April 18th, 2008
A couple of days ago, KoffeeWare launched KoffeePhoto Premium,a dedicated online photo backup solution.
Advantages of online backup over CD/DVD based backup are numerous. A quick reminder, online backup is:
- (obviously) remote (in case of fire or theft, what is the need of a backup if it sits close to the computer?),
- reliable (how sure can you be to able to read your CD based backup when needed which is usually after a couple of years?),
- dependable (are you sure to find your backup CDs when needed which is usually after a couple of years),
- and inexpensive (consider the cost of your CDs, CD burner and the time spent backuping data).
Last but not the least, automated online backup helps fighting against procrastination.
But why using a photo dedicated online backup solution?
Numerous online storage and backup solutions exist, some are dedicated to photo storage, others provide general purpose storage. At KoffeeWare, we think that online storage benefits from being application specific. In fact, storage is only part of the story.
KoffeePhoto handles the whole photo process, from the camera to sharing including organizing and backuping. More, using KoffeePhoto, you may add pictures to your account without even running your own computer. Storing and backuping being completely embedded into the system, KoffeePhoto combines great ease of use and peace of mind.
Last but not the least, KoffeePhoto includes a one-click photo restoration features. Simply log in and all pictures are automatically retrieved.
Although versatile, swiss-knife-like solutions look good, application specific solutions always fulfill their mission better and easier.
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January 25th, 2008
As soon as I had heard about the Asus EEE PC in summer 2007, I said «Hey! I want one of those!». Half a year later, the most inexpensive ultramobile laptop ever is available in Europe… and soon in my hands! The first challenge was to install KoffeePhoto on it. In fact, you could not think of an easier challenge. Read on.
Installing KoffeePhoto on Asus EEE PC is incredibly straightforward: Open www.koffeephoto.com in FireFox, click on «KoffeePhoto free download» button… you’re almost done! FireFox is pre-configured to open the Java Web Start link with the included Java Runtime (Java version 5), just confirm that choice by clicking «OK». Then the Java security dialog pops up telling the software is signed by KoffeeWare… «OK» again and KoffeePhoto starts up. You can log in to your KoffeePhoto account or create one.
KoffeePhoto’s graphical user interface suffers a bit from the limited screen resolution of the Asus EEE PC. Almost every feature in the software will still be useable, but sometimes you will need to go fullscreen (hiding the system task bar) and some dialogs will look a bit broken. The good news is that we are working on it and plan to release an update addressing these issues, for a clean user experience on this low 800×480 resolution.
In the end, KoffeePhoto is still the easiest tool to manage, share and backup your photos from the Asus EEE PC. You can share hundreds of photos in seconds, benefit from seamless automatic synchronization with your other PC’s… and keep all your photos always with you even when no Internet connection is available.
Posted in Technology | 2 Comments »
October 25th, 2007
Photo sharing is all around. But what makes KoffeePhoto different?
First, KoffeePhoto is not solely a photo sharing web site. KoffeePhoto includes a full featured photo management software program available on the Linux, MacOS and Windows platforms. This makes day-to-day photo management fast and easy and, last but not the least, allows for offline operation and photo viewing. Also included are various photo touch-up functions and a true and automatic photo album backup and restoration feature.
Once online, the KoffeePhoto software agent takes care of synchronizing offline and online content for online publishing and backup purposes.
Depending on each photo album specific settings, pictures can be shared online or not. If online sharing is allowed, the pictures can be viewed using classical web pages or full screen Flash based slideshows. Pictures can also be displayed using various methods thanks to RSS feeds and widgets. More, a micro-blog is attached to each photo allowing for commenting and chatting. Whatever the settings, private password protected viewing of the pictures is always allowed for the owner of the pictures.
Previously mentionned, the KoffeePhoto photo album backup and restoration feature relies on who has added your photo albums to his own photo library. In case of a failure, the KoffeePhoto software agent will automatically retrieve albums from your backup fellows.
All these features make KoffeePhoto quite a unique solution in the crowded photo sharing arena.
Posted in Technology | 2 Comments »
February 27th, 2007
When starting to think about a photo sharing service, we had several requirements in mind:
- I get all the features I need to organize my photo library easily
- I can access my whole photo library from any connected computer/connected device
- Whenever needed (hard disk failure, switching computer, …) I can easily recover my whole photo library in one click
- Photos are stored in their native resolution, without limit of any kind, period. I don’t need to care about the volume of data stored remotely or whether my data is reduced/compressed and I don’t need to pay anything
Then we looked at the options. They ranged from a computer centric solution to a server centric solution. Let’s check the pros and cons of each option.
- The computer centric solution, a software application program. Running locally on a computer, a software application program offers a true benefit in terms of user experience. Speed, graphics, everything. No doubt about it. But what happens when it comes to sharing and backing up the pictures? You can burn Cds. Easy to share and a practical way to backup. But what about sharing pictures with your aunt living in New Zealand? And will the Cds still work when recovery will be needed? No waranty. Pictures can be sent using email but no more than half a dozen with strong size limitations. The only solution? Going to the web.
- The server centric solution, a web service. By nature, web is distributed and tends to be everywhere. Sounds like a perfect media to share pictures. Perfect, if not looking at the costs. Always available online storage gets very expensive as storage requirements grow. Not to mention online photo editing. So, what else?
- A peer-to-peer based solution. The power of distributed servers has been made popular with numerous applications such as Kazaa or eDonkey. While unfortunately widely used for illegal download, this architecture has proven its power as long as the source was available from several nodes. On the other hand, this technology clearly has its limits with few in not one server is involved.
As always, the ideal solution is the combination of the good sides of all options. What would be the ideal solution? Powerful management, reliable backup, efficient sharing and, why not? … For free! To achieve this, we’ve set up a two layered solution.
- Storage and sharing is done by a virtual server made up of peer-to-peer connected computers. This virtual server makes sure each file is available at any time. As soon as below the defined threshold of number of available files, replication creates new copies on the peer-to-peer network.
- Management and viewing is done thanks to a desktop application program for optimum interactivity. This desktop client is associated to a local storage agent turning each connected computer on the network into a storage unit of the global virtual server. Upload of high volumes of pictures simply takes place in background. Once uploaded to the virtual server, the pictures will always remain available on the network and there is no need to leave the computer on.
This translates into some technical implementations:
- Peer-to-peer based storage, sharing and synchronization of secure data (pictures)
- A set of encryption and authentification techniques allows to manage privacy, access rights to the pictures, and data integrity
- Blind synchronization ensures proper redundancy of the stored pictures
- Permanent availability of data is managed on a constantly evolving peer-to-peer network structure
With this combination we’ve reached what we think is the perfect match. You may check by yourself by downloading KoffeePhoto from our web site : http://www.koffeephoto.com. Thanks to Michael Slater’s post about photo sharing solutions which inspired this post.
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