Software review – Sugarsync

Today I’m going to give you a quick review of Sugarsync. This application promises easy syncing of files between your desktop, the web and your mobile phone. I’ve tried other products that promised similar features, but Sugarsync is the first to really deliver.

First off; Sugarsync is only available in beta at the moment, you’ll have to submit your email address to get on the beta list, and they’ll invite you when there is space.

The desktop application

This program handles all your desktop syncing, and makes sure anything placed in a folder you want synced is sent to the Sugarsync server. I’ll show off what Sugarsync does by syncing a file between my devices.

This is a "really important file". I’ve placed it in one of the folders I told Sugarsync to monitor. You can select any folder on your machine to be synced. As soon as the file has been copied into the folder, it appears in the Sugarsync application. 

You’ll see the file with its date and backup status.

In the bottom of the application you’ll see the status of any remaining uploads to the Sugarsync server.

The web portion/syncing

And here begins the fun part; anything you’ve synced off your desktop application is now available on the web, on your own Sugarsync site (your user name.sugarsync.com). 

If you are on a mobile device, you can access the Sugarsync site through m.sugarsync.com. From here you can download the files, or even email them to yourself.

Sugarsync does more than just files; it also helps sync photos from your mobile device to your desktop (and the web).

Sugarsync Mobile Gallery

If you are using a Windows Mobile or Blackberry device, you can also download the Sugarsync Mobile Gallery application. With the mobile gallery application you can automatically sync any photos you take with your phone.

In these 4 snapshots you see the mobile gallery, my phone camera application, the gallery program showing the photo I made and an overview of the thumbnails on my device.

Anything you photograph with the application is automatically synced.

10 seconds later the photo was available on my desktop and I was able to open it.

At the same time, the photo was available on my personalized Sugarsync Web page.

In my online photo gallery I can add captions, rotate the photo, share it with others or download it. One of the coolest features of the gallery application is the ability to share your own gallery with that of your friends. It’ll save a fortune on MMS costs if their photos automatically appear in your own gallery.

There are some other applications with similar features, but none of them do things as nice and efficient as Sugarsync. In the past I used Shozu to sync my photos, but with Sugarsync I can sync my photos to the web and my desktop at the same time.

It’s still a beta app, but I didn’t come across any bugs or crashes, though there are some features I’ve love to see in the final release:

• Mobile sync application that syncs a folder on my device to the web/desktop and v.v.
• Syncing of contacts and calendar information
• Syncing of Mobile notes to the desktop/web

During the beta period everyone gets a whopping 11Gb of storage, but when the service goes live it’ll be 1Gb standard with options to add blocks of 5Gb (paid)

Currently the gallery sync application is only available for Windows Mobile and Blackberry, but more clients should be added soon.

Not much else to say about Sugarsync; I really suggest you signup for the beta and keep your fingers crossed that you get in asap!