's field: "It's the future. The question is whether Sharpcast will be part of it or not. If they execute, they will be."[2]
SugarSync also works as an online backup utility and users can access all their data from a personalized subdomain on the SugarSync website under the structure of username.sugarsync.com.
SugarSync differentiates itself from competitors by employing an integrated and intelligent automatic refresh of its sync. Unlike many competitors, SugarSync does not require users to schedule weekly updates of synced files. Instead, SugarSync constantly monitors changes to files—additions, deletions, edits—and syncs these changes with any other linked devices as well as the SugarSync servers.[8]
[edit] Product Reviews
Several of the company's products have received editorial reviews. SugarSync Manager,[9] SugarSync Mobile for BlackBerry 1.1.8,[10] SugarSync (Windows).[11]
In 2006, Walt Mossberg praised the Sharpcast data synchronization service in The Wall Street Journal.[12]
In 2008, USA Today reviewed the SugarSync data synchronization service.[13]
In 2011, Gizmodo reviewed SugarSync and 10 competitors (including Dropbox, Apple's iCloud, Box.net, Amazon's Cloud Drive, and more) and named SugarSync the "Ultimate Victor", stating that "SugarSync is essentially everything we wanted. It combines the best bits of all of the other services and weaves it together into a fast and intuitive package."[14]
[edit] Features
Of SugarSync's many features, the most notable is its Universal Sync platform. The platform is the structure for its sync product.
[edit] Universal Sync platform
The Universal Sync platform is SugarSync's universal media synchronization engine. The company calls it the industry's first true "push" synchronization, offering numerous advantages including:[15]
- Media transcoding which supports a variety of device types in constrained computing and network environments
- A high fault-tolerant storage service with industry-strength encryption
- Deep handling of specific media types and a rich web front-end for secure remote access to files
- Integrated e-commerce server for flexible CRM including user account management, credit card billing, promotions, email and integration with 3rd-party systems and services
- A software development kit and APIs for extending the system and connecting to 3rd-party applications and services.
[edit] Issues
Reports of pixel loss and errors in jpeg data on multiple syncs.[citation needed] Users have reported degraded picture files in jpeg format that have undergone multiple syncs on multiple devices. Original data file altered with errors. Sugar-sync has not publicly recognized this issue, nor announced a fix is underway.
[edit] Software development kit and APIs
In March 2010, SugarSync announced SugarSync Platform API[16] that allows third-party developers to create applications that can create, read and modify files stored in users’ SugarSync accounts.
As a result, there are several unofficial SugarSync addons and applications available. These addons come both in the form of web services and browser extensions such as cloudHQ for SugarSync[17] (which allows users to sync Google Docs with SugarSync storage and edit SugarSync documents from Google Docs interface) and desktop applications such as SugarSync Linux desktop client by Mark Willis (which allows users to sync folders on Linux machines with SugarSync).
[edit] Awards
- Red Herring Top 100 winner, 2006[citation needed]
- SuperNova & TechCrunch's Top Connected Innovator, 2006[18]
- DEMO '06 Presenter[citation needed]
- ReadWriteWeb's Best Web LittleCo "Most Promising for 2007"[19]
[edit] Partnerships
SugarSync announced a partnership with Webroot in August 2010 in which Webroot would include SugarSync technologies in their newest security suite. SugarSync technologies power the newly added ‘Sync and Sharing’ feature of Webroot Internet Security Complete. Details of the partnership were not disclosed.[20]
[edit] Free account (5 GB)
- SugarSync provides everyone with a 5GB account for free.[21] This free 5GB account does not require a credit card.
- Free cloud storage gives you instant and easy access to your data anytime, anywhere.
- Online backup and automatic file sync for work files or personal files like photos, videos, and music.
- Download free mobile apps to sync iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian devices.
- According to SugarSync's terms and conditions [1]: "If you don't use the account for a period of 90 days or more (for example, no synching or back up of files for 90 days), your Free Account may be automatically terminated."
Sync 5 GB of data across an unlimited number of devices.
- + 250 MB if you have an iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, or Symbian devices
- + 750 MB with the "getting started program"
- + 500 MB with the referral plan
- + 500 MB with each invitation validated by your friends
- + 10 GB for each friend who subscribes to a paid account
[edit] See also
- Remote backup service
- Comparison of online backup services
- Comparison of file hosting services
- Cloud storage
- Dropbox (service), a direct competitor
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Rose, Brent. "The Best Way to Store Stuff in the Cloud". Gizmodo. Gizmodo. http://gizmodo.com/5828035/the-best-way-to-store-stuff-in-the-cloud. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
- ^ a b Sharpcast Opens to the Public.
- ^ Sharpcast Syncs with $10 Million Series AA Financing.
- ^ PC World - Sharpcast Photos.
- ^ Alltel smart phones get Sharpcast photo syncing - CNET News.com.
- ^ Newsweek.
- ^ The Pain of a Lost Memory | Newsweek Voices - N'Gai Croal | Newsweek.com.
- ^ Sharpcast wants to free your data - Alpha Blog - alpha.cnet.com.
- ^ CNET Editors' review of SugarSync Manager 1.7.7 download.cnet.com/SugarSync-Manager/3000-2242_4-10798179.html.
- ^ CNET Editors' review of SugarSync Mobile for BlackBerry.
- ^ CNET Editors' review of SugarSync (Windows Mobile) 1.1.8 download.cnet.com/SugarSync-Windows-Mobile/3000-2064_4-10821794.html.
- ^ Walt Mossberg (2006-07-13). "Free Sharpcast Service Lets You Synchronize Your Photo Albums". Personal Technology, The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115275297896005247.html. Retrieved 2010-04-17. "Now, a small Silicon Valley start-up called Sharpcast is introducing an impressive, free service that synchronizes data among PCs, phones and a Web site at lightning speeds. I tested Sharpcast for several weeks, and found that it works really well."
- ^ Edward C. Baig (2008-03-19). "SugarSync does sweet job of keeping gadgets in harmony". Personal Tech, USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2008-03-19-sugarsync-sharpcast_N.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-17. "The service was buggy in my tests, and there's room to add and improve some features. But I'm hooked on the concept."
- ^ Rose, Brent. "The Best Way to Store Stuff in the Cloud". Gizmodo. Gizmodo. http://gizmodo.com/5828035/the-best-way-to-store-stuff-in-the-cloud. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
- ^ Synchronization Platform for Digital Convergence, Sync, Storage, Sharing, Mobile and Remote Access – Sharpcast.
- ^ Announcing the SugarSync Developer Community and our new beta Platform API.
- ^ cloudHQ.net/sugarsync.
- ^ Sharpcast Selected As a Supernova 2006 Connected Innovator - Technology - redOrbit.
- ^ Richard MacManus (2006-12-22). "Best Web LittleCo of 2006 - and Most Promising for 2007". Read Write Web. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/best_web_littleco_2006.php. Retrieved 2010-04-17. "Now, a small Silicon Valley start-up called Sharpcast is introducing an impressive, free service that synchronizes data among PCs, phones and a Web site at lightning speeds. I tested Sharpcast for several weeks, and found that it works really well."
- ^ SugarSync and Webroot Partner. 2010-08-09.
- ^ SugarSync.com, SugarSync.com. "SugarSync Free 5GB Account". SugarSync Free 5GB Account. SugarSync. https://www.sugarsync.com/free/. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
