Mozy

Mozy Stash is the new synchronisation app from Mozy that puts your data everywhere you want it.  And it’s now available in a beta version in the UK and Ireland, so you can say hello to all your digital stuff anywhere you like.

When you join the beta, Mozy will enable you to install a single folder on your computer and any other Windows, Mac, iOS or Android devices you regularly use.  Save anything from your computer into that folder and, hey presto, it’s synced to all the other devices where you’ve installed the folder.

So, no more cables, no more USB sticks and no more emailing files to yourself – just your data everywhere you want it.

The Stash simple single-folder model complements your online backup so that all your data is available where and when you need it, even if you choose not to synchronise it.

The Stash beta service is available free today for all MozyHome customers worldwide with a 2 GB free, 50 GB or 125 GB plan. Stash runs on the same operating systems as MozyHome and MozyPro – Microsoft Windows (XP and later) and Apple Mac OS X (10.5 “Leopard” and later).

To register for Stash, simply log into your Mozy account page and click the Stash link you’ll find there.  It’s that simple.

We know you’re going to enjoy Stash and we’d love to hear your feedback, so why not comment below to let us know what you think?

Happy syncing!

The Mozy iOS app now supports data decryption for customers using personal key encryption. Android update due  within weeks.

Since its initial release in March this year, the Mozy app for iOS (iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices) has quickly become a favorite feature for Mozy customers. With the app you can access any file you have backed up to Mozy right from your mobile device. Complete with photo previews, document viewing, and the ability to open files in other applications or send them via email, the app makes Mozy more than just a way to protect against data loss. Along with similar access through any browser, the app provides a way to access all your personal and professional files from anywhere.

With version 1.2, now available at no charge from the App Store, we’re able to offer a feature that many (often quite vocal) customers have been awaiting: personal key data decryption.

About Personal Key Data Decryption

To protect customer privacy, Mozy online backup always encrypts the data for each file before sending it to Mozy. About 95% of our customers opt for Mozy’s default encryption. The remaining 5% opt to employ a personal key for encrypting their backups. When you encrypt with a personal key, it ensures that the only person who can readily decrypt your files is you. Of course, this also means that Mozy has no way to decrypt your data if you forget your personal key.

Data Decryption Comes to the iOS App

With this latest release, you can set the personal key used for backup on each of your computers (even if each uses a different key). The mobile app can then download any file, use the key to decrypt its content, and then allow you to use the file as you need. You can view it, email it, or even open it in another app.

Mobile & the Trade-offs of Using a Personal Key

There are certain services that Mozy performs online to support the Mozy app. For example, the file names used by digital cameras make it hard to know what’s in a photo, so the Mozy app displays photo thumbnails.

When you view a folder containing photos, an online service generates a thumbnail for each photo, allowing the app to download a small image instead of whole photos, saving time and bandwidth.

However, if your photos are encrypted with a personal key, then Mozy can only provide a generic thumbnail indicating that Mozy cannot read the photo.

But you can still download the whole photo and–once downloaded and decrypted by the mobile app–you can view it on your device.

Your Turn: Go Rate the Update

We know many Mozy customers have been waiting for this update. If you’re one of them, please rate the Mozy app in the App Store.

A Note to Android Users

We know you want personal key support, too. We’re working on it right now and aim to release the 1.2 update for Android before the end of October.

One of the great things about having a camera on your phone is that it’s always with you so, even though you couldn’t know in advance that your mate was going to fall flat on his face in the mud, you’ll still be able to make sure that the rest of the world can share in his humiliation through the awesome power of Facebook.

But, for the really important occasions, most of us still like to take a conventional camera.  Weddings, christenings and barmizvahs demand a better quality of picture that you can generally get with six-times optical zoom on a clam phone.

So, we end up with two tiers of photos: everyday photos on your phone and special photos on your camera.  Which is all well and good until you want to share your pictures.  When trying to show off your boyfriend to colleagues in the bar after work, that picture of him in the mourning suit at your sister’s wedding is on your laptop at home and you have to choose between a snap of his Dot Cotton impression and that time he managed to balance a pizza box on his face.

And September can be one of the most frustrating months as you realise that all of the holiday pictures you took in Cancun are at home and your only record of summer is the check-in queue photo that you posted to twitter in an attempt to shame the airline into an upgrade.  How are you going to trump Dave-in-Finance’s pictures from Kavos with that?

Enter the Mozy App for iPhone and Android.  Mozy lets you access all of the data that you backed up on your computer right from your smartphone.  So, once you’ve synced your camera with your laptop, your back up will give you access to all your photos on your phone, regardless of which device you used to take them.

So, should you want to prove that the fish you caught on your trip really was ‘this big’ or the girl you met in Marbs really was ‘this hot’, all you have to do is reach for your phone.  You can even use the app to post the picture to Facebook so the rest of the world can witness your glory.

Of course, if your friends download the Mozy app, it may mean that they have every picture they’ve ever taken of you to hand at all the least opportune moments.  We apologise in advance for any future incidents where anyone reveals that experimental haircut you thought made you look edgy when you were 15.

The MozyBlog likes to think of itself as your SatNav to what lies ahead at Mozy so we’re excited to let you know that our compass is pointing straight to mobile apps followed by sync functionality a little bit further down the track.

This week, Mozy was at CeBIT speaking about its iPhone and Android apps for the first time.

Mozy’s mobile app will allow you to securely access the stuff you protect with Mozy, share select files such as photos with others, or view them on your phone. The app will also include convenience features such as photo thumbnail display which allows you to preview the files you’re looking for before downloading them in high-res.

Mozy also spoke about its beta trial for its new ‘sync’ functionality at the show.

This feature will allow users to put a Mozy sync folder on each of their computers. Any files that they put into this folder will be automatically synchronised on any other computers that they’ve installed the application on. This way, they always have the most up-to-date version of their files no matter which computer they’re using.

The sync functionality is just going into beta with a group of customers in the US, whilst the mobile functionality is set for a limited launch soon.

We think that, these new features will help our customers make more of the opportunities presented to them once their data is backed up to the Cloud.

To stay up to speed on where Mozy is with the roll out of these features, or to find out where we’re going next, follow us on Twitter or subscribe to this blog.  Or, for more information on our latest features, check out our Q&A.