MediaFire is the old guard of cloud storage, and today the company’s services jump into the present tense with MediaFire Desktop, which allows you to sync your files from your computer to the cloud. How’s it going to beat pack-leaders like Dropbox? By building more robust support for people who want to exchange multimedia online.
MediaFire’s storage options are cheaper than Dropbox, but competitive with other services, like SkyDrive and Google Drive: 10GB/100GB/200GB/500GB will cost you $US0/$US5/$US10/$US25 respectively. And, really, MediaFire Desktop is a catchup move; local computer to cloud syncing is nothing new. In fact, a lot of the interface design and features look like they were ripped directly from Dropbox.
Still, there are a couple of nice features that hint at where the service is headed. Like Dropbox, MediaFire has built-in support for screenshots so that they automatically sync to the cloud. MediaFire’s screenshot tool pops up a Skitch-like annotation window so that you can add information. What’s more, the service has built-in integration with social networks like Facebook and Twitter so that you can find and follow people within its own little network.
According to MediaFire VP Brent Brucci, the company wants to tap its existing popularity with musicians and other artsy types to turn it into the cloud storage of choice for multimedia. The upgraded web platform now comes with native support for more than 200 file formats and codecs from within its interface. Over the next year it will be using its API to build out an ecosystem of internally developed and third-party apps for cloud-based collaboration and editing of multimedia. Once that’s done, the company plans to build in discovery so that you can find other users you might be interested in. It sure sounds like MediaFire is taking aim at Flickr and SoundCloud, huh?
At launch, MediaFire Desktop is in beta, and there are definitely bugs to squash, and not all of the new web features are totally operational, so it’s still a little too early to ditch your Dropbox just because you’re a musician. Then again, a Dropbox for musicians has a nice ring to it doesn’t it? [MediaFire]