I, for one, needed my PDF slides to review for class so I definitely needed to find a way to sync it to my Acer tablet. Dropbox is my preferred syncing service, which works wonders on computers. However on mobile devices, especially Android devices, it leaves a lot to be desired, mainly because of the lack of support for two-way syncing goodness.

Dropbox may or may not implement this feature soon, but in the meantime, Dropsync does a superb job of uploading and downloading files in real-time (Pro version), or other intervals if you so prefer. If you use Dropbox, this app might just make your mobile life easier.

Dropbox doesn’t just shine for syncing files so you’ll have the same set on different devices that you own, but it’s also great for backing up those same files in case of any emergency. It’s not the only one that does that either. SpiderOak and SugarSync are also excellent syncing services with mobile apps, and while I tried all three services, I stuck with Dropbox because it had virtually no learning curve, it had clients for all three OSes that I’m familiar with, and it synced things without noticeable delay.

There are two versions of Dropsync, free and pro. The version I’m testing here is the pro version that’s available for $5.99 on the Android Market.

Syncing SD Card Folders With Dropbox Folders

When you download and launch Dropsync, there’s not much to see beyond the status and preferences screens. The first screen shows the status of your syncs, how much has been transferred to your device or to Dropbox’s servers, as you can see in the next cropped screenshot.

If you tap on Settings, that’s where it gets a bit more interesting.

You can choose which SD card folder to sync with which Dropbox folder in the Settings.

If you’re using this on a mobile phone and need to set limits on how much data you’re consuming with this app, you can set file size limits for all the files you’re transferring whether they going from or to your Android device.

If you’re watching your limits, it’s probably good to uncheck the Instant Upload option, which uploads and downloads changes in any modified files in real-time (pro version only). You can also set Dropsync to sync every 15 minutes, 1 hour to once a day.

This app is not optimized for tablets. In fact, you’ll notice it allows you to set whether transfers occur via Wi-Fi or your mobile data connection.

Other options include whether to offer notifications on each sync. I’ve used this app for a semester and would recommend to uncheck that option as it gets tiring to have to clear that message on a tablet, where there’s no “Clear All” button, at least not on my tablet as far as I know.

Differences Between Free And Pro Versions

There are several differences between the free and the pro version. First, as I’ve mentioned, real-time syncing is only available for users with the pro key.

There are also more size limits you can pick from so only files up to a certain file size are allowed to be transferred, which is handy especially if you’re on a data plan with caps.

Apart from having no ads, the last benefit of the pro version is that you can sync more than one pair of folders, which for me was the main reason I needed to purchase this version. Having relied on this pro version for over a semester, I think it just allowed for fewer headaches and more efficiency.

There are a number of similar apps that can sync your Android device with your computer. Which are the applications  you prefer? Let us know in the comments section below.

Set Up Bookmark Syncing In Chrome

For ChromeMarks Lite to work, you first need to enable syncing of your Google Chrome bookmarks between computers. In the browser, click the wrench icon in the top right and open > Options. It will open in a new tab. Go to > Personal Stuff and click the > Sign in to Chrome or > Set up sync… button, depending on what is displayed for you.

In the advanced sync preferences pop-up window, select the items you want to sync, such as your > Bookmarks. When you’re done click OK.

Your bookmarks will now be synced with your Google account. To access your Google Chrome bookmarks on a different installation of the browser, simply perform these same steps and all your synced data will be imported from your Google account and subsequently synced with it.

Set Up ChromeMarks Lite On Your Android Device

To access the bookmarks that are synced from your Google Chrome desktop browser to your Google account, download and install ChromeMarks Lite.

When you first open the app, you will see that there are no bookmarks in the database yet. Click the > sync button to initiate the synchronization.

Note that you first have to provide permission to the app. Once this is done, it will initialize and start syncing your bookmarks from your Google account.

