Boxee Sees a Cloudee Forecast for Digital Video Lockers

Joining the cloud storage/digital locker phenomenon, over-the-top (OTT) streaming set-top-box (STB) provider Boxee (News - Alert) has made its Cloudee video storage offering available to the public in an open beta release.

Cloudee is a service that lets people upload and store personal videos in—where else?—the cloud. Users can upload videos that they’ve taken, then customize streams of content for specific sets of users. These can be pushed out by e-mail or text through address books, or published through social media.

The service is a bit like the native app that Apple (News - Alert) offers in iOS 6 for customizing video streams for friends and family through iCloud—that also supports Facebook integration. But what may give Cloudee a leg up for iPhone (News - Alert) users is the ease of use--the company has added a few new perks since the trials started.

For instance, previously, Cloudee worked with Apple iPhone exclusively but it’s now compatible with desktops as well with no need to synch with iTunes thanks to the Desktop Uploader, which helps on the management front. Cloudee has a shiny new Web interface too for managing videos from any browser, regardless of upload source. The update lets users organize videos into folders, but also lets them share via Facebook (News - Alert) or Twitter, or by e-mail from the desktop or iPhone address book. Also, unlike other photo-sharing services, videos are now private until explicitly shared.

Also, Cloudee is now optimized for iOS6 and iPhone 5, Boxee said, to take advantage of the new screen plus enhanced privacy for contacts and videos.

First announced at the beginning of June, the functionality spent the summer in invite-only private beta, but now anyone can download and use the service for free. Since Cloudee is still in beta, users also have access to free unlimited storage. Boxee is planning to introduce premium accounts though, so beta users may be asked to upgrade to Cloudee Premium for additional upload space.

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