Think of it as being unchained from your desk-and not a work-til-you-drop lifestyle. The key here will be getting developers to adopt the APIs - neither will be much use if they aren’t integrated into apps.Estimates, half of the workers in the US have jobs that are at least partially suited to working outside the office. Update: As pointed out in the comments, Dropbox competitor SugarSync also offers an API that should allow for similar file transfers.

I expect we’ll see quite a few applications add support in the near future.Īnyone else think this is going to spark a bidding war between Google and Apple? You can see some of the launch applications for the mobile API here. In other words, if you’re browsing your Dropbox account using the new iPad app and you come across a presentation file, you can choose to open it with Keynote.ĭropbox is calling the new mobile API ‘ Dropbox Anywhere‘ and promises that an API suited for the desktop is on the way and a BlackBerry application will be coming this summer.

In addition to allowing users to save documents from their mobile devices to their desktop, the API also gives Dropbox’s native mobile applications an ‘Open With’ function. In short, this is the file syncing service that Apple should have built (but better, because it works with Android apps too). Your file will sync to your Dropbox account, and it will immediately pop up on all of your synced computers. With applications that integrate the Dropbox mobile API, you can skip that entirely: just tap save from your iPad. There are plenty of things to love about the iPad, but Apple has badly botched the flow to actually share files created on an iPad with your PC or Mac - the convoluted process involves syncing with iTunes, which isn’t the first application you’d think of when you’re trying to save, say, a Word document. One of the best parts of the new mobile API is the fact that it works with iPad applications. The latter is most important: application developers on the Android and iPhone OS platforms will now be able to integrate Dropbox into their applications, allowing for effortless syncing from third-party apps like QuickOffice, GoodReader, and Fuze Meeting to your desktop.

Dropbox’s effortless file sharing service is going mobile in a big way: the service has just launched its official Android application, a native iPad app (which comes in addition to a previously released iPhone application), and a new mobile API.

Www dropbox com mobile