This procedure will only take a few seconds and then all your bookmarks will be available in the ChromeMarks Lite app, as shown below. Note that ChromeMarks Lite does not support auto-syncing. Hence, to get the latest bookmarks from your Google account, you occasionally need to click the > Sync button in the top right.

When you click a bookmark, it will either open directly in your default browser or ask you which browser you want it to open with.

By the way, clicking on a bookmark for more than a second will open a menu with options to open it in a new window, share the link or copy the URL.

Does ChromeMarks Sync With My Android Browser Bookmarks?

ChromeMarks Lite does not offer this feature. To integrate ChromeMarks with your Android browser, you have to upgrade to the full version of the app. Unfortunately, Honeycomb and some Samsung users are partly left out, as the tool does not integrate or sync with the stock browser on Android Honeycomb and some Samsung phones. However, before you risk upgrading, you can verify whether or not your device will support the upgrade options using ChromeMarks Lite.

Click the menu icon in the top right, then select > Settings and go to > Upgrade Options.

A green checkmark indicates that your device supports the respective feature, while items marked with a red cross will not be available. Since I am on a Samsung Honeycomb tablet, ChromeMarks presently is not able to sync with my browser bookmarks.

Conclusion

It is a pity that you have to use a third-party app on your Google Android device to access bookmarks synced to your Google account. However, at least this app comfortably enables you to access bookmarks synced with your Google account and despite the limitations of the free version, it is very useful. I reckon that the paid version is worth upgrading to if your Android device supports syncing with your installed browser. Otherwise it’s only worth it if you want to enable manual editing of bookmarks and auto-syncing.

How do you sync bookmarks between your desktop and mobile devices?

I have previously explored some advantages of Dropbox’s online features. In this article, I will focus on the Dropbox for Android.

How It Works

The Dropbox app installs with a homescreen shortcut and no widget. The app interface is very basic, but provides access to more key features than you would think. The folder icons reveal the content of a folder or whether it is shared with others or the public.

Tapping the settings button (highlighted in red below) opens a menu with options to search your files, create a new folder, upload files to your Dropbox, refresh, access the help menu, or change your Dropbox settings.

Via the Dropbox settings you can enable a passcode lock for your Dropbox, report a problem, or clear your cache, among other things.

To open, download, share, or delete a file (bottom menu) or folder (top menu), press the file or folder for a few seconds until a menu with the respective options pops up as shown in the two in one screenshot below.

Saving, Sharing & Sending Files

Dropbox integrates as a sharing option with several apps. For example you can use your Android file manager to send files to your Dropbox, as demonstrated below using File Station.

After choosing Dropbox from the sharing options, you can select a folder to send it to.

Things That Do Not Work

The Android app does not allow you to download an entire folder, view or restore previous versions or deleted files, or edit sharing options, as is possible via the web interface. On the other hand, with the exception of downloading folders, none of these options are available through the desktop application either, so the Android app does not present a huge disadvantage. The main difference between the desktop and the Android app is that files are not stored locally on the device. The Android Dropbox app merely acts as a portal to the web interface.

While testing the Android app, I noticed an unusual frequency of error messages. However, when I compared features with the desktop app, I also ran into the same issue, which suggests that Dropbox was having issues in general.

Conclusion

Dropbox is a must-have app if you want to backup and sync documents between multiple devices. It’s also fantastic for sharing files and folders with friends. Be sure to combine it with the right document viewing apps on your Android. Depending on the types of files you are sharing, you will need an image viewer, a video and audio player, and a document viewer that can handle documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. Check out our 100 Best Android Apps for some suggestions.

MakeUseOf has previously covered Dropbox, including a manual by Matt:

• 5 Ways To Send Files To Your Dropbox Without Using Dropbox
• Download Files Directly To Dropbox Or Email Using sideCLOUDload
• Make Your Dropbox Portable With DropboxPortableAHK [Windows]
• Transfer Web Files Directly To Your Dropbox Folder With URL Droplet
• How To Get More Free Dropbox Storage With Your School Email Address [News]

If you are interested in cloud computing in general, you should also look at these articles:

• How Does Cloud Computing Work? [Technology Explained]
• How To Permanently Store Your Data In “The Cloud”
• 3 Ways To Escape Cloud Storage Solutions If You Don’t Trust Them

How do you currently share and sync files between your Android device and your computer?

