10 Handy Services for Sharing Large Files Online

By James Adams

When you need to email a large file, the best place to go is a file sharing service. A file sharing service will temporarily host your file until your recipient downloads it. Most companies have services starting at around $9.95 a month and have limited free trials available so you can try out their services. Here’s a look at the free services of ten file sharing companies.

1. Box.net (File Upload Size Limit: 25MB)

This company’s primary focus is on businesses, but their solutions work for individuals. Premium service is $9.95 a month, giving you a 1GB file upload limit and 10GB of online storage.

2. Drop.io (File Upload Size Limit: 100MB)

Upload your file to Drop.io and it will email your recipient a link to pick it up. That way, your clients can download the file at their leisure. With their $9.95 a month premium service, you can send up to 10GB and have up to 20 drops.

3. File Factory (File Upload Size Limit: 1GB)

File Factory can store your files in separate folders, allowing you to pick and choose which files you wish to send. The $10 per month premium service eliminates ads, increases your storage limit to 1,000GB and removes your wait time.

4. Files Direct (File Upload Size Limit: 250MB)

This company focuses on collaboration of multiple people in multiple locations using the same files. When a transfer is completed, both the user and the sender receive an email in confirmation. Their paid services start at $18 per month, increasing your storage limit to 10GB.

5. Media Light Box (File Upload Size Limit: 100MB)

This company aims to be the total solution for all of your file transfer needs. There are $10 plans for individuals, ranging up to $250 per month plans for large companies. The $10 per month plan increases your upload to 1GB and storage to 5GB.

6. MegaShares (File Upload Size Limit: 10GB w/ Custom Java Uploader, 1.5GB w/ website)

Services with this company are free, with the bulk of their money made through advertisements and affiliates. They do have a paid service which increases your download speed for files shared publicly on their system. When you complete your upload, you are sent a link to share your file with your friends or the rest of the world.

7. MegaUpload (File Upload Size Limit: 500MB)

Megaupload has two free programs available. The first doesn’t require any login or registration. The second increases your maximum file upload size to 2GB and gives you 200GB of storage. Their premium service offers unlimited uploads and downloads with very little advertising. It is priced at $10 per month.

8. RapidShare (File Upload Size Limit: 200MB)

When you upload a file using Rapidshare, you receive a link that you can email others to retrieve the files. If you decide to make those files public, downloads get you closer to a free premium account. The 1 month premium account starts at around $10, and increases your upload limit to 2GB.

9. Uploading (File Upload Size Limit: 1GB)

Premium membership removes the advertisements, increases the per file upload limit to 2GB and gives you the highest download speed priority. The service starts at $4.95 for three days, or $9.95 for a month.

10. YouSendIt (File Upload Size Limit: 100MB)

When you send your file to Yousendit, a download link is sent to your recipients. The pro account is available for $9.99 per month and increases your file upload limit to 2GB. With the pro membership, YouSendit will also store up to 2GB.

Each of these file sharing and sending services are easy to use. The next time that you have a large file, an online file sharing service might be right for you.

Author Information

James Adams is a tech analyst and in-house writer based at a specialist in HP cartridges where he analyses newly released hardware such as the HP 351XL.

Now Cable Firms Want To Harvest Online Business

My parents were one of the early adopters of cable television, choosing to go with the local cable provider in the late 1970s to see what the then newfangled way of watching television was all about. I’m not sure why we bothered because we lived in a close in New York City suburb which had access to all of the city channels as well as various ultra high frequency (UHF) stations above channel 13.

Cable? Wasn’t Worth It!

Even before CNN went live in 1980, I know my parents had tossed cable as all that they were getting was community news plus cooking and home decor channels. I doubt that they were paying all that much for the service, but since the t.v. had no problem with reception with this service, cable wasn’t necessary. Nor was it very good.

Fast forward to 1998 and my newlywed wife insisted that we have cable television in our home. By then, I owned my own home but spent very little time watching t.v. I’m still not a big television watcher, but I must admit that ten years of cable or satellite dish access has broadened things for me tremendously.

Cable Bills: Up, Up & Away!

But, I’m also getting tired of increasingly higher cable bills. We do bundle our phone, long distance and internet access with our cable television, but I still think that we pay too much. Plus, if we want to see something not on our 500 plus channels, we have to pay extra for it. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve scanned the directory and didn’t find a single decent show among the many channels — I kid you not!

Now the cable/satellite world is getting worried that the internet is threatening their business. Most shows can now be viewed online which means that you don’t need a television set to view your favorite shows. Instead, if you have a nice sized monitor, you can view many different shows on demand. Best of all, commercials are held to a minimum, making an hour long show fifty minutes or less.

Moving Programming Online

To fight back, cable television providers are considering putting a huge amount of their programming online, making it available to people who are cable subscribers. I know that I can view one of my favorite shows The Closer already on cable, but they’re about a week behind posting shows. Hulu.com, which has scads of shows and movies on its site, offers links to The Closer, but not the show itself.

Comcast and Time Warner, the two big cable companies are currently in talks with network owners such as Viacom and General Electric companies which also own several cable channels including MTV and TNT to launch a new service later this year where current shows would be shown to subscribers. In effect, this would halt the inroads being made by phone and satellite competitors who have been taking a larger piece of the pie from cable.

Billions Upon Billions Earned

Don’t think for a moment that cable isn’t a big business. According to research firm SNL Kagan, cable, satellite and telecom operators paid cable-network owners about $22.5 billion in subscription fees in 2008. Cable operators have placed limits on just how much free content is placed online in a bid to protect those fees.

Just like music which became easily accessible online and caused artists to lose money, content put on cable is costing cable operators money too. If all limits were removed, billions would be lost.

Streaming Shows To Your PC, Laptop Or Portable Device

The programming idea looks intriguing as it would stream the shows in and include ads, be accessible in and out of the home, and no extra fees would be charged to cable subscribers. But, given the increasingly higher cost of cable access, you’ll still be hit with high cable fees.

Clearly, this isn’t a situation where the consumer wins nor is it necessarily an area where the consumer loses. What I would like to do is buy a new computer with a big screen and see everything on it. Then, when we’re not watching the telly, we can surf the ‘net and do other fun online things.

Whee! What a world.