Canonical Launches DropBox Competitor: Ubuntu One

Canonical, the company behind the popular Linux distro Ubuntu, launched Ubuntu One yesterday, a native ubuntu file synchronization service that works on the desktop and can be managed from the web as well. Sounds similar? Yes, Dropbox does that. Ditto.

Canonical seems to be getting serious with its ‘cloud’ approach, first integrating cloud computing features in Ubuntu’s latest server edition and then this. Ubuntu One is currently in a private beta (what isn’t these days) and you can apply for an invite if you have a launchpad account (it’s free to make one). It is currently in a very early phase and they are letting in only a few users but from what it seems, it looks a lot like Dropbox. The homepage states that you’ll be able to sync your files, work remotely and seamlessly share folders with others using an Ubuntu computer.

Note that Ubuntu One will only be for Ubuntu desktops, making it a native application whereas, Dropbox is multi platform and works on Windows, OSX and Linux too.

It also plans a web interface so users can still access their files when they are not on a ubuntu machine or the latest Ubuntu 9.04 which is required for the desktop application to run.

So far, there are two plans available, one free and the other paid. The free one lets you store 2Gb in files whilst the paid one lets you store 10Gbs if you pay $10/month. On the other hand, Dropbox lets you store 50Gbs with the same price. That makes Dropbox five times cheaper. But we have got news that these are not the final figures and may be revised sooner or later. Better for Ubuntu One I’d say.

If you are willing to try it out yourself, you can file an application here. It’s easy, you just need a launchpad account and once you get the invite, you’ll need the latest Ubuntu 9.04 to run the application.Or if you know someone who’s already in, ask them to share a file or folder with you. That way, you’ll be invited as well.

It will be interesting to see how Canonical progresses with Ubuntu One. Although it may seem like a Dropbox clone right now, there’s a lot more to it. Apparently, the development team is building an API for Ubuntu One that will let people build applications on top of it, on the desktop or web.

File storage, sync, and sharing are only the beginning for Ubuntu One. We are already planning and building more collaboration-focused features that will be released over the coming months. We’re also excited to see how developers will use upcoming Ubuntu One web and desktop APIs to build innovative cloud features into existing and new applications. [# Source ]

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