With the latest stable version of Google Chrome you can create multiple browsing profiles on the the same computer, switch between them easily and sync all of them across different computers. Not all users have to be signed in, so if one user wants his data to be synced and another doesn’t, this is entirely possible.

First of all, to sync your Chrome data with your Google account, go to the wrench menu and choose “Sign in to Chrome”. Now, if you want to add more users, go to “Options/Preferences” in the wrench menu, choose “Personal Stuff” and click on “Add new user”. When you do that, Chrome will immediately create a new user with a random name and icon, and will open a new browser window for that user. You can now edit each user and give it the proper name, icon, and sign it into a Google account to sync it.

The implementation is very cute – you can choose different icons such as people, animals, foods, etc. for each profile, which is then added to the Google Chrome icon in the task bar. You can have different browser windows for different users, and differentiate between them using these personal icons.

According to Google, the new feature “isn’t intended to secure your data against other people using your computer, since it just takes a few clicks to switch between users.” They are providing the service merely as a convenience for people who already share computers.

Source: Google Chrome Blog

We’ve covered a lot of data backup solutions here at MUO, such as Tina’s article on cloning hard drives, Stefan’s article on file sync tools, or Shankar’s article on syncing files between a PC and your USB drive.  Justin even did one yesterday on Redo. All of these solutions are great, but if you’re working in an environment that is wary about free 3rd party software packages, or companies that want to stick with Microsoft products only, then you may find yourself without a good solution.

In this article, I’m going to show you how you can use a combination of Microsoft’s free SyncToy tool with a very simple scheduled VB Script that will automate the entire data backup process.

Setting Up SyncToy For Automated File Backups

Microsoft SyncToy is a free tool that lets you “pair” up folders for either an echo clone or full synchronization. I’ll explain the difference below. However, the point here is that before you can automate the directory and file backups, you need to set up all of the areas you want to copy and where you want the archived copy to go.

You do this when you first run the SyncToy by clicking on “Create New Folder Pair” and then defining the left (from) folder, and the right (to) folder. The second step of the sync setup process is to choose the type of synchronization you want.

“Synchronize” is a two-way data backup. This means if any new file appears or is updated on the left or the right, those changes will be copied over to the other directory. On the other hand, Echo just mirrors all changes from the left directory onto the right. This is usually what people want to do when they’re backing up a particular directory – they want all changes mirrored on the backup.

In the scheduled solution that I’m going to show you how to set up, I’m going to set up four folder pairs. Each pair is a backup that I want to handle during one particular time of the day. In the morning, I’m going to back up one folder. At noon, I will back up another, and so on.

Once you have all of the folders set up that you want to perform automated backups for, it’s time to set up the script that will launch SyncToy using the command line feature that Microsoft offers with the tool.

Setting Up The SyncToy Automation Script

The VB Script that I’m going to show you will check the current time of day, and will run the appropriate command to launch the Microsoft SyncToy program and back up the right directory.

It does this by using the name of the paired directory that you set up in the tool above. Copy the script into notepad and save it as something like “databackup.wsf”.

