The mobile IDrive Online Backup app can backup contacts from your smartphone to the IDrive cloud – but it only does so when the user performs that backup themselves – data is NEVER downloaded automatically or without or customers’ knowledge.

Further, IDrive has built-in private key encryption options which means that users can protect their sensitive data with a code that only they know – this is beyond the regular username/password for the account. Data is always protected with AES 256-bit encryption.

Each time you backup a contact, or any file, IDrive archives the old version of the information. That way you can restore data that was accidentally deleted or written-over. IDrive holds the last 30 versions of each file for free – only the most current versions are considered part of your storage. IDrive also has unlimited file retention – once a file is backed up to IDrive it stays there. Files are NEVER automatically removed from IDrive servers unless the user has specifically selected to automatically sync their account with their local machine periodically. A real backup.

If you’re interested in trying IDrive yourself you can start a free account from our homepage and every customer can backup their first 5GB at no charge.

Hoping you and your computer have a great day,
Stephen Gold, Business Development Manager | IDrive.com

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IDrive is available for home and server editions of Windows and Mac OS X and for mobile devices in the Apple App Store and Android Market.

Questions? Comments? Send them to askidrive@idrive.com. You can also join us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

Not using IDrive yet? Sign up here. Your first 5GB are free.

The updates come as we’ve made the final transition of IDrive from its original platform to EVS, our newly-developed cloud technology. As IDrive and our other services grew, so did our knowledge and experience with cloud storage and data-center infrastructure. Over the past two years we’ve been reworking our hardware and software to accommodate the growth. EVS is the result: a scaleable, secure and flexible storage network that’s affordable and quick.

The important new changes are:

• Backup an unlimited number of computers and mobile devices to a single plan
• Universal access between Windows and Mac
• Mobile devices can now backup contact information, photos and videos

IDrive is available for home and server editions of Windows and Mac OS X and for mobile devices in the Apple App Store and Android Market.

Questions? Comments? Send them to askidrive@idrive.com. You can also join us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

Hoping you and your computer have a great day,
Stephen Gold, Business Development Manager | IDrive.com

Driving around town in the early part of the 20th century had its drawbacks. You had to crank your engine to get it going, you couldn’t get where you were going very fast and because the first roads were just glorified dirt paths strewn with horseshoe nails, rocks and potholes. Back then tires had inflatable tubes inside (much like a bicycle tire) that, if punctured, needed to be deflated, removed, patched, re-inserted into the tire, the tire re-mounted and then finally re-inflated before anyone could go anywhere again. (Sound anything like trying to restore from tape-based backups?)

The Thomas B. Jeffrey Company added a feature to their 1909 Rambler that no automobile before had included – a full size, fully assembled, ready-to-go spare tire that could be placed on the car in three minutes. The Rambler’s success was driven by this kind of innovation and a progressive advertising campaign that “emphasized the emotional appeal of the car.” (Hyde)

For many of us our computers are just as important as our cars, and though cars today usually come with a spare of some sort, computers typically only come with one of each part: one display, one keyboard, one hard drive. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have a spare copy of your data with you at all times just in case your computer failed? Enter IDrive Online Backup – open your own account today and get your first 5GBs of cloud storage totally free!

Using IDrive you can create a privately encrypted backup of your important data that you can access anytime, anywhere with a web browser or supported mobile device and you won’t have to carry around another physical drive!

Read more about spare tires on Wikipedia and stay tuned for more Great Inventions In Backup History!

Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

This morning I was greeted with the following letter:

Hello,

I’ve been using IDrive for years, and like your software interface. I don’t have any complaints; however, I will admit that the 150GB storage cap has influenced what data I have decided to store on IDrive. The business plans with larger capacities are prohibitively priced.

I recently learned of one of your competitors, #########, and gave their service a trial run. Their software interface is inferior to yours, and looks to be targeted at novice users….basically backing up “everything,” with the user having to specify what to exclude. I like the IDrive approach better.

But then there’s the compelling aspect of ######### – unlimited storage. I can see that aspect of their service outweighing the limitations of the software interface, and now find myself considering a switch to ######### when my IDrive subscription is up for renewal next year.

