He’s right.  This week, Amazon’s new Cloud Drive showed up on the scene and we have to give them props for a job well done.  At first glance, the Amazon Cloud Drive seems like a solid solution to many of the issues faced by photo enthusiasts.

So why are we talking about Amazon’s new Cloud Drive?  Well, Amazon’s approach with this product is consistent with the latest trends in mobile user experience.  And while Amazon has a good product, it isn’t going to be the best solution for everyone….particularly for people who are more than just photo ‘enthusiasts’.  And that seems like something we should address.

What People Want.

Overall, mobile users are crying out that there just isn’t enough space on their phones. Photos are big files and people take a lot of them.  They are looking for new ways to expand storage on their phones, and at the same time they want a way to keep their photos both organized and accessible across multiple devices.  Mobile users want access to all images, all the time, on all devices.

Or as Peter Nixey put it, he wants to sort and edit his photos ‘while I’m sat on the loo’. Isn’t that what we’re all looking for?

The truth is that Amazon’s Cloud Drive answers many of these needs, but they (like other cloud platforms) decided to cap their free service at a mere 5 GB.   As long as you need less than 5 GB of storage, Amazon and other clouds could be a decent answer…but who has less than 5 GB of photos these days?  Professional photographers, amateur photographers, and enthusiastic moms and grandmas all need WAY more than 5 GB of storage.  A young family with an SLR camera could easily max out a 5 GB limit on a weekend getaway!

Hmm, so maybe the Amazon Cloud Drive isn’t the best option after all.  Polkast might be better.

Why Polkast is a Better Option.

First, Polkast has unlimited storage space. Yes, unlimited.

So people who are serious about photography should think about that before signing on with the Amazon Cloud Drive.  Seriously, if you have more than 5 GB of files, why would you pay for any cloud service when Polkast will gives you access to unlimited storage…for free?

With the Amazon Cloud Drive, just 1000 GB of data (1 terabyte), would cost you $500 per year, for the rest of your life.  That could really add up after a while.  Maybe you can will it to your grandkids so they can keep the family photos when you are gone. Sounds like a good business model…no, a great business model…for Amazon.  :)  And the truth is that some of the other cloud platforms are even more expensive.

With Polkast, you could have over 1000 terabytes of data for generations to come, and it would still be free.

The second big differentiating point for Polkast is that we don’t require you to upload or sync your photos.

Oh ya, that’s a big deal.  With cloud platforms like Amazon this can take forever…upload….wait….sync…wait.  No more. Polkast gives you instant access to all of your photos on all of your devices, without having to upload or sync.  It sounds too good to be true, but it’s true.  Whether you’re a photo junkie who’s sick of waiting, or a photographer with demanding clients, or maybe you just have severe ADD…you will love managing photos with Polkast.

Why Photographers Love Us.

Much like the Amazon Cloud Drive, our current Polkast product allows photographers to edit, archive, and share photos across all of their devices.  We provide our users with advanced editing functionality, iPhoto integration, and a snazzy interface.  But here’s the genius part.  With Polkast, we are able to utilize the existing storage on your computer and share files securely via wifi, which bypasses the need for a cloud.  It’s the next generation of storage without unnecessary space limitations and security issues.  What more could you want?

Look at what some of our photographer clients have to say!

Why Peter Nixey Will Love Us.

Specifically, to answer Peter Nixey’s well-articulated request, here is what Polkast can do for photographers:

1. You have one photo library and many devices have access to it.  Users can edit, organize, and delete photos on any device and see the same changes on all other devices. There is no master/slave setup – just straight file access.

2. You get unlimited space (on your own drive) for all of your photos, videos, and other files. You also get the peace of mind that you’ve got your memories safe-guarded.

3. You don’t need photostreaming, you can grab all of your pictures directly from the albums in your library.

4. You can buy a wireless SLR and simply connect it as a new source to your photo library, no problem.  Polkast can be made available to all camera developers and photos can be stored directly on your computer, with iPhoto or without.

5. You can edit, save, and share your pictures direct from ‘the loo’, the taxi, the plane, the couch, or anywhere you want to be.

6. You are fully integrated with iPhoto so you don’t lose anything in translation.

Sounds pretty good, huh?

Here’s why:  Our founder, Hong Bui, is a former Apple and Amazon exec and a certified genius when it come to this sort of thing. He has spent his career building innovative technologies that focus on simplicity, usability, and security.  Now Hong is showcasing the best of his knowledge with Polkast.

The best is yet to come.

Learn more at polkast.com and follow us on facebook and linkedin.

Today we are excited to announce our partnership with Digital Arts in Japan.

This includes a strategic investment in Polkast and a business relationship that makes a whole lot of sense for both companies.

Digital Arts is the Japanese leader for file encryption software and content filtering. That means they have existing clients who rely on them to keep their content safe – existing clients who would love to use Polkast.

Sounds like a match made in heaven.

With the addition of Polkast, Digital Arts will now have a private cloud platform to complete their arsenal of information security software. Their clients will be happy to have our secure and seamless file access, editing, and sharing capabilities across all of their own devices.

The great news for Polkast is that we will have immediate access to their distribution network in Japan.  (yay for us!)

It’s plug-and-play.  We can lean on their local market expertise and existing customer base of security-conscious mobile users, including Japanese corporations, government agencies, educational institutions, and individual consumers.  It’s a quick ramp-up to servicing the Japanese market, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity!

