What is "Cloud" storage?

Yesterday we had a number of article put up about the excellent "Box" app that is available on a number of mobile phones. "Box" and "Dropbox" are both forms of "Cloud storage" which for those who aren't too technologically advanced is the future of storage and the next step on from needing physical storage systems such as USB memory sticks.

In the past if you wanted to work on a document in 2 places you either had to send your the file as an e-mail or you had to have it on some form of physical storage (such as Floppy Disk, CD Rom's, DVD's and USB memory drives) with Cloud however there is now no need for a physical version of the documents to have the file wherever you are. Cloud storage systems instead see you storing the document "in the cloud" or online in a personal online storage system that can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. You can access your own storage space anywhere simply by logging into your own account much like you would with your e-mail account and as a result the files are very easy to access.

Cloud storage was originally used primarily by business customer who had staff working both at home and in the office however as the services have become more affordable and easier to use they've started to be used by more and more personal customers who would like to access their files where ever they are. Thanks to apps like "Box" and "Dropbox" we can now have our files anywhere we want due to the fact they are Cloud storage systems.

Just as a little example, I could have my free "Box" account (5GB) filled with my music tracks from my home computer down here in Manchester. I could then visit my cousin in Glasgow and using his computer have access to my entire 5GB of music and play it on his computer or at my mother's in London. I could also access it via my smartphone on the Train and again play the songs as I move.

The Cloud systems also have other features however and those features allow us to get even more from the services. One of the key uses is to allow you to share your things with friends, for example you can share home videos or party pictures with friends over Cloud by having open/public folders. You can also take a file from a friends public folder, read it and correct the spelling mistakes before saving the corrected version for them to print off.

In simple terms "Cloud storage" is the future ...that's here today.

How to download a file from the "Box" mobile app

In a recent article we showed you how to UPLOAD files using the new "Box" app that is available on Android, Blackberry and iOS. Now we're just being logical here (trust me it's rare) and we're going to show you how to download files from your box account to use on your mobile device.

Firstly you need to log into the "Box" app and you'll see a list of your files like in the image to the left here. From here you should be able to see everything you've uploaded to your box account via one method or another (such as using a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile device).

Now we actually have 2 separate (but equally simple) methods of saving the files. The first method sees you finding the file you want to use and then holding your finger (or the select button) on the file this will open up a small menu like the one shown in this image. From here you will need to select the "Save for offline" option and then you'll see the phone download the file.





For the second option you need to just "press" on the file you want to download and then you'll see a screen like the one on the left here. Again from this screen you need to select "Save for offline" and the file will download.

To find the file if you want to explore your phone you will need to go to "My File" then navigate to the /sdcard/Box folder and click on the e-mail account you used. Thankfully for "Music" (as we've used in our example here with the fantastic folk track "Riots" by "Miss Fudgey") you'll find it on the top of your "Recently added" list.

How to upload a file to "Box" on your mobile phone

Recently we've been wanting to test out some of the "cloud" services which allow you to store and share various files in "the cloud". We decided that as "Box" offers 5GB of free storage that we'd try their service (instead of Dropbox which offers "just" 2GB of storage).

First we we had to make an account with Box who emailed us and within minutes we had 5GB of cloud storage it was brilliant. After logging we were greeted to a few PDF
which we never actually read (though we are assuming they are guides for things just like this).

The upload files you need to login and then press the phone's "menu" button which will load up a small menu on the the screen with 6 options. From those options you need to select "Upload" from the top right corner. After pressing 
"Upload" you will see options as to which type of file you want to upload, when you've selected the type of file your phone will help you find the files by letting you open up a relevant app. For example clicking "Photo" will let you use the "Gallery" app to select a picture.

When you've selected the file you want to store you'll see a screen with your file and the files details (like this image on the right). If you've selected the correct file you need to select the "Upload" option from the bottom of the screen (if it's the wrong file you accidentally clicked then just press "Cancel"). Also on this screen you're able to rename the file (by pressing the files name).

After pressing "Upload" you will see the screen change to one like the image on the left here with the file added to the top of the list and a blue mark on it. The blue mark will move across the file as the upload takes place and when it's done you will be able to access it anywhere in the world (as long as you can get online).

To access your box account on a computer you need to go to www.box.com and login. Whilst originally this was used by business with people wanting to access work files whilst not in the office, you can now access this sort of service as a personal user and it allows you to store files up to 25MB in size for free (which can be upgraded if you want to pay a monthly fee). If you find yourself wanting to upload multiple files at once, you may wish to read our guide on doing that.

Currently "Box" have apps available for Android, iOS and Blackberry, though I'd assume that a Windows version will be released in the foreseeable future.