Day: October 19, 2011

Dropbox is my favorite cloud-based resource! It sounds like they have big plans to be even MORE cross-platform.

Dropbox CEO: We’ll integrate with everything

“Cloud-storage startup Dropbox just closed a $250 million funding round, and now it has its eyes set on being the foundation of a future where we’re never without our data. Phone, tablet, TV, car, you name it. Dropbox plans to be integrated into everything, with its icon becoming to file access what Facebook’s icon has become to sharing.

And what Dropbox has in mind is about far more than apps. As Founder and CEO Drew Houston explained to me during a call, Dropbox won’t just be a downloadable application like it is now, but will be the default option for storing files to and accessing them from the cloud.

Mobile is the first and obvious area to begin – Forbes highlighted a partnership with HTC and six other pending mobile deals in an article this morning — but that’s just the beginning. Houston specifically mentioned televisions, cameras and even cars as the next natural devices in which Dropbox wants to expand its reach. Maybe it’s via a Dropbox button on a TV remote that brings up a user’s account, or maybe it’s via automatic upload from a camera, but as long as it has an Internet connection, Houston wants Dropbox to be part of it.

Ultimately, he thinks Dropbox can help deliver on the ‘connected anywhere’ promises that have been around for years, but that he doesn’t think have truly materialized with regard to data. But once consumers experience having their ‘stuff’ with them wherever they are, it will be ‘like the first day of the rest of your life,’ he explained, like when we first were able to boost productivity by using e-mail and other applications on our phones. ‘Our job is to make sure you see little Dropbox buttons everywhere,’ he added.”

(Cross-posted from my Hand Held Hack Blog) I suspect this number will continue to climb! Hand held devices are a large part of the “Post-PC” era everyone has been talking about lately!

Nearly 7 percent of U.S. traffic comes from handheld devices

“With more consumers breaking out smartphones and tablets to browse through the Web, the percentage of U.S. traffic that’s attributed to handheld devices is on the rise.

According to a new report from comScore, non-computer U.S. traffic has increased to nearly seven percent over August 2011. This type of traffic is mostly attributed to smartphones as well as tablets and other handheld devices. It does not include desktop computers or personal notebooks. Smartphones made up about 64 percent of non-computer U.S. traffic and tablets made up about 28 percent of that segment. Apple iOS devices dominated both categories as well. The Apple iPad constitutes just over 97 percent of traffic from tablets and iOS-enabled smartphones made up 58.5 percent of all smartphone traffic in regards to OS market share by digital traffic.

Also measured by digital traffic, Google Android came in second for mobile traffic at nearly 32 percent and the closest competitor was RIM’s BlackBerry with 5 percent of mobile traffic. The remaining mobile traffic is attributed to all other operating systems on the market. When measuring OS market share by audience installed base, Apple iOS falls to about 43 percent of the market with Google Android close behind at 34 percent. RIM makes up about 15 percent and other operating systems make up the remaining 8 percent.”