Today, cloud-storage provider Box updated its iPad and iPhone app to include support for the newly-launched Box OneCloud. The service is Box.com’s pitch to the enterprise and business market for the “post-PC era”, providing users with a means of using their iPad to directly edit documents that can be stored online, collaborated on and shared with other users as well as accessed via desktop.
Box for iPhone and iPad 2.7.1 is a free-for-personal use app that allows users to access the contents of their Box accounts via their iOS device. The app also allows users to upload files back to the service as well as edit them using supported apps on the mobile.
Box OneCloud is the service provider's answer to the question of how users can directly access, edit and save changes to files stored online on the iPad using favorite apps as opposed to the Box app’s own tools. The new release allows users to open files stored on their Box.com account through 30 companion apps quickly and easily from within the Box app itself.
Of the 30 supported apps, four are “premier” status: Quickoffice, PaperPort Notes, PDF Expert and Adobe EchoSign. Premier apps are integrated more directly with Box, allowing users to not just open files in these apps, but save any changes directly back to their Box.com accounts in the original file location.
Box’s online storage is available for personal, business and enterprise users, with different pricing tiers and features for each. Personal accounts include a free 5GB taster account, which is free for personal use only and is limited to individual files of up to 25MB only. Two paid-for accounts lift this restriction to 1GB, offering 25GB and 50GB overall storage accordingly for $9.99 and $19.99 a month respectively.
Business accounts require a minimum of three users, each paying $15 a month to access shared storage of 1TB, with 2GB file limits and extra features including password protected sharing and Google Apps integration.
Users can access their Box.com accounts through a variety of mobile apps, including Box for iPhone and iPad, while access via desktop or laptop must be done through a web browser, with drag-and-drop file support limited to Firefox and Chrome.
Box for iPhone and iPad 2.7.1 is a free app for Box.com account holders on iOS devices. Box OneCloud is an extension of the Box.com service that is currently restricted to iPad users.
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