Are there any plans for IDrive to offer unlimited storage plans at a comparable price? Hopefully you are considering this, vs. resting on your laurels thinking that unlimited storage is just a fad and that you won’t have to deal with it. I used to work for a hotel Internet service provider, whose CEO felt that charging hotel guests for Internet access would always be viable, and that the folks giving it way would fade into the background. Do guests have to pay for hotel Internet access these days? Oops!

As for me, the ######### vs. IDrive decision will be made next year. If ######### is still around and offering unlimited storage, and IDrive is still limited, I’m likely going to switch. I’ll take the hit on the software interface in exchange for the ability to back up all of my stuff.

Just my two cents. Thanks for listening!

This customer, we’ll call him John, subscribes to our most popular IDrive Online Backup plan: $4.95/month or $49.50/year for up to 150GB of storage space from an unlimited number of PCs, Macs and mobile devices. John will have to ask himself a few questions when he makes his decision next year on which service provider to go with:

1. What kind of support are you going to get?
   Every IDrive user enjoys 24-hour live chat support and free access to our phone center at (866) 748-0555. Although IDrive for Business plans are more expensive – this is because Business users enjoy priority support and in the rare case of network overload are given priority bandwidth. Also, Business accounts have “soft” limits, meaning backups will always occur as opposed to being “hard-stopped” at 150GB (IDrive Personal) or 500GB (IDrive Family Pack).
2. What kind of control will you have over your files?
   As John mentioned, IDrive has a powerful interface. Users have the ability to manage their backup at a file-level very easily. Users can create ‘exclusion’ file-types or names, use Automatic Selection to protect certain file-types regardless of location on the computer and when logged in to the User Portal at IDrive.com they can delete, copy, cut, paste, rename and create folders; they have complete control over their data in the IDrive cloud.
3. What level of protection will you get?
   Check the Terms and Conditions of your new “unlimited” backup plan, it might be less unlimited than you think. Most of these plans have a limit to how long they will hold files that have been deleted from your computer – usually just 30 days. What use is your backup if you need a file six months after you accidentally deleted it and your backup has since removed the file because it assumed you didn’t want it anymore? Providers do this because “unlimited” storage with no limit to how long files remain in the cloud is simply not sustainable, in fact, some online backup providers have stopped offering unlimited storage plans for that very reason. Even further, IDrive holds the last 30 versions of each of your files indefinitely and versions don’t count toward your storage – that’s long-term security.
4. How many computers and mobile devices do you want to backup?
   IDrive is license and contract free, users can backup as many computers and mobile devices to their IDrive account as they’d like to one plan, simple as that.
5. Do you have Windows and Mac computers? iPhone or Android?
   IDrive plays nice between Windows and Mac OS X desktops and laptops – full access to files via IDrive.com or the IDrive mobile apps for Apple iOS or Google Android mobile devices.

Hopefully, next year when John is deciding to keep his IDrive account, he’ll take these points into consideration and find that IDrive Online Backup is the best-valued online backup service available.

If you have any questions or comments please send them to askidrive@idrive.com.

You can also join us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

Hoping you and your computer are having a great day!
Stephen Gold, Business Development Manager

I was recently visiting with my friend, Heather, at her home in Los Angeles. She’s a professional headshot and portrait photographer. We were talking about the Canon EOS 5D Mark II which had been featured in USA Today this week, CompactFlash memory cards and RAW data files.

She started telling me how beleaguered she was becoming with all of the photos she had accumulated over the years and was curious if I had any recommendations for what she could do to better manage her production and ensure a safe backup of all her work.

When I saw her office I could see what she meant by “beleaguered.” Her desk looked like a miniature data-center with a Mac Pro in the center connected to several USB hubs that linked countless external hard-drives, negative scanners, printers and pen tablets. She had placed a label on each hard drive so she could visually identify their contents because she said sometimes she had hard time finding files otherwise.

This was how she stored and backed up her files, all in one place – and it was kind of a mess. Her goals were to create an offsite backup of her photos and reduce the amount of hard drives she had at home since the bulk of the data she was holding onto was for old projects – she only needed access to her most recent work.

I gave her five great reasons IDrive would serve her well:
1. She could store 1TB for only $80/month and not have to worry about failing drives, warranties and setup.
2. IDrive uses “lossless” compression and encryption – meaning no risk to uncompressed photos.
3. IDrive is a true archive – meaning she can store data as long as she likes even if the data is no longer present on her computer – that’s real online storage.
4. She has full, 24-hour access from any web browser in the world by logging in to her account at IDrive.com – we also have mobile apps!
5. She can share any file/folder to anyone with and e-mail address.

