OmniDrive is an online file storage solution. However, it is still difficult for us to find out if it is the perfect online file storage or not. Omnidrive has setup enough expectation as Michael Arrington (Techcrunch founder) showed enough interest in this service and has recently invested in the company and now is among the board of directors of Omnidrive.
There are various online drives these days and the competition is really tough. Lets see if Omnidrive has something different to offer than others, so as to attract the enormous user group. With the looks of it the service is good but how good is it, lets find out in the review…
PROS of Omnidrive :
1. Free storage of 1 GB : Omnidrive is giving away free storage of 1 GB. This is useful for those users who want to deal with some really important documents and are not in need of enough webspace. There are paid options available too and prices vary from $ 40/year for 10 GB storage to $ 199/year for 50 GB storage (that’s under January special, prices will be more after removing the discount.)
2. Multiple ways of accessing the files : Omnidrive gives out two ways of accessing the files, web based and through a virtual drive on the computer. Web interface is really good and gives the feel of windows and thus any user will not find it difficult as they’ll have a familiar interface. The other way, i.e., the virtual omnidrive is also good as it gives easy access to the files and keeps them synchronized too. The virtual drive lives in My Computer (atleast in Windows, not sure about MAC) and so batch file uploading can be done through this and that too in a convenient way.
3. Integrated Media player, picture viewer & document writer : It also allows users to play media files (Mp3 for sure and if you find any other format while using this service, please let me know), it displays picture files in a slideshow and also lets users to edit word documents.
4. Live Folder : Well, I just loved this feature. This feature allows users to put a feed URL and Omnidrive will automatically look for files on that and will put those files in the Live folder and thus users will have to take less pains in keeping the files in one place. Consider that you can put the Flickr Photo stream in this and thus you’ll be able to access your photos in one single place with other files.
5. Various small but useful features : It has many small features, which make it different from an FTP server and thus will be able to attract many users on that basis. Resume supported Virtual Omnidrive and that will help lot of slow speed connection users, Access controls of files and folders, Online sharing and making the files public. API’s And few others…
CONS of Omnidrive :
1. Pricing of Omnidrive : Well, I don’t know about anyone else but for me this price is way too much. Web drive is required these days but it is still not that hot that it will be able to replace the normal hard drive. As far as backup option is concerned then also, it is nowhere near to a decent price.
Overall Views & Ratings :
Omnidrive is a good service but pricing is one factor where they will have to improve. Many good and trusted competitors are giving very cheap options as well and thus it will be hard time for omnidrive to find a very good user base. Only their features will be able to keep them ahead of their competitors and I think they have scored good on features.
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- Zoho Drive – Will it have the edge over others?
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- Box launches another stupid press attracting stunt!