<job>

<script language="VBScript">

Option Explicit

On Error Resume Next

Dim HourNow

Dim strHour

Dim WshShell

Dim strProgFiles

HourNow = Hour(Now())

set WshShell=CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

strProgFiles = WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%PROGRAMFILES%")

Select Case HourNow

 case HourNow >= 0 and HourNow < 7 

 WshShell.exec strProgFiles & "\SyncToy 2.1\SyncToyCmd.exe -R MorningFiles"

 case HourNow >= 7 and HourNow < 13 

 WshShell.exec strProgFiles & "\SyncToy 2.1\SyncToyCmd.exe -R NoonFiles"

 case HourNow >= 13 and HourNow < 19 

 WshShell.exec strProgFiles & "\SyncToy 2.1\SyncToyCmd.exe -R MailArchives"

 case else 

 WshShell.exec strProgFiles & "\SyncToy 2.1\SyncToyCmd.exe -R EveningFiles"

End Select

WScript.Quit 

</script>

</job>

The script above simply checks the hour right now (based on the PC clock where the script runs), and if it is between midnight and 6:59 a.m., it will sync the “MorningFiles” pair that you set up. Between 7 a.m. and 12:59, the “NoonFiles” pair, and so on.

All you have to do now is set up a Windows scheduled task that will launch the script above four times a day within the four time spans. This is also pretty easy, just go to the Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and open up the Task Scheduler. Click on “Create Task”.

Name the task, and then click on the trigger tab. Make sure to select “On a schedule“, Daily, recur every day, start at 3 a.m., and then at the bottom click to repeat the task every 6 hours. This will trigger the task at 0300, 0900, 1500 and 2100 hours.

Those are all within one of the four time spans that you scheduled into your script. Now click on the Actions tab, and select “Start a program” from the dropdown list and browse to where you stored the script.

That’s all there is to it! Now, the task scheduler will launch your single script four times a day (no need to mess with multiple tasks). Your script will handle launching SyncToy in command mode by launching “SyncToyCmd.exe -R EveningFiles” – with whatever file pair you named after “-R”.

You can monitor whether your script is running by checking the SyncToy log file at “C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\SyncToy\2.0\SyncToyLog.log”

The log updates every time SyncToy is run, and it’ll show you what directory was backed up, when it was done, the file count and the size of the backup.

Does this data backup solution work for you? Do you have any other ways you like to automatically back up important data files and folders? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Cloud music services have been available for months from other sources, but Apple’s service has a little something extra. As the name implies, it can search through tracks in your library, identify them, and then sync them with your iTunes Match account. This will give you access to a DRM-free, 256-Kbps AAC version of the music straight from Apple’s servers, even if the music wasn’t purchased from iTunes or was originally in a lower quality format.

Of course, iTunes can only match what is in its database, which isn’t universal. However, even if you have music that isn’t on iTunes, it can be uploaded, making it too accessible through the service. A maximum of 25,000 songs can be synced, but songs you’ve purchased through iTunes do not account against that limit. At launch, users with iTunes libraries that already exceed 25,000 songs not purchased through iTunes are locked out of signing up for iTunes Match until they eliminate some songs from their library.

Given all that iTunes Match can do it’s little surprise that it’s not free. There’s only one subscription tier, which is priced at $24.99 and provides unlimited access to your iTunes Match music on any iOS device or computer with iTunes. Unsurprisingly, Apple isn’t providing Android owners with a compatible app. It will be interesting to see if some app developers can come up with a solution for this.

Source: Ars Technica

For this price, you get the ability not only to sync photos across devices, but to edit photos and sync those edits too and to allow others to view and edit photos as well. All edits are saved automatically to the cloud and you can access them from all your devices, along with copies of the originals.

Here’s a short video of the service’s main features:

Apple’s new Photo Stream lets you access your photos across devices, but the storage is limited to 30 days and you can’t select which photos you want to sync, you can only sync all of them. Adobe Carousel is aimed at providing a solution for those who find Photo Stream to be insufficient for their needs.

Versions for Windows and Android are planned for the future, but Adobe is not providing a definite date for those yet. What do you think about Photo Stream? Is it more than enough for photo sync, or do you think Adobe Carousel truly provides something that was missing?

Source: ReadWriteWeb

That is exactly what their new Ambassador program is looking to do. Basically, it is a way for users to learn from other like minded people and find new and creative users for Evernote that they may not have considered. For example, it makes sense for teachers to look at what other teachers use the program for. They may find something that changes their work day and makes their life easier.

