Remote File-Sharing Gets Easy and Interesting

Remote file access doesn't sound particularly enthralling, but Palo Alto-based Avvenu has added a number of new twists to an old idea, allowing subscribers to access their files across devices easily and quickly. The company, which showed its Web-based service during the DEMO techonology showcase in Phoenix on Tuesday, is targeting the $5 per month service at people who want to share media files with friends and family.

That means photos, and the Avvenu service is clearly trying to compete against businesses like Kodak's Ofoto. Their advantage, company officials say, is that there is no file uploading required to share pictures. Photos also can be viewed in their true resolution, because they are being viewed directly from the owner's hard drive.

Avvenu is not a PC remote control service or application like GoToMyPC; instead Avvenu subscribers decide which folders they want to access on any number of Web-enabled devices they own, including laptops, PCs, PDAs, and cell phones. Subscribers can move the files around from device to device. Permitted guests--who do not need to have an Avvenu account, just e-mail and a Web browser--can look at anything in the folders that the subscriber has opened to them. Access is encrypted to prevention interception and subscribes can limit how long they want the folder's contents to be viewed by others.

We'll keep a close eye on this service, which goes into beta testing next week and is supposed to go live in April.