We believe in magic.

Posted by Hong Bui, CEO & Founder @ Memeo

Pop quiz!  What do e-mail and iTunes have in common?  Beside the fact that they are wildly popular and we rely on them daily, what else?  Need another minute…?  The answer is: Sync.

Sync is the magical underlying technology that keeps files and data updated, identical, and available.  If done right, it should also be invisible.  Users don’t have to think about it.  Plug in your iPod or iPhone and your favorite songs, videos, and playlists are kept up-to-date by iTunes.  E-mails are magically kept in sync across multiple devices without anyone ever thinking about it.  In short, sync is that ‘zen magic’ that keeps your digital life simplified.

This magic is something we at Memeo believe in.  Many of us here at Memeo have had experience dealing with sync technology for a very long time (over 30 years). We’ve worked in the mobile, cloud and desktop space for companies such as Apple, Amazon.com, Nokia (Intellisync), Palm, and Visto (as founders).  We have learned – sometimes the hard way – in order for sync to be successful, companies should adhere to these key tenets:

1.  Sync is simply the underlying technology that powers these useful applications.  There is the core capability of sync (i.e. the technology)…and more importantly, there is how the technology is used. The true test of a successful application is in how it solves everyday problems, especially if it can also greatly enhance the user experience.  When users add songs, rate them or add them to their iPod or iTunes playlist on a PC, those changes are transparently replicated to your devices.  Sync is simply the technology inside iTunes that makes this happens.

2.  Sync is invisible. It’s magic. It just works. When you use iTunes, would you describe what you’re doing as “file and content synchronization”?  No, of course not.  Same for e-mails. Sync needs to happen very quietly behind the scenes.  If a user is made too aware of a sync process, then it’s already implemented poorly.  Don’t ever confuse the technology with the application (see point #1).

3.  A rich client completes the experience. As consumers, we have come to expect that our data is available on our computers, devices, and in the cloud. Strictly having your data only available online or on your desktop is no longer sufficient. This is why an e-mail client such as Outlook completes and extends the use of e-mail. And iTunes provides a much richer consumer experience for the iPod.  So we can be productive,  in-touch, and entertained anywhere and at anytime.

Adhering to these views, we are excited to team up with Google on integrating Google Docs to the desktop and extending the use of Google Docs even when offline.

Google introduced some key enhancements last week that make its Google Docs service even more enterprise-ready; namely, the ability to store any file type and collaboratively share folders for all of its Premier Edition customers.

Knowledge workers today demand the ability to work on all types of documents whenever and wherever they are, even when disconnected from their network.  Together with the Google Docs team, we believe we have delivered on that promise of the ideal sync solution.  The perfect union of ubiquitous web access, the convenience and power of local file availability in native formats including office is the killer app.

You can think of Memeo Connect as the Outlook for your Google Docs, providing the rich local client experience coupled (i.e. synced!) seamlessly with Google’s world-class services.  Memeo believes that the vital drivers for the next generation of office workers are 1) The continued deployment of web and mobile services supporting key business processes and 2) The sync technologies and tools that enable users to work richly disconnected while maintaining the levels of productivity that businesses require.  The days where businesses accept downtime or lesser production due to their users switching back and forth between the online and desktop environments are over.  Expect more.

First there was Outlook + e-mail…then iTune + iPod…, and now Memeo Connect + Google Docs.  Always in sync, always available, always up-to-date to simplify your life. Sound too good to be true? Check it out for yourself. More details and free trials are available at www.memeoconnect.com.

Hong

Backup so easy your grandparents can use it.

Posted by Piper Bartels, Product Manager @ Memeo

Many of us have learned the importance of backing up our computers the hard way.  Losing irreplaceable photos is heartbreaking.  So we find ourselves spreading the word to our friends, family and coworkers encouraging them to back up their data so that the same thing doesn’t happen to them.  Yet most of them still don’t do it.  Why?  Because backing up files sounds like a daunting task and most people believe they need to be very tech savvy to do it. 

That’s why I’m excited to be involved with an exciting new product called Memeo Instant Backup™.  Memeo has designed a backup product that is so simple even my grandparents can use it. There are no decisions to make along the way and it requires no technical expertise.  Simply attach the storage device, click the “Start Backup” button and you’re done.  The software automatically starts backing up your C drive and protecting all of your files.  Anytime you create new files or edit existing ones, the changes will be instantly and automatically backed up.  If your storage device isn’t attached, Memeo Instant Backup remembers the changes and backs up the new or changed files when your storage device is reconnected. As we like to say here at Memeo, you simply “set it and forget it.” 

Memeo Instant Backup is the ultimate in backup simplicity, making it easy for anyone to back up their files and make sure they’re safe.  No technical skills necessary. Try it out for free and let us know what you think!

