It seems that SingTel has launched its own version of cloud syncing and storage which is called SingTel Store & Share. Think of it as SingTel’s version of Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive or even Dropbox.

Right now SingTel’s Store & Share only supports PC, iOS and Android platform. No support for Mac yet.

SingTel Store & Share

Price Plans

• For SingNet fibre broadband customers, you get 10GB of storage for free
• For SingTel 3G Flexi and iFlexi mobile plan customers you get 500MB for free
• For SingNet ADSL broadband customers, you will have to pay. 2GB at SGD$1/month, 10GB at SGD$4/month or 30GB at SGD$8/month
• For Mio Home customers, you will have to pay, 10GB at SGD$3/month
• Additional storage is available at SGD$0.50/month per 500MB

Personally, I find the price plan so confusing, they should standardize it and give every customer a certain storage space rather than breaking down what type of customers gets how much space.

Apart from speed and perhaps if you are a SingNet fibre broadband customers, I don’t see how is it attractive to the rest of the customers.

Speed is the only competitive advantage that SingTel has against the big players since the data will be store in SingTel’s datacenter (which is the best datacenter in Singapore). You will be on SingTel 3G data network, accessing stuff stored within Singapore is much faster.

For me, my only concern is how long this service will last, what if one or two years down the road, SingTel decided to kill this service? What will happen to your data? I have the very same concern with Microsoft SkyDrive as well, that is why I would rather stick to Dropbox or Google Drive.

Press Release

SingTel’s Store and Share is the first Singapore-based cloud storage service which offers consumers up to 10GB of free online storage for their documents, photos, music, videos and other multimedia content. Available for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, as well as PCs, Store and Share ensures that users will always have their digital content on hand wherever they go. It was launched in December 2011.

Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel’s CEO Consumer Singapore, said: “Cloud storage services have become increasingly popular for data backup and sharing. However, most users of cloud storage services today do not know where their data is stored or how secure it is. With Store and Share, users enjoy peace of mind knowing that their data is securely stored in SingTel’s servers in our own award-winning data centres, right here in Singapore.”

The service allows users to upload photos and videos instantly to their online folders from their smartphones and back up their mobile contacts. It automatically synchronises their digital content across their mobile devices and PCs.

Store and Share enables fast and reliable sharing of files and folders via SMS, social networks, instant messaging and email. In addition, it is equipped with powerful tools to allow users to edit photos and documents on the move and save them immediately to their online folders.

With the Smart Backup feature, users can schedule a regular automatic back up of their PCs. They can choose to back up all the contents of their computer or only specific drives or files. For example, they can choose to back up only photos. The service is intelligent enough to save only files that have been created or modified since the last back up.

Store and Share with 10GB of storage is offered to all SingNet fibre broadband customers at no charge. SingTel 3G Flexi and iFlexi mobile plan customers enjoy 500MB of free storage. SingNet ADSL broadband customers can enjoy 2GB at $1 per month, 10GB at $4 per month or 30GB at $8 per month. Mio Home subscribers can enjoy 10GB at $3 per month. Additional storage is available at $0.50 per month per additional 500MB.

Web: Store and Share
Apple App Store: Store and Share
Google Play: Store and Share

Google Drive is finally here after years of waiting! Just in time to jump to cloud syncing/storage bandwagon. Microsoft has released their new SkyDrive 2 days ago.

Dropbox now faces some serious competition. I am a paying Dropbox user (Dropbox Pro 50 (50GB plan) – USD$99/year) for almost 2 years now and I have used up about 95% of my storage space and I didn’t want to go to the Pro 100 (100GB plan) because at USD$199/year it is pretty expensive. I hope this competition will drive down the prices for Dropbox, if not I would have to switch to Google Drive or Microsoft SkyDrive.

Google Drive Features

• Create and collaborate. Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items.
• Store everything safely and access it anywhere (especially while on the go). All your stuff is just… there. You can access your stuff from anywhere—on the web, in your home, at the office, while running errands and from all of your devices. You can install Drive on your Mac or PC and can download the Drive app to your Android phone or tablet. We’re also working hard on a Drive app for your iOS devices. And regardless of platform, blind users can access Drive with a screen reader.
• Search everything. Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. We also use image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and we expect it to get better over time.

Google Drive Price Plans

• 5GB – Free
• 25GB – USD$2.49/month – USD$29.88/year
• 100GB – USD$4.99/month – USD$59.88/year
• 1TB – USD$49.99/month – USD$599.88/year
• When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.

Microsoft SkyDrive Price Plans

• 7GB – Free
• +20GB – USD$0.84/month – USD$10/year
• +50GB – USD$2.04/month – USD$25/year
• +100GB – USD$4.17/month – USD$50/year

Dropbox Price Plans

• 2GB – Free
• 50GB – USD$9.99/month – USD$99.99/year
• 100GB – USD$19.99/month – USD$199.99/year

If you are not too sure whether is Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive or even Dropbox is suitable for you, check out the following articles:

• The Verge: Google Drive vs. Dropbox, SkyDrive, SugarSync, and others: a cloud sync storage face-off
• Engadget: Google Drive vs. the competition: pricing plans and perks, compared
• Gizmodo: Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox and More Compared: What’s the Best Cloud Option?

Official Blog Post: Introducing Google Drive… yes, really

I was invited to the blogger event for the earlier launch of Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012. I am a huge fan of ESET NOD32 Antivirus because it is lightweight, effective and very reasonably priced. During IT Fairs, I can get a 3 users for 2 years for just SGD$69. My mom’s office and my home computers are all protected by ESET Nod32 Antivirus.

Since I am given a copy of Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 (what a long software name) to try it out and so happen my ESET NOD32 Antivirus subscriptions is expiring soon, I will give Trend Micro a chance to see how well it fair against ESET. But before that can happen, I need to format my computer because for some reasons Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 refuses to install on my computer. Obviously I am not using a pirated Windows 7, it is original from my NUS MSDN Account. Since Li Xiang still need my computer to do some design work for her friend’s wedding, I can only format it after mid October 2011.

Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 retail prices:

• SGD$39 for 1 user/1 year
• SGD$54.60 for 1 user/2 years
• SGD$109 for 3 users/1 year
• SGD$152.60 for 3 users/2 years

Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 renewal prices:

• SGD$27.30 for 1 user/1 year
• SGD$54.60 for 1 user/2 year
• SGD$76.30 for 3 users/1 year
• SGD$152.60 for 3 users/2 years

Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 SafeSync prices:

• SGD$39.95 for 20GB/year
• SGD$59.95 for 50GB/year
• SGD$99.95 for 100GB/year

Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 features:

• Antivirus & Antispyware
• Fake Antivirus Cleaner
• Unauthorized Change Protection
• Personalized Titanium Interface
• Facebook, Twitter, MySpace Protection
• Mobile Protection (Android)
• Web Threat Protection
• Spam Blocker
• Windows Firewall Booster
• Parental Controls
• System Tuner
• Data Theft Protection
• Secure Erase
• Trend Micro Vault
• SafeSync Online Backup (10GB)
• Wireless Authentication
• Trend Micro Toolbar

Box Front

Box Back

Box Contents

Threats Report (Taken From Press Release)

Status Report (Taken From Press Release)