Today Silicon Valley company
Fabrik launched its myfabrik online storage and
file-sharing service, after a 4 month beta period. It’s also releasing a new service
called myfabrik lite, that lets users share
large multimedia files (up to 1GB at a time). The aim with the Lite product is twofold:
as a solution to sending huge attachments by email and also to enable users to
auto-generate HTML code on the fly, to embed streaming media players within blog posts
and web pages.
The difference between myfabrik and myfabrik lite is that the former is being marketed
as a full-fledged storage solution, whereas the lite version is to “host and deliver
content”. So the Lite version is really about sharing multimedia content with others, via
a blog or social network.
Screenshot of myfabrik
Myfabrik is certainly a good looking service and I like the way they are positioning
it – not as a boring old storage solution, but as a way to make it easy for people to use
digital media on the Web. The tool itself is not much different to the other online
storage solutions around, but there are little things that seem to personalize the app
more. For example at the bottom of the myfabrik app is a little ajaxy box called
‘Experiences’. Click on that and you can label your media files according to life
experiences – such as Love, Friends, Event, etc.
Myfabrik is being positioned for use by bloggers and social networkers, as well as
creative types. In the pitch I received, it was described as “like having a combination
of YouTube, Flickr, .Mac and G Drive all wrapped up into one.” This seems like a good
ploy to capture that elusive YouTube-using younger generation, at the same time as
appealing to Mac-wielding Flickr-loving bloggers.
The basic service is free with 1GB of space – with additional space selling for 49
cents per month per gigabyte. Although when I signed up today I could still get the 2GB
free beta offer.