A Happier Life

Posted by John Doolan, Product Manager @ Memeo

If you’re like me you have a number of friends and family who are unhappy with you. Not because you are a bad person or you owe them money, but because you haven’t shared the latest photos and videos of your kids with them. Please don’t misunderstand me, I love my kids dearly and I am constantly taking photos and videos of them with my camera and iPhone. However, I really dislike going through the process of emailing them to everyone…resizing, attaching, and having to send multiple emails because my service provider limits the size of my attachments. I’ve tried various photo sharing and social networking sites but my friends and family still would like to receive the full resolution content…now I can make everyone happy.

As the Product Manager for Memeo Share I was excited to help develop our latest solution, Memeo Share 2.0! Now I can share all of my videos and photos by simply dragging and dropping. My friends and family instantly receive them right on their desktop and can immediately view them in the new, integrated viewing gallery. They can also tag, rate and comment directly within the application so now we all can exchange our thoughts without having to clutter up everyone’s email boxes. An incredible side benefit of Memeo Share is that a full resolution version of my videos and photos are backed up in the cloud. If my computer gets stolen or crashes I can quickly get all of my full resolution content back. I can recreate most of my files on my computer, but I can’t recreate the moments I’ve captured in photos and videos.

It’s a great relief to know my memories are safe with Memeo Share. Thanks to Memeo Share 2.0 my relationships are much improved and I can sleep easy at night knowing my memories are secure.

Here’s a short video about Memeo Share 2.0. You can try Memeo Share for free by clicking here.

A New Beginning

Posted by George Northup: President, Memeo

I’m very excited to have recently arrived as the latest addition to Memeo’s management team in the role of President. Previously, I helped build four early stage software/service companies and took them all the way to IPO or exit. In the process, these companies generated in excess of $1 billion of cumulative revenues. I particularly relish the challenge and thrill of helping to take a promising, exciting company to the next level – and through the stratosphere. Also, I have a specific desire to be involved in products that have profound impact on our daily lives.

After successfully selling my last company in 2008, I took some time off to relax with my family and travel internationally. Plus, I used my time off to think about the next venture that I might pursue. In particular, I thought a lot about evolving consumer lifestyles and trends. Although I was increasingly approached by various companies about different opportunities, I kept hearing about an amazing company called Memeo. Through mutual acquaintances, I knew of founder/CEO Hong Bui, a brilliant visionary with prior successful executive stints at both Amazon and Apple. Eventually, Hong and I met in late 2008 and our initial conversation together triggered my enthusiasm about Hong’s vision to “Simplifying Your Digital Life.”

More than ever, individuals consume an exponentially greater mass of digital products and services. We are bombarded with rapidly expanding content availability consisting of photos, music, movies, videos, as well as the more “traditional “ content involving productivity files (PowerPoint, PDF, Excel, Word, etc.). Simultaneously, individuals use a widening range of digital devices, including multiple desktops and laptops, iPODs, digital cameras, handheld video devices, and mobile phones to access data.

We all want to access and experience the increasing content (whether it be family photos, music, videos…) and we want to sample or share the content through any device of our choosing. But how to deal with all this voluminous content, how to protect valuable files, how to access between different devices? In short, how to manage all this digital media? Managing digital media and all the various devices becomes a daunting task – in fact a huge potential headache and time drain.

This is where Memeo comes in. Memeo’s LifeAgent® Platform is a suite of digital media management software that simplifies everything so you can enjoy your content instead of worrying about administrating and managing it. Memeo provides an elegant platform to easily back up, sync, and share files across multiple devices and users. Most importantly, despite very sophisticated underpinnings to the platform (all under the hood), Memeo’s products are powerful, simple, intuitive, and easy to use. After using the products, it becomes effortless to manage your digital media and, in fact, you wonder how you managed before. It’s no accident that over 20 million users in 150 countries (and in 10 languages) have downloaded Memeo products.

In short, I believe that Memeo helps people manage their digital lives better as we will continue to see more and more explosive growth in yet to be imagined content and devices. I am passionate about Memeo and its mission to simplify digital life, and so I’m excited to be on this journey with Hong and his team.

Memeo Means Business

Posted by Piper Bartels: Product Manager for Memeo

Past history has shown me that organizations that take advantage of innovative solutions in hard times often come out ahead in the long run. This is a challenging period of time for any organization. The current economic slowdown has created pressure to cut costs, curb hiring and for employees to do more in the same amount of time. This creates pressure on IT departments to take care of expensive and time consuming chores such as backing up critical company data more efficiently and cost effectively. That’s why I’m happy to announce a new business product called Memeo Backup Professional. This new product should put a smile on the face of every IT administrator and their CFO’s as well.
 
Memeo Backup Professional is a one-stop backup solution for any small or medium sized business. It offers a new Management Console that helps simplify deployment and management of data backup across entire organizations though a unique self-serve functionality. IT personnel can simply add email addresses for company employees and Memeo will automatically send emails to them with instructions on how deploy the software. Memeo Backup Professional also allows employees to backup to both online storage or to local storage options that a company already owns such as hard drives or network attached storage. Best of all, this software is priced at $79.95 which most any company can afford – even in these difficult times. I encourage you to try Memeo Backup Professional to experience just how easy it can be to backup your company’s data.