It just took a few minutes to get her IDrive account setup and the software installed. I showed her how to select the drives she wanted to backup and we scheduled her backups to run nightly. A few days later she called me and let me know her backups had completed. She said she had eliminated three hard drives from her “data-center” and was happy to know her years of work were safely stored away in her IDrive. I love selling IDrive accounts to my friends!

Hoping you and your computer have a great day,
Stephen Gold, Business Development Manager | IDrive.com

Connect with IDrive on Twitter, Facebook and Google+

IDrive will be giving away one new Apple iPad 2 on Wednesday, December 14th, 2011 as grand prize for our “IDrive, ITweet, IWin!” blog/essay contest! Also, two runners-up will each receive an Apple iPod touch!

In order to enter the contest:

1. Write a 300-500 word blog/essay covering one of the following topics:

A. “Have you ever used IDrive to recover from a computer crash? Tell us about it.”

B. “What was it like using IDrive Lite to transfer contacts to your new smartphone?”

C. “Why would you recommend IDrive to your friends and family?”

2. Post your blog/essay anywhere on the Internet!

3. Tweet the URL of your blog/essay with the hashtag #IDriveITweetIWin in order to enter the contest!

Rules and Eligibility. Contest is open to all residents at least 18 years of age in the United States with a valid US mailing address. Tweet the URL by December 11, 2011 with the hashtag #IDriveITweetIWin in order to be eligible; the URL must be publicly available. Blog/essay must be author’s own work. Only one entry per person. The blog/essay may not contain links other than to any page on www.idrive.com. If sources are used they should be cited appropriately. Inappropriate content will immediately disqualify the entry. Blogs/essays will be judged on clarity and quality of content. E-mail askidrive@idrive.com with questions.

Prizes. (1) Apple iPad 2 (16GB/WiFi), (2) Apple iPod touch (8GB), Internet access and other additional products, services and warranties not included. Winners will be announced on December 14, 2011 online including name and city. Prize(s) will be delivered within 6 weeks of draw date. Prizes must be accepted as-is and cannot be exchanged or redeemed for cash value. If the prizes are unavailable, IDrive reserves the right to substitute with a prize of equal value.

In the week leading up to Apple’s October 14 special event users of IDrive Lite – a free mobile app designed for backing up and migrating smartphone contacts to and from iOS, Android and Blackberry devices – stored over 500,000 contacts each day to our secure and private cloud. On Friday users set a single-day record of 869,503 contacts backed up.

“iPhone launch-day was busy,” said Pro Softnet’s CEO, Raghu Kulkarni. “We broke our previous single-day signup record and in total customers backed up more than 4,000,000 contacts in the preceding week. IDrive Lite is possible the world’s most popular mobile phone backup and migration app with 85,000,000 contacts protected.”

Using IDrive Lite, smartphone owners can backup their entire contact library, insuring they will never lose important names and numbers again. It offers the ability to restore those contacts to any iOS, Android or Blackberry device. Users can view/edit their information online anytime and import contacts from Facebook.

Learn more about IDrive Lite and download the app for free at http://www.idrive.com/idrive-lite/. You can also find it in the Apple App Store, Android Market and Blackberry App World.

IDrive Lite is offered as a companion to IDrive Online Backup for Windows and Mac. Learn more and try it for free at http://www.idrive.com/.

If you have any questions, comments or feedback please e-mail askidrive@idrive.com! Please join us on Facebook and Twitter too!

“I have been using ***** for a long while. It has been OK, but the backups seem to stall out inexplicably, requiring a reboot to get things going again. Time to check out a new service. Tried ***** a couple nights ago. Backed up about 130 MBs in 10 hours and wouldn’t go any further. This was a step backwards. Uninstalled it right away! Glad it was a free trial.

Installed IDrive last night, set it to backup about 5 GBs. File and folder selection mechanism was straightforward and fast (*****’s was infuriatingly slow). Next morning, IDrive was still happily crunching away and about 55% completed. That’s about the best I can expect from a 600 kbit/sec uplink and 10 hours. Painless, reliable and fast. Exactly what I wanted. Will upgrade my account shortly. Thanks!” – Art M.