This partnership also marks the launch of Polkast Japan, which will manage technical support (among other things) for our new Japanese customer base. Hong is in Tokyo right now with the Polkast Japan team demoing at Japan IT Week.

The deal with Digital Arts is our first software distribution partnership and our first big push outside the United States.  The knowledge we gain from the market in Japan will serve as a launching pad for future enhancements and new product releases in the US and other international markets.

Now that we have this partnership underway, we want to keep the momentum going. We are actively pursuing additional distribution partnerships with device manufacturers and security software providers.

Email info@polkast.com if you’re interested.

For more details on the Digital Arts partnership, check out our latest press release.

Please select a destination folder, and select files to upload.

Terabytes of tunes, videos and photos? Yep! Then you need NETGEAR and POLKAST.

Storage on your ipads and tablets sucks. Well, not anymore! Today we launched Polkast for NAS in the NETGEAR genie+ Marketplace, compatible with all new ReadyNAS storage drives. Polkast running on a NAS is an awesome way for you to get the storage you need and fast and flawless access — without compromising on security. No more being disappointed when your technogadget can’t handle your terabytes of tunes!

Fellow Polkasters have tested and told us all about it. Here’s how the data heavies are using Polkast. We found our NAS users are some of our most enthusiastic and active users. That makes sense. People buy a storage drive because they have a lot of videos, photos, music and documents. We’re talking terabytes of data. NAS owners want to centralize all their content and keep it secure, under their own control. So it doesn’t make sense to have to store your private content in the cloud simply to make it accessible. Polkast turns your NAS into a secure personal cloud server for anytime access to your own media library.

NETGEAR is our second NAS partner. We also support ZyXEL NSA 300 Series drives and above, with many more to come.

Got NETGEAR already? Then hook up with Polkast in the genie+ Marketplace. NAS and Polkast make for a fun, on the go, digitally active life!

I produce millions of images, and I don’t have time to sort and then download a limited number of images to my tablet. With Polkast, I spend zero time worrying about having the right content to show my clients.

– Linda Tran, Linda Tran Photography

When I travel, I can’t take all my files (around 15TB). Often while I am away, my client will contact me. It’s important for me to be able to access my photos on my computers, to send to them in high resolution. Recently I was in Iran, and it was impossible to access my website on PhotoShelter, but I could get access to my computer through Polkast without any problem.

– Michel Seboun, Michel Setboun Photography

Access and security are the center of a medical practice.  I have more than one office that patients can visit.  Polkast allows me to access my information from home or either office so I always have the data I need in.
– Dr. Fernando García-Rojas Rivera

We scrapbookers come with tons of baggage and gadgets. The piles of stuff quickly take over and before you know it, you have stuff all over the house, and you need it ALL.

I turned my formal living room and dining room into a craft room, but still I don’t have enough space, so my computer and electronic cutter are in the bedroom upstairs — the furthest point from the craft room. You can’t imagine how many trips to the bedroom you need to make while trying to complete a project. After a few trips you end up frustrated and fed up with the ordeal and that defeats the purpose of having a hobby.

When I discovered Polkast it was the answer to my prayers! Now I can be in my craft room and with my iPad I can drill into the pictures that are in another room, create my layouts and print them whenever I’m ready to finalize my page. This tool has made my hobby more enjoyable and will highly recommend it to anyone trying to manage access to multiple electronic devices.

– Eydie Thurston

Polkast is how I make it possible for my kids to really utilize their tablets. The tablets are not the top-of-the-line, but they can run Polkast and then I can stream video and audio from my home server directly to them. No worries about SD cards disappearing, files getting erased on the tablets, etc. It just works.

– David J. Ellingson

We love Polkast. My 7-year old son has Asperger’s Syndrome, and any change in routine can cause a huge melt down. Polkast has helped us with this. My husband’s computer is our server computer, all our other devices are linked to it. With Polkast, if I forget to transfer a book or movie to one of the mobile devices, I can grab it on the go. Since the tablet has limited space, Polkast is a life saver. Now my son can just stream his audio books when we are in the car or at a friend’s. If he wants to watch a movie that was not already on the tablet or cell, we stream it. No more melt downs!

– Tiffany Henderson

Before Polkast, I was always running out of space on my iphone and had to spend time deciding what I could keep and what I could remove from the phone.  The problem is that I would end up putting the same stuff back onto my phone it was constant merry go round that was extremely frustrating.

I purchased a NAS drive that allows Polkast to be installed and removed the need to spend hours transferring media to and from my phone.  Now I can access my media through Polkast pretty much anywhere. I always have the right music on hand when I need it, and I can watch movies wherever I am logged onto a WiFi network.  I love my personal cloud.

– David Wellington

I use Polkast every day! I have a fairly large collection of music on my NAS, which has the Polkast homebase installed. I listen to the music from my phone (plugged into the truck stereo) on the way to and from work. At work I listen to my music almost all day. While I’m out camping in the RV, I use either my phone plugged into the onboard stereo or via headset on my tablet. Having Polkast has eliminated the need for add-on SD cards entirely! No more syncing the SD cards with my music when I get something new. I simply add the songs to my NAS and enjoy the music wherever I go! It has saved me a lot of time and energy not having to copy the music to all my devices.

– Mike Fitzgerald

I can now sit at my desk at work and access my entire music collection via the Polkast iPhone app. It makes my days in the office almost enjoyable. I’d say it has also saved me a fortune since I don’t need a phone with the highest capacity to hold all my music!

- R.J. Toon

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