Sharpcast For Sharing, Syncing & Backing Up Photos
I initially heard about Sharpcast from Kim Komando:
"Once you sign up, you can download a small program. Then you start adding your photos to it. You can arrange them into different libraries. You can also share your photos with friends and family, so it's got that covered, too. Then, in the event something happens to your computer, backupsâ€â€or, heaven forbid, your houseâ€â€you can retrieve them from the Internet. You get 2 gigabytes of storage, so you have plenty of room. Did I mention it's free?"
She thoroughly researches programs that make your life easier in the digital world, and Kim Komando only recommends the best.
Her comments about Sharpcast picqued my interest, and I wanted to know more before I actually tried out the program for myself.
I found these incredible reviews:
Personal Technology (Walt Mossberg)
By the way, I have yet to find any negative reviews. There are very few people who've pointed out downsides to the program.
In fact, Michael Parekh shared some questions/concerns he had about Sharpcast on his personal blog -- things he wanted to know before he actually tried the program for himself -- and the CEO of Sharpcast posted a comment on his blog the very next day, addressing each concern one-by-one. And the CEO's answers were exactly what we had hoped to hear ...all good stuff, and even more reasons to use Sharpcast!
Here's more from Gibu Thomas, the CEO of Sharpcast from Sharpcast's corporate blog.
Okay, I'm in!
Why Sharpcast Rocks
I downloaded Sharpcast, and now I'm excited to start syncing everything between my home computer, Jim's laptop, and my PDA phone (Windows Mobile 5.0 on a Cingular 8125 phone). So far, it's really easy!
But even if you haven't got a PDA phone, or a laptop -- or if syncing isn't exactly what you're after -- consider Sharpcast for its backup capabilities.
Or better yet, simply use Sharpcast for the ease of sharing photos with friends & relatives! I'm telling you, it's like no other photo sharing program you might have tried (Flickr, Shutterfly, YahooPhotos). This one is SEAMLESS! Your photos can be viewed & managed from their website or from your desktop, cellphone, or laptop.
While the photo capabilities are way cool, I especially like the future enhancements which are in the works for Sharpcast -- the ability to sync & backup files, documents, folders, calendars, and much more!
"The vision behind the company is this: Users shouldn't have to care where their data is. For files, e-mails, calendar items, music tracks, photos, and videos, no matter where a user first puts an item, it should be available on all of their devices or over the Web."
See for yourself... take the quick tour through Sharpcast's features online.
Thanks Lynnette for your kind sentiments. We will absolutely keep having fun! You do the same and enjoy Sharpcast.
I think you run a great service here. Great job!
Cheers,
Gibu
Wow, thanks guys!
That was too kind of you both to take the time to post here.
You two represent exactly what is lacking in 99% of businesses these days:
1. An honest rapport with customers (and potential customers). There are no hoops to jump through to reach you guys. You WANT to be reached. You WANT to hear from clients. And you WANT to know what questions we have. That's one heck of an "open door policy"!
2. A neverending desire to make the product better. But not just better in terms of what's the quickest & easiest thing to get done for the next revision, or what would keep you neck & neck with the competition... Better in terms of what the people who use your product actually want.
3. A think-outside-the-box mentality. You've found a way to do things differently -- and more efficiently -- than others with similar products.
4. True, honest-to-goodness PASSION for what it is you are doing. You live it, breathe it, and share it with others. It's obvious through your interactions with others who've reviewed your product. And it's evident here, too. That's incredibly admirable of you both.
Your energy and enthusiasm for this great product have definitely rubbed off on me. I've already been telling everyone I know about Sharpcast Photos. And I can't wait to see the future capabilities based on the ingenius platform you've created.
...Keep having FUN!
Lynnette
Lynette,
Allen and I have a fun internal competition about who responds to customers first and usually I trump Allen by a wide margin. This time, he beat me to it, but I still want to add my thanks for your thoughtful review.
Please keep sending us feedback, it will help us make the product better. We are committed to building the best all-in-one solution that meets all your sharing, syncing and backup needs. Some quick tips for your readers:
- The easiest way to get images into the application is to drag and drop selected images or an entire folder from your PC file system
- The easiest way to share images is to drag and drop and album on to a name on the buddy list. You can also use the share button at the bottom of the app to use the wizard to write a personalized email, share multiple albums or share with multiple people
- The best experience to view shared pictures is to download the app and have them delivered right to your desktop, so you don't even have to go to the web. So, encourage your friends you share with to download the app (it is free)
- You can use the full functionality of the app in offline mode if you happen not to have an internet connection (creating albums, sharing, etc). Everything will be taken care of automatically the next time you are online
- Everything is backed up automatically in the system, not just the files, your captions, how the albums are organized, everything. So, if you need to recreate your collection on a brand new PC, all you have to do is install the application and log in. You can export images or entire albums (just right click on the album or image)
- We don't just upload the images to the web, we sync them. This means, if you make a change to your web collection when you are away from your home PC, those changes are instantaneously reflected on your home PC.
- Install the app on all your PCs, so you can pick up where you left off, without ever doing the same thing more than once again.
The 8125 version should be available in a couple of days, we will keep you posted. Remember it is still an alpha, but it still works and I love having my entire picture collection handy on my phone to show them off to someone even when I am not near my PC.
Thanks again for the thoughtful review and please send us any and all thoughts!
Cheers,
Gibu Thomas CEO, Sharpcast
Lynette - thanks for the great comments and for pulling all of those reviews together for your readers - I am now a fan of your service as well! Please continue to give us your thoughts as you get more into the product so we can keep making it better for you.
best,
Allen Bush
Marketing & Business Development Director
Sharpcast