Thanks, Art, for choosing IDrive!

IDrive Basic is our forever-free, full-featured 5GB plan – open your own here and start protecting your digital life.

Join us on Facebook, Twitter or visit our homepage for more info.

We are not questioning the popularity of Dropbox. It is an immensely popular tool. It is probably the first storage service that reached mass acceptance. It has been the easiest sync and share application to use.

However, what we question is its valuation.  Index ventures recently invested in Dropbox with a 4 Billion valuation! Earlier, there were talks of even bigger valuation. This is absolutely crazy for a company with an estimated $30 Million in sales for 2011.

Even if it is growing at many multiples year over year, what are its risks?

The biggest is Pricing. Its huge growth coupled with high margin pricing of $9.99/50GB and $19.99/100GB is at a big risk.

Any competitor who can create an easy to use and scalable sync solution and price it at $4.95 for 50GB or so will be able to put enormous pressure on Dropbox and its revenues.

There is a great viral element in Dropbox’s service, but it ain’t Facebook. People can and will switch to other services who can offer cheaper services if the features and ease of use match.

Next, Google! Sync was not in Google’s radar till recently because it never was a billion dollar business. But the valuations and interest in Dropbox will surely spike their interest in Sync and share solutions and they may revive their GDrive Any time now! Google with its embedded Google Docs solution could easily offer unique functions within sync and storage that would be hard to match for Dropbox.

Next, of course are services like IDriveSync which are improving continuously and reducing the gap in usability, performance and features and may eventually catch up to Dropbox or even do better.

We don’t know what the valuations for Dropbox should be, but the risks are enormous and it could easily be a bubble.

With all of today’s cloud-this and cloud-that it seems astonishing that 52 million of those new owners will use their fingers alone to put their contact info into their new device. This is according to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of IDrive. We asked the question, “When you purchased your latest smart-phone (e.g. iPhone, Android, BlackBerry), how did you get your existing contact information onto the device?”

According to the survey, 46% of smart-phone owners have existing contact data to put into their new phones; the most common method is through one’s mobile carrier, either by an app or transferred at a retail location (39%). The next most common method is manual entry at 27% – that’s 52 out of 420 million phones. 25% of respondents synced their device with software like iTunes or BlackBerry Desktop – this usually doesn’t take too much time, but you do need to be near your computer. 18% used their SIM card or flash memory. SIM cards don’t always transfer everything though (like contact photos) and iPhones don’t have a micro-SD slot do they?. Only 10% used the cloud to transfer their contacts: no computers, no wires and done right where they were standing.

Armed with this information, we wanted to know how long it would take all the new smart-phone owners of 2011 to transfer just 50 contacts into their news phones – so we did a little experiment. We had 10 of our fabulous employees hunker down and type the same 10 contacts into their smart-phones complete with first name, last name, address, phone number and e-mail. The average: 1.28 minutes per contact. Now, we know this isn’t definitive, but it’s a good place to start.

So thats 52 million new smart-phone owners transferring 50 at 1.28 minutes per contact: would take them more than 56 million total hours to enter them! That adds 6,430 years worth of time! How many contacts are in your phone? How long would it take you?

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In late 2008 we released IDrive Lite, a free app for iPhone, Android and Blackberry that securely, quickly and easily backs-up mobile contacts, allowing the user to restore them at any time, from anywhere to any device. By the end of 2009 IDrive Lite was being downloaded about 200 times every day, we had over 50,000 users and over 10 million contacts backed-up. Closing out 2010 the app was being downloaded an average of 500-600 times each day and over 100,000 users had backed-up more than 35 million contacts. Today, IDrive Lite commonly breaks 1000 daily downloads and with over 200,000 users backing up more than 75 million contacts, we have created one of the world’s most popular contact backup/transfer/migration tools. We even hear stories of our application being used at Apple Genius Bars, Best Buys and carrier retail stores to transfer contacts for their customers all the time!

Don’t forget to join us on Facebook (and learn how to earn a few extra gigs) and Twitter. If you have questions, comments or feedback email askidrive@idrive.com!

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive via its QuickQuery omnibus product on behalf of IDrive from August 2-4, 2011 among 2,148 adults age 18 and older. The data was weighted to reflect to composition of the adultonline population. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. A full methodology is available by contacting info@pro-softnet.com.