In lieu of updating with the third part of the Essentials, I thought I’d post today on a great new program that goes hand-in-hand with a great online storage service. The program is called Dropzone from Aptonic Software, and it’s one of the best tools I’ve found that work right from your dock. The program requires that you purchase a $10 license fee, but it also has a limited 15-day trial, so it’s definitely something worth checking out.
What is Dropzone, do you ask? It’s a multi-purpose docklet that you can drop files on to to perform different functions. Let’s take a look at the program in action:
This is my personal Dropzone layout. I’m using the trial, so I can only have 5 different functions set up at any one time, however if you get the full version of the program you can have as many different destinations set up as you’d like. The way Dropzone works is relatively simple, and any user can set up their own Dropzone configuration. Dropzone’s site has a series of different plugins that can easily be downloaded and installed with just a few clicks.
With my current configuration I can easily zip a file and email it to someone, post pictures to TwitPic, change my desktop background, send something to my printer, or upload a file to my Dropbox folder, which I’ll talk about in a little bit. To perform any of these actions, all you have to do is drag a file onto the Dropzone icon and select which function you’d like to perform. It’s as easy as that, and a real time saver.
These aren’t the only functions that Dropbox can perform. To find out more about the different functions and plugins you can add to your own Dropzone configuration, check out their extensions section of their site here. Also if you have a particular function that you want to perform with Dropzone, but there’s not a plugin pre-made for you, don’t worry. If you’re a bit of a code monkey, you can have Dropzone performing just about any action you’ll need. Aptonic has provided a Dropzone Scripting API so that you can easily write your own extensions and plugins for the program.
Now for the online storage service that I feel goes hand-in-hand with Dropzone. Dropbox is an online service that can sync folders between different computers, and also provides an online backup of the files you keep in those synced folders. It’s an extremely useful service for anyone who uses more than one computer or has to access certain files while they’re on the go. The service offers 2 GB of free storage, but you can increase that storage space by paying a monthly fee: $10 for 50 GB and $20 for 100 GB.
This service really works well with the Dropzone program, especially if you’ve got a file that you need to quickly access while on the go. Just drop the file onto the Dropbox logo in Dropzone and it will automatically be uploaded and synced to the online service and any other computers you have Dropbox installed on.
To find out more about Dropbox and sign up for your free account, visit Dropbox’s site at http://www.getdropbox.com/. To download and install Dropzone, visit http://aptonic.com/.