Evernote’s Ambassador program features users from a number different categories like bloggers, teachers and designers, each with their own ways of using Evernote to make life easier.

They also let users apply to be an Ambassador, so if you think you have some new and creative uses for Evernote, apply at the bottom of the Ambassador page and start sharing your methods.

Source: TheNextWeb

As Apple explains it, iCloud is a service “which stores your music, photos, perhaps, calendars, and documents and wirelessly pushes them to all your devices.” The service is free for iOS 5 and OS X Lion users, and provides up to 5GB of free storage. This MUO article, What iCloud IsAnd Why It Changes Everything, explains in more detail the pros and cons of the service.

If you use one or more output devices you will definitely want to sign up for an iCloud account. However if you are a current MobileMe user you will need to move your MobileMe account over to the iCloud service. While Apple has made the transition relatively easy, there are a few things you need to know.

System Requirements

Before you move your MobileMe account you will need to have your Apple devices upgraded to iOS 5 and OS X Lion. A computer for example not upgraded to Lion will not be able to take full advantage of the iCloud services. See more about the limitations here.

MobileMe Services

If you try to sign in or create an iCloud account on one of your mobile devices, you will be instructed to first move your MobileMe content over to iCloud. This means you can move your MobileMe Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Safari Bookmarks, Fine My iPhone, in Back to My Mac to your new iCloud account.

What you won’t be able move to iCloud are your iWeb websites, existing photo galleries, and iDisk content. This is unfortunate for MobileMe members who have developed and published iWeb sites and photo galleries over the last several years. Apple says you will have until June 30, 2012 to move your content to another server or lose it altogether.

Apple also says that any of your publicly shared iCal calendars will be unpublished in the transition. You will need to share those public calendars again after moving to iCloud.

Additionally, other MobileMe features including Mac Dashboard Widgets, Dock Items, Teachings, References, Mail Accounts, Rules, Signatures, and Smart Mailboxes will not be synched after moving to iCloud.

Start here to move your MobileMe account to iCloud.

Why Apple Made the Move

Because iCloud is an Internet service that automatically pushes your designated content between all your supporting devices, it is clearly better than the limitations found in MobileMe. I have been a long time user of MobileMe and have never experienced major problems with the service. However, the yearly $99 subscription fee seemed excessive for the services MobileMe offered.

Except for iWeb Internet hosting, you could easily find similar MobileMe-like features and services for free on Internet. For example, MobileMe iDisk storage is light-years behind cloud services like Dropbox, which offers 2GB of free service and has much better third-party support and integration with cross-platform applications.

Many MobileMe users probably have found the Gallery feature very useful because it integrated with iLife applications, including iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD. This integration made it very easy to upload photos and homemade movies to well-designed MobileMe Galleries. Well, though the MobileMe Gallery feature is no more, Apple has already updated at least one of its iLife applications, iPhoto, for iCloud support.

iCloud users will now be able to use services like iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, and automatic download and purchase of apps and books from iTunes Store. So basically all your designated data will be synced between all your devices–including documents you create in the iWork suite of applications (Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.) You will no longer need to manually add data to say iDisk in order to download them to other devices.

In the next several weeks, we’ll get to see how just how well iCloud works in everyday use. Drop us a comment and let us know how the transition is working for you.

They also added contact syncing with Google and Linkedin. Any changes that happen on one account will happen across the board, making it easier manage your contacts wherever you are. In addition, they have also added syncing documents with Google docs. Anything you sync locally with the Google docs folder will sync to your Google docs account, and vise-versa.

Fiabee already had an app for Google Chrome and Android, and now they have added an app for Windows users. If the browser-based Chrome solution doesn’t meet your needs then this Windows app is just what you are looking for.

Overall, Fiabee is looking like a pretty solid competitor in the cloud market, and with it being free for now, there is no reason not to give it a shot.

Source: TheNextWeb
Image Source: ShutterStock